3 ms·

This needs to be read with the mindset that it's for people who've decided to publish opinions, and care about having more people read them. There are lots of

This needs to be read with the mindset that it's for people who've decided to publish opinions, and care about having more people read them. There are lots of reasons you might not want to do that: you're the kind of person who picks stupid fights[0], your opinions are deeply hated by most people, etc. For the people it's aimed at, I think it's close to being right. For many others, writing is a tangential part of what they do, and they ought to be a lot more careful. But that probably also means giving up on having a lot of people read their opinions. You can't spread your ideas with one hand tied behind your back. [0] Not being judgmental here...I've picked too many stupid fights in my time.

gerdesj 8y ago
There is nothing wrong with publishing your opinion. There is nothing wrong in engaging in reasoned, responsible discussion. There is nothing wrong in displaying passion towards a chosen point of view. You'll notice that I have very, very carefully chosen my words. I could probably continue in this vein for ages and not impress anyone. I'm not sure where the balance is but I find discourse on HN tending towards saccharine with some excellent but infrequent counter examples. wrt: [0] - I think that sometimes you have to be seen to tilt at windmills but you should choose your windmills carefully. Actually, you'd be surprised how effective a well chosen jab from a lance might be at the sweeps (think branch in the spokes of a wheel). Perhaps someone should have told that Spanish bloke or have I completely knackered this analogy?