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PowerPoint Makes You Dumb

Posted by timothy on from the no-it-makes- dept.

jpatokal writes "The New York Times confirms what we've suspected all along: PowerPoint makes you dumb. In a new essay, information theorist Edward Tufte outlines why PowerPoint 'forces people to mutilate data beyond comprehension.' The Columbia Accident Investigation Board at NASA agrees, noting that the slides produced by engineers to report on the wing damage were so confusing that 'a senior manager might read this PowerPoint slide and not realize that it addresses a life-threatening situation.'" Tufte's essay (and the shuttle/PowerPoint critique) has been available for sale since earlier this year, but the NYT article gives a greater sampling of its content than Tufte's website does.

2 of 450 comments (clear)

  1. So let's see... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    1) PowerPoint makes you dumb
    2) David Byrne has been getting his PowerPoint on, to produce art.
    3) Therefore, art makes you dumb?
    Hmmm... do we also believe guns kill people, not the people pulling the triggers?

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  2. Engineers are dumb, not powerpoint by Cthefuture · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Seriously, I've seen some really awful stuff done by engineers. If you've ever worked on your own car then you know what I mean.

    I've worked for NASA, I know those guys. Some are very smart but couldn't explain what they know to you (which is quite obvious in this Powerpoint case).

    And don't get me started on engineers that try to be programmers. Oh, there are a lot of them and for the most part they all suck beyond comprehension.

    --
    The ratio of people to cake is too big