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This is meta, but I think comments like these should be banned from HN, because they demonstrate a lack of willingness to seek out an answer on one's own, imply
by tedks 11y ago
This is meta, but I think comments like these should be banned from HN, because they demonstrate a lack of willingness to seek out an answer on one's own, implying (in my opinion) an adversarial model of the conversational exchange.
If `gadders` really wanted to get to the truth of the situation, it would be easy enough to make a few google searches, and if those really came up empty, post a comment asking for a citation with notes of which google searches failed, to help future information-seekers.
Waiting for the other party to deliver a citation on a platter puts the exchange on hold until that point, and wrongly allocates karma to intellectual laziness as people see the seemingly-reasonable request for a source and second the notion.
These comments certainly add no useful information, and they detract from the conversation by making it more adversarial.
- nitrogen 11y agoThe same is true of comments that make a claim that isn't already widely known. It would not be easy for a non-UK resident to know what to look for in this case.
- eunoia 11y ago> These comments certainly add no useful information It did though, someone else came in to link the requested reference. As an American I knew nothing of the "Five Techniques" and learned something new today as a direct result of that comment. If you make a statement of fact you have an obligation to back it up with references. It makes perfect sense then that statements without references can and should be challenged to provide them.
- late2part 11y agoI don't agree. The request for more information should not be disdained. It was neither dismissive nor unprofessional.
- xacaxulu 11y agoAsking for facts/figures is not adversarial.
- digler999 11y ago> Waiting for the other party to deliver a citation on a platter puts the exchange on hold until that point, which is why if you're making a non-trivial claim, the claimant should take an extra minute to paste his source.
- ryanlol 11y agoEven though I was the one to provide the source, I still upvoted this comment. While I was aware of the five techniques, I literally googled "uk torture" and that was pretty much the first link I got. If you really want sources, I think doing a quick google search before asking for them is a good idea. Not that you shouldn't ask for them, but doing even a single search before that doesn't take more than 10 seconds.