[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN} Who to design for?

[Sean Howard]

 "Caliban Darklock" <cdarklock at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sometimes the common wisdom is common because it's true.

I treat all ideas the same - with extreme skepticism. Only the debate of
ideas is important to me, and common wisdom is frequently immune to
debate. That bothers me. If I can't say it's wrong, how can I test if it
is right?

Common wisdom is wrong more often than not, simply because it approaches a
subject from only one direction and then nobody bothers to go any further.
Artistotle, for example, stunted Western Thought for a thousand years
because people just weren't allowed to question his ideas. When Einstein
decided to question Newtonian physics, the response was a rather
unpleasant mocking one. Common wisdom just means that there is uncommon
wisdom that isn't being heard.


> In this case, the common wisdom is that you CAN'T predict
> the Next Big Thing

You can't predict with 100% accuracy, no, but I think you can definitely
make pretty good predictions on the next big thing. Usually, it's a gut
feeling. You just have to figure out who the guy is with the best guy. Or
sometimes, you might find someone who is particularly smart or talented
before his big break. You'll just KNOW this guy is going to do something
amazing. Or you see a presentation of something that just creates this
spark in your head, like the first time you played Tetris. And you'll know
that it will be the next big thing.

At the very least, you can say what WON'T be the Next Big Thing. Just work
backwards. :)

> and being the common wisdom doesn't make it inherently flawed.

It certainly doesn't make it true. So all you are left with is, some guy
thinks X. Great progress we've made.

-- 
Sean Howard