If not anywhere else, then surely on a hacker news site, one would expect not to see a statement of the form "this way that things have always been done is the only way to do it" (especially if 'it' is a subjective thing like presenting data clearly; think about the totally changing UI paradigms that could authoritatively have been predicted to be impossible before the widespread availability of touch-based interaction).
I took that to mean that it is now, rather than only that it was in the 17th century, the only way to present data clearly. Certainly if I misread that, then it undermines some of my argument.
(Even so, I don't think that the onus is on the doubter of a claim of impossibility to provide evidence of possibility, but rather on the claimant to show evidence of impossibility. That is, even if the claim is about the 17th century, then I buy that no-one has thought of a better way, but not that there is no better way—especially since 'better' is ill defined.)
If not anywhere else, then surely on a hacker news site, one would expect not to see a statement of the form "this way that things have always been done is the only way to do it" (especially if 'it' is a subjective thing like presenting data clearly; think about the totally changing UI paradigms that could authoritatively have been predicted to be impossible before the widespread availability of touch-based interaction).