I wrote Big-O: how code slows as data grows to explain Big-O notation. My goal was to explain it in broad strokes for people new to the idea. It grew out of thinking I’d been doing about beginners and experts. In the comments, there was an unexpected and unfortunate real-world lesson.
An anonymous coward named “pyon” said I should be ashamed. They pointed out a detail of algorithmic analysis that I had not mentioned. It’s a detail that I had never encountered before. I think it’s an interesting detail, but not one that needed to be included.
Pyon is an example of a toxic expert. People like this know a lot, but they use that knowledge to separate themselves from the unwashed masses of newbs. Rather than teach, they choose to sneer from their lofty perches, lamenting the state of the world around them, filled as it is with People Who Don’t Want To Learn.
