In college, Akhil Damodaran,PhD and I debated like our lives depended on it. We’d shout ourselves hoarse over topics we didn’t even believe in, just for the intellectual workout. We weren’t trying to win Twitter points — we were trying to think better. And then we’d grab chai and joke about who lost their voice first. No bruised egos, just sharpened minds.
That, to me, was the real spirit of “strong opinions loosely held.”
I’ve had similar debates with Anto and many others in the post-college world too. We’d fight our point with full aggression - but the moment someone brought in a fact that could change the game, we listened. Changed stance if needed. And still stayed close friends.
But in tech today? It feels more like “strong opinions, weakly understood, conveniently abandoned.” One week, serverless is salvation. Next week, cloud is a scam. Same voices, zero accountability.
And when someone like DHH puts out a detailed writeup explaining the issues, the same folks who pushed the hype are suddenly critics. With no trace of having ever believed the opposite.
I’m all for changing your mind when facts change. But if you’re loud when making a claim, be just as loud when you walk it back. Otherwise, it’s not growth, it’s performance.
We could use fewer hot takes, and more honest disagreements.