>Would it have been so hard to lead with that fact?
Good observation. I find that the most engaging writing is when someone writes the standard intro/problem statement->supporting data->conclusion, and then completely inverts it. Assert the final conclusion in the very first sentence, then work backwards through the supporting data to the problem statement.
Quick readers will usually already be able to extrapolate the problem from the conclusion, and then can either move on with just that executive summary in mind, or can read through the supporting data and actively evaluate it. Both quicker and more engaging overall.
Instead it seems we're taught to ramble on and on in an attempt to build up to some grand conclusion, but in this day and age of information overload, few people have the time, patience, and/or attention span to ingest all that, at least in the form of a blog post (books, academic articles are a different case).
Yes, but the point is not to simply state 'this common citation in software engineering is bullshit, which indicates they're all idiots and full of bullshit', but to get the reader to actually think about and agree to the logical argument before revealing the specifics of it being software engineering - before readers can engage in self-justification and criticism and confirmation bias 'oh we're special it's not as simple as you think'.
It's like if you took a speech by a politician, removed the obvious identifiers, and showed it to his enemies who agree with it, and then reveal who it was by - you've demonstrated something interesting about human biases. And his enemies may even learn something.
Good observation. I find that the most engaging writing is when someone writes the standard intro/problem statement->supporting data->conclusion, and then completely inverts it. Assert the final conclusion in the very first sentence, then work backwards through the supporting data to the problem statement.
Quick readers will usually already be able to extrapolate the problem from the conclusion, and then can either move on with just that executive summary in mind, or can read through the supporting data and actively evaluate it. Both quicker and more engaging overall.
Instead it seems we're taught to ramble on and on in an attempt to build up to some grand conclusion, but in this day and age of information overload, few people have the time, patience, and/or attention span to ingest all that, at least in the form of a blog post (books, academic articles are a different case).