The drafts were probably longer and worse. It's pretty normal to need a few people for feedback. Like the other commenter said, it's normal in writing.

True, but that is also exactly the point of what he was saying, so there is something poetic about how bland it was.

Yes it's called writing.

Wooosh. That would be a relevant answer if I had asked about the practice of writing drafts and having friends go through them in general.

My point was different: several drafts and editors were needed for this tiny and banal result?

It's like seeing someone ordering a $10,000 AGA cooker, buying all kinds of spices, herbs and fresh ingredients, amassing several Kitchenaid appliances, getting into an apron and a chef's hat, and then proceed to make ...a grilled cheese sandwich.

PG lets his inner circle read all of his posts first, whether it's strictly necessary or not. Also, I thought it was commonly accepted that a lot of work goes into distilling simple expressions of ideas.

>Also, I thought it was commonly accepted that a lot of work goes into distilling simple expressions of ideas.

That's only for when you actually distill complex ideas into simple expression. E.g. explaining a complex subject in a succinct and simple to understand way, like Feynman's lectures.

A mere simple expression of something banal to begin with shouldn't take lots of work, the same way writing "The sun is hot, we should better not walk on it" shouldn't.

May be if the sandwich was going to be consumed by one person. But this "sandwich" will be read by thousands. Well worth the effort of three reviewers.

If you expect thousands, and have 3 reviewers, at least come up with a decent sandwich. Or, failing that, just don't show anything at all until you got something good.

The fact that PG does this (even with longer essays actually) bothers me to no end and always has. It's as if he doesn't have confidence in what he is saying. Or as if he thinks that what he is saying has some earth shattering implications or impact. [1] And it's not printed in a book. He could easily change it and update it after reading what others said afterwords.

I can understand if he were to write an opinion piece for a major newspaper. Or perhaps having Jessica give it the once over. Or another person with no need to acknowledge or thank them.

And it's certainly not representative of the world that the rest of us operate in when posting comments here on HN. You know the downvotes and gray out comments when someone doesn't like what we have said or doesn't agree with it.

How about an essay on why he has people read his essays before posting them?

One other thing. I don't think honesty requires someone to even give thanks like he does. I think that detracts from the essay and doesn't add to it. There is no requirement to give acknowledgement in that fashion if you are getting help in that way. Assumes the help is minor if the help is major you have to question why someone even is writing essays.

Lastly, I think this sets a bad example for younger people on the way up. The reason? You have to learn from your mistakes and from the brutal honesty of people and how they react to what you say. While this is not importantly to PG (he has already made it) I think constantly having others 2nd guess what you do is not the path to being able to think on your own feet.

[1] Like he is a world leader, or a corporate CEO, and has to tread carefully for fear of a bad outcome from his words.

I don't think you deserve the downvotes for expressing your opinion.

However, there's nothing wrong with having trusted friends read your work. In fact, it shows respect to your readers, especially if you have a megaphone as PG does. Thanking your editors is polite and that is something we could use more of.