If I understood it correctly that's what our parent was implying.
A dike is designed to keep water away and, as a side effect, blocks the ocean view. It would be misleading to say that a dike is designed to block the view, as it misrepresents the builders intention to fit a specific narrative.
If we'd explain dikes that way to someone who does not know the concept, they would assume that dike builders have to be very evil.
Which is pretty unfair, given that if we had better ways of building dikes that - everything else equal - don't block the view, everyone would probably build those instead.
I think that such a deliberate misrepresentation reveals the authors agenda and their willingness to be intellectually dishonest.
A dike is designed to keep water away and, as a side effect, blocks the ocean view. It would be misleading to say that a dike is designed to block the view, as it misrepresents the builders intention to fit a specific narrative.
If we'd explain dikes that way to someone who does not know the concept, they would assume that dike builders have to be very evil.
Which is pretty unfair, given that if we had better ways of building dikes that - everything else equal - don't block the view, everyone would probably build those instead.
I think that such a deliberate misrepresentation reveals the authors agenda and their willingness to be intellectually dishonest.