Re: Tom Kyte a false idol?

On Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:10:05 -0800, richard.rankin wrote:

 "I have been working in this field for 30 years" or "I have two post
> graduate degrees from Harvard in this field.", I immediately feel
> assured that they do not have a sound case and if I examine it closely,
> I'm going to be able to cut it to pieces.

Why would you want to cut it to pieces? If someone has a post graduate degree from Harvard, he or she is likely very knowledgeable and trained in the art of logical thinking. I am very reluctant to discard someone who had to poses such traits in order to achieve a post graduate degree from Harvard. The same goes for experience. If someone has survived in the cut-throat field of IT for 30 years, there is a reason for that.

> Particularly despicable is the argumentum ad verecundiam, the
> argument that one's position is correct because one's opponent lacks
> credibility,

Actually, argumentum ad verecundiam is also known as the appeal to authority. Argumentum ad verecundiam would be if I claimed that I am right because Tom Kyte agrees with me. That would be wrong. I am right because Jonathan Lewis agrees with me.

> their position is therefore incorrect and thus one's position be
> correct. I will not delve into inductive reasoning but it is
> essentially the same sort of fallacious reasoning.
>
> I have been reading papers by many of the people mentioned and I
> only accept those providing sound evidence and reasoning. Tom Kyte
> invariable provides and insists on a script that sets up the test case
> and executes the verifying test (and usually releases any memory

I couldn't agree more. Proofs are essential in our field and Tom always proves his statements.

>
> "Don't accept authority simply because it comes from some great man or
> is written in a sacred book." - The Buddha

You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

Al Capone

-- 
Mladen Gogala
The Oracle Whisperer
http://mgogala.byethost5.com
Je suis Charlie