I agree with you completely and I think this cannot be controversial. If we cannot agree that sort(my_list) is better than its inlined function, our profession truly is at square one.
The interesting part of this is that although you kind of know that positions with as little nuance as Brian's have to be wrong (because the world isn't simple), it's still important to think about why you hold your own positions instead of dismissing any challenge to them outright. I think it's good to think about why we use objects and whether we need to do it as much.
What we especially lack in programming is any evidence for our practices. The best we currently have is opinion and experience. That means a lot, but not as much as empirical evidence, and I think we tend to forget that too often.
The interesting part of this is that although you kind of know that positions with as little nuance as Brian's have to be wrong (because the world isn't simple), it's still important to think about why you hold your own positions instead of dismissing any challenge to them outright. I think it's good to think about why we use objects and whether we need to do it as much.
What we especially lack in programming is any evidence for our practices. The best we currently have is opinion and experience. That means a lot, but not as much as empirical evidence, and I think we tend to forget that too often.