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So how do people ever change their mind on anything? I'd say that within any group with a certain conviction there will always be people at the fringes which ar
by jernfrost 10y ago
So how do people ever change their mind on anything? I'd say that within any group with a certain conviction there will always be people at the fringes which are less convinced and who are willing to explore alternatives.
I once believed in the death penalty. I once believe in God. I was once a libertarian. Of course a single person didn't change my mind on these points, but being exposed to alternatives by many people over time changed my perspective. Although I guess often simply seeking information is what eventually does most to change opinions.
- tptacek 10y agoI'm not arguing against persuasive essays. Persuasive essays are great. I'm saying that this isn't a persuasive essay. It's a political bulletin. I agree with its politics, but not with its place on the HN front page.
- jacquesm 10y agoEven if the essay isn't persuasive the discussion could be. I also think that your flag-marshalling is in pretty poor taste, flagging it yourself for whatever reasons you have is fine but to call on others to do so as well is really not good.
- tptacek 10y agoYou don't have to flag anything you don't want to. Generally, if all I have to say about a submission is that I flagged it, I'll refrain from saying that. But that's not all I had to say here.
- jacquesm 10y agoSure, but calling for others to flag a post is - especially with your rep on HN - akin to killing an article and imnsho way across the line.
- tptacek 10y agoSorry, but I'm not interested in argumentum ad internet points. You can, of course, flag my comment, or mail hn@ycombinator.com about it.
- tedunangst 10y agoIsn't that exactly what the article is doing, calling on others to vote the same way?
- jacquesm 10y agoNo, it isn't. Flags are counted asymmetrically compared to votes. But if you want to be clever about it go ahead, personally I think it is against what HN is about, if we're going to have flag brigading we might as well have vote brigading. See also: digg.