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It's clearly in the realm of opinion. Also, it's the only part of his post you have issue with? Why is that?

by bena 8y ago

mistermann 8y ago
> It's clearly in the realm of opinion. Then qualify it as an opinion rather than stating it as a fact. People subconsciously form opinions based on information they consume, including comments like that (not your comment, to be clear). I don't know about you, but when I come to a forum that takes itself as seriously as HN, I expect people to hold themselves to some reasonable standard of honesty. You'd be a fool to believe everything you read on reddit, can we not set higher standards for ourselves here? The HN guidelines suggest that's our intent. > Also, it's the only part of his post you have issue with? Why is that? I'm not sure I understand the question. I don't have an issue with the rest of his post because it not only seems at least reasonably accurate, but some of it ("It’s too easy to think that everything should be clear-cut, but reality is messy") seems very insightful in this age of largely fact-optional ideological sniping. Meta: "You're posting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks." I'd bet money bet this message isn't entirely honest with respect to the underlying algorithm. In my opinion, Facebook isn't the only platform that has a ~moral responsibility in society with respect to speech and its effect on society.
- bena 8y ago
  I too expect a higher standard of honesty, but we still get people being dishonest about their intentions. They couch it in peculiar questions and playing devil's advocate. Then when a light is shined upon their behavior, they feign ignorance. It is a problem.
  - mistermann 8y ago
    I agree, so please join me in applying some social pressure to those who are behaving as if facts and opinions are equivalent. Perhaps it's relatively harmless while the wind is behind the back of one political fashion of the day, but if the the public has lost the ability to tell the difference between fact and reality and the political fashion changes, it may not be so harmless. See the current state of affairs in politics as an example of the importance of this.

It's clearly in the realm of opinion. Also, it's the only part of his post you have issue with? Why is that?

by bena 8y ago

It's clearly in the realm of opinion. Also, it's the only part of his post you have issue with? Why is that?

> It's clearly in the realm of opinion. Then qualify it as an opinion rather than stating it as a fact. People subconsciously form opinions based on information they consume, including comments like that (not your comment, to be clear). I don't know about you, but when I come to a forum that takes itself as seriously as HN, I expect people to hold themselves to some reasonable standard of honesty. You'd be a fool to believe everything you read on reddit, can we not set higher standards for ourselves here? The HN guidelines suggest that's our intent. > Also, it's the only part of his post you have issue with? Why is that? I'm not sure I understand the question. I don't have an issue with the rest of his post because it not only seems at least reasonably accurate, but some of it ("It’s too easy to think that everything should be clear-cut, but reality is messy") seems very insightful in this age of largely fact-optional ideological sniping. Meta: "You're posting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks." I'd bet money bet this message isn't entirely honest with respect to the underlying algorithm. In my opinion, Facebook isn't the only platform that has a ~moral responsibility in society with respect to speech and its effect on society.

bena 8y ago
I too expect a higher standard of honesty, but we still get people being dishonest about their intentions. They couch it in peculiar questions and playing devil's advocate. Then when a light is shined upon their behavior, they feign ignorance. It is a problem.
- mistermann 8y ago
  I agree, so please join me in applying some social pressure to those who are behaving as if facts and opinions are equivalent. Perhaps it's relatively harmless while the wind is behind the back of one political fashion of the day, but if the the public has lost the ability to tell the difference between fact and reality and the political fashion changes, it may not be so harmless. See the current state of affairs in politics as an example of the importance of this.