Article discreditng the thesis that Mao "killed millions of people" in The Great Leap

[kandrathe]

I was thinking as I read this about software, so I'm glad you mentioned it. It is all about labor, but lines of code that do no form cohesive systems have little to no value.

Like a well designed bridge, labor value alone is insufficient to describe the resultant object compared to another. A poorly planned, or designed bridge, with substandard materials is a death trap. Even though it contains the same labor value as a well planned, and designed bridge with premium materials.

When I used to build large complex systems for fortune 50 companies, a dozen seasoned veterans who are knowledgeable in the craft are worth more than any number of lesser skilled. There is a phenomenon called the mythical person-month. The problem is that as the number of people involved grows on a project the inter-communication problem grows exponentially.

Then, I'd say there is the problem of valuing "design" itself. If you look as a pair of sneakers of today, or down hill racing skis, they are leaps and bounds better than those made in the 1960's. Does design have value? If the 1960's sneakers take more time to produce, are they more valuable even though they perform poorly compared to modern sneakers?