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Why do you wonder about "down votes" on a comment that basically insults people in tech on a forum primarily visited by people in tech.

eevilspock 7y ago
Why would tech people, who pride themselves on objectivity, find it insulting? Do tech people deny that they, AS A WHOLE, ON AVERAGE, have below average social skills and below average art skills? A lot of men in tech also deny that current tech culture is sexist, often misogynist. That's male objectivity for you. Perhaps a similar "biased objectivity" is at play here. It's all a bit ironic given that the two comments to which I replied are essentially insulting the author of the article and anyone who appreciates things beyond the utilitarian. They are essentially saying, "It's garbage. It's worthless."
- RockIslandLine 7y ago
  My social skills are just fine. You don't waste my time, and I won't waste yours. If you ain't got nothing to say, don't waste my time.
  - danharaj 7y ago
    Sir, this is a Denny's.
- tech-culture 7y ago
  Making broad generalizations about humans, as we all know, can be really dangerous, prone to eggregious errors, and large groups of people often fail to enjoy one-size-fits-all style treatment. Humans really are THAT diverse, even when you deal with relatively homogenous ethnic subgroups. That said, it still holds true that effluent human output aggregates according to a certain undeniable smell, blameless to any individual, when you step back and let a social order chug away, and sniff the fumes they produce. Sort of like a poultry farm. The chickens aren't trying to smell like chicken shit, but there's almost no way a thousand chickens wouldn't produce the smell of manure, when subjected to the conditions agribusiness often utilizes to farm chickens. Knowing this much, take a hard look at what a technical job asks of the employee. Years spent alone, in silence and solitude, tinkering and fiddling with extremely dry subject matter, usually with dispassionate goals that abstract away from any emotional involvement. Does that sound like something an attractive person would seek out? Does that sound like something a creative person might enjoy? But then, there's the money. Why heap so much value upon tech workers? Because, highly pedantic and uncompromising decision making leads to accurate automation and force multiplication. The cart now leads the horse. All that money. All that prestige. Something extroverts and creative, gregarious people pine for. Why reward these shut-ins? These deformed, mumbling, poorly groomed, bespectacled pick-noses for all the tiddley winks they seem to play with their tin cans and their blinking baubles and their yarn? The money and praise should go to the attractive, the vivacious, the beautiful! The humans! It's just not fair!
- dang 7y ago
  Would you please not take HN threads further into the weeds like this?
  - eevilspock 7y ago
    I apologize (sort of) dang. I believe social and cultural change is far more important than the technological. Even SV is belatedly starting to realize this in the Trump era. Gaining a broader perspective, and more honest self-perspective, are critical to our progress as a society, as a species. You might tell me that even if true, it's not what Hacker News is for. But people in technology are having an outsized impact on our culture, and many people question whether this impact is ultimately good. Where else should people in tech be exposed to thoughts outside the SV bubble? Note that when I made the comments above, the ones I was responding to where at the top of the page. I felt compelled to counter. I'm not arguing with you. I barely post on HN anymore, since it is clear such discourse isn't really welcome.
    - dang 7y ago
      I'm not disputing your point about social and cultural change. The issue is that the comments you posted were too low-quality (generic, venty, and off topic) to be good contributions to a Hacker News thread—a thread about the Romans and toilet paper, of all things. If you get from there to Trump, you've gone on a generic tangent, which is exactly the sort of low-quality, all-the-same discussion we're trying to avoid here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
      - eevilspock 7y ago
        I understand. I only responded because they were the top comments, and I'm a believer in calling things out (the narrow-minded i-don't-have-time-for-humanity dismissiveness common in tech), even the little things, as that is how change happens, from the grassroots. In the same way sexist culture will if sexism is called out most every time it happens. But I will refrain, here on HN.

eevilspock 7y ago

Why would tech people, who pride themselves on objectivity, find it insulting? Do tech people deny that they, AS A WHOLE, ON AVERAGE, have below average social skills and below average art skills? A lot of men in tech also deny that current tech culture is sexist, often misogynist. That's male objectivity for you. Perhaps a similar "biased objectivity" is at play here. It's all a bit ironic given that the two comments to which I replied are essentially insulting the author of the article and anyone who appreciates things beyond the utilitarian. They are essentially saying, "It's garbage. It's worthless."

RockIslandLine 7y ago
My social skills are just fine. You don't waste my time, and I won't waste yours. If you ain't got nothing to say, don't waste my time.
- danharaj 7y ago
  Sir, this is a Denny's.
tech-culture 7y ago
Making broad generalizations about humans, as we all know, can be really dangerous, prone to eggregious errors, and large groups of people often fail to enjoy one-size-fits-all style treatment. Humans really are THAT diverse, even when you deal with relatively homogenous ethnic subgroups. That said, it still holds true that effluent human output aggregates according to a certain undeniable smell, blameless to any individual, when you step back and let a social order chug away, and sniff the fumes they produce. Sort of like a poultry farm. The chickens aren't trying to smell like chicken shit, but there's almost no way a thousand chickens wouldn't produce the smell of manure, when subjected to the conditions agribusiness often utilizes to farm chickens. Knowing this much, take a hard look at what a technical job asks of the employee. Years spent alone, in silence and solitude, tinkering and fiddling with extremely dry subject matter, usually with dispassionate goals that abstract away from any emotional involvement. Does that sound like something an attractive person would seek out? Does that sound like something a creative person might enjoy? But then, there's the money. Why heap so much value upon tech workers? Because, highly pedantic and uncompromising decision making leads to accurate automation and force multiplication. The cart now leads the horse. All that money. All that prestige. Something extroverts and creative, gregarious people pine for. Why reward these shut-ins? These deformed, mumbling, poorly groomed, bespectacled pick-noses for all the tiddley winks they seem to play with their tin cans and their blinking baubles and their yarn? The money and praise should go to the attractive, the vivacious, the beautiful! The humans! It's just not fair!
dang 7y ago
Would you please not take HN threads further into the weeds like this?
- eevilspock 7y ago
  I apologize (sort of) dang. I believe social and cultural change is far more important than the technological. Even SV is belatedly starting to realize this in the Trump era. Gaining a broader perspective, and more honest self-perspective, are critical to our progress as a society, as a species. You might tell me that even if true, it's not what Hacker News is for. But people in technology are having an outsized impact on our culture, and many people question whether this impact is ultimately good. Where else should people in tech be exposed to thoughts outside the SV bubble? Note that when I made the comments above, the ones I was responding to where at the top of the page. I felt compelled to counter. I'm not arguing with you. I barely post on HN anymore, since it is clear such discourse isn't really welcome.
  - dang 7y ago
    I'm not disputing your point about social and cultural change. The issue is that the comments you posted were too low-quality (generic, venty, and off topic) to be good contributions to a Hacker News thread—a thread about the Romans and toilet paper, of all things. If you get from there to Trump, you've gone on a generic tangent, which is exactly the sort of low-quality, all-the-same discussion we're trying to avoid here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - eevilspock 7y ago
      I understand. I only responded because they were the top comments, and I'm a believer in calling things out (the narrow-minded i-don't-have-time-for-humanity dismissiveness common in tech), even the little things, as that is how change happens, from the grassroots. In the same way sexist culture will if sexism is called out most every time it happens. But I will refrain, here on HN.