> I have a background in sociology and urban planning

What an interesting way to make it sound like that means anything. "Background" - how appropriately vague...

And how exactly does this make you an expert on European, and especially Danish, immigration, culture and vox populi?

People say "background" here, because the default assumption is HN readers have software expertise, but it's frequently unclear what else, if anything, they have here.

I do agree "background" is vague, but I generally assume the minimal threshold to say that is something like a previous career, undergraduate degree, or graduate degree in the background. I personally wouldn't say I had a background in something I was only an amateur enthusiast of.

---

That being said, what on earth gives you the idea a substantial background in sociology WOULDN'T be relevant here?

	▲	machomaster 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Because I understand what sociology is and isn't, since I too have "a background" in sociology and urban development. As well as statistics, history and even futurology. Appeal to authority is a bias for a reason. In this case it wasn't even that well executed. A "background in software development" (an HR or a marketing girl in the website design sweatshop) does not give enough relevance and authority to speak about the technical details of Linux kernel. Vice versa.