The quote makes much more sense as an in-joke between two like-minded people, because Alan Kay isn't exactly humble himself nor does he avoid provocative statements.

And speaking as a Dutch man, given the kind of humor we have I'm pretty certain Dijkstra appreciated a good roast like that too.

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rramadass 3 hours ago | parent [-]

The actual context is in this video where Kay makes the comment - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47328782

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vanderZwan 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Have seen that presentation, but that still does not give the full context. At least, I don't think it is obvious from the video alone whether this remark was a friendly jab between friends, or whether it was a stereotypical vicious academic back-and-forth between to big names in a field.

	▲	rramadass 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think this is the sequence that led to the quote. 1) People are miffed with Dijkstra due to his abrasive style. 2) John Backus has a back-and-forth with Dijkstra where he calls him arrogant. 3) The community knows of the above. 4) Dijkstra writes paper comparing Computer Science approaches in Europe vs. USA in his usual sharp style. 5) American Scientists perceive the above as dissing them and take umbrage. 6) Alan Kay writes a paper rebutting Dijkstra's paper pointing out that most of the Software is written on the American side. 7) Alan Kay then disses Dijkstra with this quote half-in-annoyance/half-tongue-in-cheek.