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Probably polarizing because people believe so differently about giving. Some believe that "good" giving means giving a large portion of what you have, not a sm

Probably polarizing because people believe so differently about giving. Some believe that "good" giving means giving a large portion of what you have, not a small fraction. Others believe a gift is good gift, no matter how small. Others believe a $14mm gift is good because of how large it is, regardless of whether or not it's 0.01% or 100% of his net worth. Others take offense when people try to dictate theirs or others lives by claiming a kind or charitable act is insufficient because it doesn't put out the giver as much as they should like. And there are probably other ways to look at it as well. This sort of debate always crops up when rich people donate money.

SixSigma 11y ago
But up/downvoting isn't supposed to be based on how you feel about the comment but whether it adds value to the site.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Who says?
  - djhn 11y ago
    Common sense, convention, HN rules?
    - DanBC 11y ago
      What HN rules?
      - djhn 11y ago
        My bad, like Six Sigma above said, the guidelines do not include such rule. Since HN evolved /co-evolved with reddit and follows many of the conventions even more strictly, I thought this is also an HN rule. Intuitively, it also makes sense - 'upvoting', or irl aknowledging things you disagree with is how you would aknowledge that you see the opposing argument as valid, and will address the disagreement in a response. As opposed to downvoting, or irl ignoring, comments that fall so far out of scope of civil debate and are not constructive.
  - SixSigma 11y ago
    I thought it said that in the guidelines [1] but I was wrong https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
ChuckMcM 11y ago
Exactly correct, there is the story in Mark 12:43 "Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." which a lot of people learned in Sunday school that teaches the "size" of the gift doesn't count as much as the "sacrifice" of the gift. Some people internalized that to mean that gifts without sacrifice were worthless, but that was, in my opinion, the wrong take away. Every gift and every kindness has value, regardless of how hard it is to give. Its impact however can be moderated somewhat by the amount of sacrifice behind it. And as most people also recognize that failing to provide the kindness when the sacrifice is minimal, is its own kind of problem.

SixSigma 11y ago

But up/downvoting isn't supposed to be based on how you feel about the comment but whether it adds value to the site.

DanBC 11y ago
Who says?
- djhn 11y ago
  Common sense, convention, HN rules?
  - DanBC 11y ago
    What HN rules?
    - djhn 11y ago
      My bad, like Six Sigma above said, the guidelines do not include such rule. Since HN evolved /co-evolved with reddit and follows many of the conventions even more strictly, I thought this is also an HN rule. Intuitively, it also makes sense - 'upvoting', or irl aknowledging things you disagree with is how you would aknowledge that you see the opposing argument as valid, and will address the disagreement in a response. As opposed to downvoting, or irl ignoring, comments that fall so far out of scope of civil debate and are not constructive.
- SixSigma 11y ago
  I thought it said that in the guidelines [1] but I was wrong https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

ChuckMcM 11y ago

Exactly correct, there is the story in Mark 12:43 "Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." which a lot of people learned in Sunday school that teaches the "size" of the gift doesn't count as much as the "sacrifice" of the gift. Some people internalized that to mean that gifts without sacrifice were worthless, but that was, in my opinion, the wrong take away. Every gift and every kindness has value, regardless of how hard it is to give. Its impact however can be moderated somewhat by the amount of sacrifice behind it. And as most people also recognize that failing to provide the kindness when the sacrifice is minimal, is its own kind of problem.