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While on HN, you can feel the general air of acceptable ideas. Sam Altman is not concerned that a leftist can't have a sane discussion on this website. But he

While on HN, you can feel the general air of acceptable ideas. Sam Altman is not concerned that a leftist can't have a sane discussion on this website. But he IS concerned that a bigoted racist can't be openly bigoted at work. Weird. I wonder why it is that Sam Altman is so concerned about the rights of bigots to be openly bigoted? Definitely couldn't be related to his relationship with Peter Thiel. No way...

nine_k 9y ago
I don't see left agenda oppressed on HN. E.g. posts about universal basic income, allegedly a rather left-wing policy, appear here often, are highly upvoted and, to my mind, discussed in a quite civil manner.
- kbenson 9y ago
  It's always easier to assume that your argument is being dismissed because the other side is ignorant or intolerant. As dang points out in a sibling comment to yours, it seems to be universal. I've found most of HN willing to dive fairly deep on any topic as long as you remain respectful and don't present your self unwilling to actually reconsider your opinion. The problem is that all too often, assholes don't realize that how much an asshole they are comes across very clearly in how they present themselves or their ideas, and many people don't like interacting with assholes. The other problem is that we're all assholes sometimes.
- rhapsodic 9y ago
  >I don't see left agenda oppressed on HN. E.g. posts about universal basic income, allegedly a rather left-wing policy, appear here often, are highly upvoted and, to my mind, discussed in a quite civil manner. And further, I've noticed that even the most anodyne comments here that express even slightly right-of-center views get heavily downvoted.
dang 9y ago
Comments like this and your other one at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15925935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15925935 are so interesting to me because the opposing comments are so similar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15752730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15752730, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307915 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307915, lots more at https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%2013110004 https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=.... From my perspective it brings out how much the people at the poles have in common. (That's not an argument in favor of the ideological center btw; if you think that kind of averaging is dumb, I agree. The way out is not so easy.) > Definitely couldn't be related to his relationship with Peter Thiel You might have the arrow of causality reversed there. Also, please don't lash out personally. It's true that public figures are just cartoon characters in most people's minds, and you don't owe any better to cartoon characters, but you do owe better to this community if you're commenting here.
int_19h 9y ago
I'm a "leftist", and I had plenty of sane and interesting discussions on this website.

nine_k 9y ago

I don't see left agenda oppressed on HN. E.g. posts about universal basic income, allegedly a rather left-wing policy, appear here often, are highly upvoted and, to my mind, discussed in a quite civil manner.

kbenson 9y ago
It's always easier to assume that your argument is being dismissed because the other side is ignorant or intolerant. As dang points out in a sibling comment to yours, it seems to be universal. I've found most of HN willing to dive fairly deep on any topic as long as you remain respectful and don't present your self unwilling to actually reconsider your opinion. The problem is that all too often, assholes don't realize that how much an asshole they are comes across very clearly in how they present themselves or their ideas, and many people don't like interacting with assholes. The other problem is that we're all assholes sometimes.
rhapsodic 9y ago
>I don't see left agenda oppressed on HN. E.g. posts about universal basic income, allegedly a rather left-wing policy, appear here often, are highly upvoted and, to my mind, discussed in a quite civil manner. And further, I've noticed that even the most anodyne comments here that express even slightly right-of-center views get heavily downvoted.

dang 9y ago

Comments like this and your other one at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15925935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15925935 are so interesting to me because the opposing comments are so similar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15752730 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15752730, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307915 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307915, lots more at https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%2013110004 https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=.... From my perspective it brings out how much the people at the poles have in common. (That's not an argument in favor of the ideological center btw; if you think that kind of averaging is dumb, I agree. The way out is not so easy.) > Definitely couldn't be related to his relationship with Peter Thiel You might have the arrow of causality reversed there. Also, please don't lash out personally. It's true that public figures are just cartoon characters in most people's minds, and you don't owe any better to cartoon characters, but you do owe better to this community if you're commenting here.

int_19h 9y ago

I'm a "leftist", and I had plenty of sane and interesting discussions on this website.