4 ms·

These kinds of stories are very dangerous for social news sites. People vote them up not because they're interesting, but just to support their preferred candid

by hugh 19y ago

These kinds of stories are very dangerous for social news sites. People vote them up not because they're interesting, but just to support their preferred candidate. Maybe somebody should submit an "Ask YC: What Presidential candidate do you like?" That way everybody could get their political opinions off their chest once and for all, and we wouldn't have to suffer through ten months of this kind of stuff.

pchristensen 19y ago
That's an idea that I love and HATE at the same time, with multiple reasons for each. I love that I would get to hear what everyone thinks and love that it would be confined to one place. I hate that it would likely incite lots of ugly, ugly comments, and that it would probably draw the useful, civil comments out of context of other threads where they would be appropriate. Politics can be so divisive and get so heated that even people who are interested are afraid to talk about it in public. I think the problem is that a political party or candidate is a very low-bandwidth symbol that loses most of the information contained in that choice. The fact that a Mormon, a woman, and a black guy are running means that any vote can be interpreted as discrimination against the group not chosen. For example, if you told me you voted for John Edwards, should I assume you like his economic populism or that you're too narrow minded for a black or woman president? If you vote for a Republican, does that mean you are a homophobe? It's like trying to express everything you believe about anything, the moral, ethical, and intellectual debates you have inside into two bits (party, candidate). That's a hard problem.
brianr 19y ago
I voted this up because I thought it was interesting. As has been said elsewhere in this thread, it's uncommon for a comic author to endorse a candidate. For me the news item here is not the content of the endorsement, but the fact that it took place.

by hugh 19y ago

pchristensen 19y ago

That's an idea that I love and HATE at the same time, with multiple reasons for each. I love that I would get to hear what everyone thinks and love that it would be confined to one place. I hate that it would likely incite lots of ugly, ugly comments, and that it would probably draw the useful, civil comments out of context of other threads where they would be appropriate. Politics can be so divisive and get so heated that even people who are interested are afraid to talk about it in public. I think the problem is that a political party or candidate is a very low-bandwidth symbol that loses most of the information contained in that choice. The fact that a Mormon, a woman, and a black guy are running means that any vote can be interpreted as discrimination against the group not chosen. For example, if you told me you voted for John Edwards, should I assume you like his economic populism or that you're too narrow minded for a black or woman president? If you vote for a Republican, does that mean you are a homophobe? It's like trying to express everything you believe about anything, the moral, ethical, and intellectual debates you have inside into two bits (party, candidate). That's a hard problem.

brianr 19y ago

I voted this up because I thought it was interesting. As has been said elsewhere in this thread, it's uncommon for a comic author to endorse a candidate. For me the news item here is not the content of the endorsement, but the fact that it took place.