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I don't know why this is such an unpopular comment. HN can be a weird place. There's a lot of good discussion to be had. But the passive-aggressiveness and wal

I don't know why this is such an unpopular comment. HN can be a weird place. There's a lot of good discussion to be had. But the passive-aggressiveness and walking-on-eggshells behaviour required to not be greyed out into oblivion can be a bit much. It reminds me of visiting my childhood friends that had super strict parents - can't watch the simpsons, in bed at 7, etc etc. Always wondering what they might be upset by. I might go back to lurking. I'm a bad 'cultural fit'!

karmakaze 7y ago
Making wholehearted, rational, unpopular comments is one of my fave HN things to do.
dTal 7y ago
In my experience there is almost always an easily identifiable reason for a post being downvoted, and it's usually a good one. It's very avoidable if you engage your brain into "do not offend" mode before posting, which I find quite a positive habit to develop in other areas of life as well. In the case of your comment, the downvotes can be traced to your use of the unnecessarily negative word "obsession". You implied that people who want Lisp to be more popular are mentally unbalanced, even though this is a quite understandable thing to want. And you must admit that your reasoning is, at the very least, quite arguable, and warranted a greater tone of humility. Insults derived from dubious reasoning are a surefire recipe for downvotes. If you had concluded your post with "so it doesn't appear all that important to me for Lisp to be popular in an absolute sense" I think you would have been fine.
- lacampbell 7y ago
  You're absolutely right - I'm used to talking to reasonably well-adjusted, grown up adults with a thick skin and a sense of humour. That's often not the case here, so unless you agonise over every single word and avoid speaking directly, your posts will go grey. Again, I'm a bad cultural fit. Not apportioning blame, I'm sure many here see me as a rude provocateur for my cavalier use of the word 'obsess'. That's life.
  - dTal 7y ago
    But you are apportioning blame. You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor. But, if you've such a thick skin, why obsess over downvotes? They mean nothing except that your post annoyed someone enough for them to click a little button. If you're so convinced it's HN and not you that's the problem, why should it bother you?
    - liability 7y ago
      > "You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor." Did you not say essentially the same? Worded differently, but a comment to the same effect. Why hassle that commenter over different wordings of the same concept?
    - lacampbell 7y ago
      But you are apportioning blame. You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor. I'm describing it from my point of view - I'm not so egocentric to see my perspective as universally true. Hence why I attempted to see it from their perspective. But, if you've such a thick skin, why obsess over downvotes? I didn't bring it up, someone else did and I offered an explanation.

karmakaze 7y ago

Making wholehearted, rational, unpopular comments is one of my fave HN things to do.

dTal 7y ago

In my experience there is almost always an easily identifiable reason for a post being downvoted, and it's usually a good one. It's very avoidable if you engage your brain into "do not offend" mode before posting, which I find quite a positive habit to develop in other areas of life as well. In the case of your comment, the downvotes can be traced to your use of the unnecessarily negative word "obsession". You implied that people who want Lisp to be more popular are mentally unbalanced, even though this is a quite understandable thing to want. And you must admit that your reasoning is, at the very least, quite arguable, and warranted a greater tone of humility. Insults derived from dubious reasoning are a surefire recipe for downvotes. If you had concluded your post with "so it doesn't appear all that important to me for Lisp to be popular in an absolute sense" I think you would have been fine.

lacampbell 7y ago
You're absolutely right - I'm used to talking to reasonably well-adjusted, grown up adults with a thick skin and a sense of humour. That's often not the case here, so unless you agonise over every single word and avoid speaking directly, your posts will go grey. Again, I'm a bad cultural fit. Not apportioning blame, I'm sure many here see me as a rude provocateur for my cavalier use of the word 'obsess'. That's life.
- dTal 7y ago
  But you are apportioning blame. You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor. But, if you've such a thick skin, why obsess over downvotes? They mean nothing except that your post annoyed someone enough for them to click a little button. If you're so convinced it's HN and not you that's the problem, why should it bother you?
  - liability 7y ago
    > "You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor." Did you not say essentially the same? Worded differently, but a comment to the same effect. Why hassle that commenter over different wordings of the same concept?
  - lacampbell 7y ago
    But you are apportioning blame. You are calling HN a bunch of unbalanced, immature children with a thin skin and no sense of humor. I'm describing it from my point of view - I'm not so egocentric to see my perspective as universally true. Hence why I attempted to see it from their perspective. But, if you've such a thick skin, why obsess over downvotes? I didn't bring it up, someone else did and I offered an explanation.