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I had to collapse about 8 threads to find the first comment of someone doubting the argument (in a polite way). Your comment is popular because you are fightin

by soneca 8y ago

I had to collapse about 8 threads to find the first comment of someone doubting the argument (in a polite way). Your comment is popular because you are fighting a "easy-to-hate" minority that is only relevant because you made it so. You make fun of a kind of HN commenter that you find typical. But if your comment is the most popular (#1 now), and assuming that people are upvoting you because they agree that it is indeed typicial, it means that this type of commenter is not typical at all. It is an outlier, properly undervoted by the real typical commenter. So your comment being upvoted disproves itself. Quite a paradox (or just irony?).

deleted 8y ago
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laurent123456 8y ago
It's quite common that the top comment asks "why is everybody saying X", as if X was a widespread opinion. But then you have to scroll three pages down to find the comments being referred too, and they are usually heavily downvoted.
- mcguire 8y ago
  ...because somebody pointed out that the opinion didn't make a damn lick of sense.
- atomical 8y ago
  Check the comments on stories related to diet. You'll see all sorts of crazy pseudoscience being peddled. There are a lot of smart people here, but even smart people can be led astray.
benj111 8y ago
So you're saying that if I disagree with the parent, I should upvote him, to break the paradox? Maybe other voters have already noticed the paradox, and taken appropriate action!
asveikau 8y ago
The character of a comment thread can change quickly here. I don't doubt the possibility that it was an overwhelming opinion when the parent decided to comment on it, even if no longer the case. So maybe the flaw is to over generalize the gist of the thread early in its history.
- eslaught 8y ago
  And on top of that, if GP didn't post this comment, then it might still be the prevailing sentiment in the comment threads. This is a case where making the observation that something is the prevailing sentiment can change what that prevailing sentiment is. I don't know if this is true in this case, but I've seen it happen in the past. In some ways what you'd really like is a feature to go "back in time" in the comment thread and see how it developed, otherwise it can be difficult to appreciate coming in later.
  - marcosdumay 8y ago
    It is also very common that the first few people commenting on a thread have a very different profile than the people that come later.
atomical 8y ago
This whole comment is semantics and not even the good kind. It's arguing to find an argument. It's good ammo for OP's next snarky comment though so I approve.

by soneca 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

laurent123456 8y ago

It's quite common that the top comment asks "why is everybody saying X", as if X was a widespread opinion. But then you have to scroll three pages down to find the comments being referred too, and they are usually heavily downvoted.

mcguire 8y ago
...because somebody pointed out that the opinion didn't make a damn lick of sense.
atomical 8y ago
Check the comments on stories related to diet. You'll see all sorts of crazy pseudoscience being peddled. There are a lot of smart people here, but even smart people can be led astray.

benj111 8y ago

So you're saying that if I disagree with the parent, I should upvote him, to break the paradox? Maybe other voters have already noticed the paradox, and taken appropriate action!

asveikau 8y ago

The character of a comment thread can change quickly here. I don't doubt the possibility that it was an overwhelming opinion when the parent decided to comment on it, even if no longer the case. So maybe the flaw is to over generalize the gist of the thread early in its history.

eslaught 8y ago
And on top of that, if GP didn't post this comment, then it might still be the prevailing sentiment in the comment threads. This is a case where making the observation that something is the prevailing sentiment can change what that prevailing sentiment is. I don't know if this is true in this case, but I've seen it happen in the past. In some ways what you'd really like is a feature to go "back in time" in the comment thread and see how it developed, otherwise it can be difficult to appreciate coming in later.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  It is also very common that the first few people commenting on a thread have a very different profile than the people that come later.

atomical 8y ago

This whole comment is semantics and not even the good kind. It's arguing to find an argument. It's good ammo for OP's next snarky comment though so I approve.