"Considered Harmful" Essays Considered Harmful

"Considered Harmful" Essays Considered Harmful

It is not uncommon, in the context of academic debates over computer science and Web standards topics, to see the publication of one or more "considered harmful" essays. These essays have existed in some form for more than three decades now, and it has become obvious that their time has passed. Because "considered harmful" essays are, by their nature, so incendiary, they are counter-productive both in terms of encouraging open and intelligent debate, and in gathering support for the view they promote. In other words, "considered harmful" essays cause more harm than they do good.

What Are "Considered Harmful" Essays?

The Jargon File has a short entry on "considered harmful" that encapsulates the genesis of such essays:

Edsger W. Dijkstra’s note in the March 1968 Communications of the ACM, "Go To Statement Considered Harmful," fired the first salvo in the structured programming wars…. As it turns out, the title under which the letter appeared was actually supplied by CACM’s editor, Niklaus Wirth.

The controversy resulting from the article’s publication became so heated that the CACM subsequently decided to never again publish pieces with such assertive positions.

The seeds of conflict were already in the ground, however, and in the years since 1968 there have been thousands of pieces published with the general title format of "[something] Considered Harmful." A search of Google at the end of 2002 turned up more than 4,700 Web pages with the exact phrase "considered harmful" in the document title. A similar search which looked for the exact phrase "considered harmful" in all document content yielded approximately 46,600 results.

All of this content is the more wasteful because "considered harmful" essays have become something of a joke. In some cases, these essays are written as jokes, but more often they are serious statements of opposition to a practice, idea, or technology. The problem is that "considered harmful" essays rarely, if ever, have the intended effect of weakening support for whatever it is they consider harmful.

Why Do People Write "Considered Harmful" Essays?

There are those cases where such essays are written because the author enjoys grandstanding, and knows that use of the "considered harmful" format will get them noticed. A piece of this type is usually so over the top that it is easy to spot. For example, a piece titled "‘Considered Harmful’ Essays Considered Harmful" would very likely be a case of using the "considered harmful" format to draw attention for its own sake. We will ignore such essays in this commentary.

Typically, "considered harmful" essays gets written because someone has an axe to grind, and they feel like making that grinding process both public and dogmatic. This is a form of grandstanding, of course, but it is done with a purpose beyond simple publicity seeking. Usually such "considered harmful" essays are intended to draw attention to a little-known subject about which the author is passionate, or to highlight what the author feels to be a poor decision by someone else.

In addition, there are those "considered harmful" essays that are written as part of a long-running argument that has gradually escalated. Indeed, debates over W3C standards seem to be particularly susceptible to this trend. Instead of being the opening salvos, these essays are more like doomsday devices in the eyes of their authors. The idea is that the arguments presented will be so devastating to the opposing side that capitulation will immediately follow, thus securing victory for the essay’s author and right-minded people the world over. Following in the footsteps of Godwin’s Law, we can draw a similar maxim: As a theoretical debate grows longer, the probability of a "considered harmful" essay approaches one.

In the main, however, it often seems that "considered harmful" essays get written simply because an author can’t think of a better way to express his point of view. This is a sad commentary on both the authors in question and the level of debate most often present in our societies.

How Do "Considered Harmful" Essays Cause Harm?

There are three primary ways in which these essays cause harm.

The writing of a "considered harmful" essay often serves to inflame whatever debate is in progress, and thus makes it that much harder for a solution to be found through any means. Those who support the view that the essay attacks are more likely to dig in and defend their views by any means necessary, and are less receptive to reasoned debate. By pushing the opposing views further apart, it becomes more likely that the essay will cause a permanent break between opposing views rather than contribute to a resolution of the debate.

"Considered harmful" essays are most harmful to their own causes. The publication of a "considered harmful" essay has a strong tendency to alienate neutral parties, thus...