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Thanks for clarifying. I am in the same boat. Whenever I go against ideologies of HN, I am always prepared to lose some karma also. I refuse to use a throwaway

Thanks for clarifying. I am in the same boat. Whenever I go against ideologies of HN, I am always prepared to lose some karma also. I refuse to use a throwaway account.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
As it should be. Politics done right means we can agree or disagree with each other, but otherwise still coexist in peace. As for burning karma, you can lose it when arguing either way, and in my experience, whether you lose or gain points depends primarily on a) the quality of your comment (as separate from contents), and b) whether it's the US or Europe that's awake at the time you post it.
- yourbandsucks 7y ago
  I mean.. politics ought not to be an exercise in demanding conformity and punishing any non-standard thought.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Exactly. What I like on HN is that, unlike some other communities I've observed, you can still gain votes when reasonably arguing on either side of the issue. The hive mind isn't as strong yet to defy all reason.
    - yourbandsucks 7y ago
      Eh. I commented that "Chinese people are people too" the other day and got pretty heavily downvoted. Are those downvoters expressing a reasoned belief that Chinese people aren't people? Or are they just reduced to a set of tribal motor reflexes with up and down arrows? I'm actually kinda hoping it's the 2nd one rather than the first.
      - TeMPOraL 7y ago
        I said "can", not "you always do". That said, context matters, and in the wrong context, a terse factual statement will be taken by almost everyone at anything but face value.
      - piedar 7y ago
        Oh come on now - don't pretend that comment was some neutral statement of fact. It was a clear implication of moral failure in your opponent's argument. And it's not really persuasive to then double down on a false dilemma (is my out-group evil, or just stupid?).
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        yourbandsucks 7y ago
        Think of it as a scissor statement. Either it's the most mild, milquetoast statement possible or it's a declaration of war against Human Rights, Mom and Apple Pie.
      - Fjolsvith 7y ago
        It is probably due that that phrase could be considered a negative commentary on CCP's take on human rights. I've noticed that anything indicating a negative regarding China is squashed hard anymore on HN.
    - xiphias2 7y ago
      Didn't it change a lot in the last couple of years? A few years ago I felt that I can speak freely, and in the worst case I wasn't upvoted. Nowdays I feel much more like I need to choose my words very carefully.
  - carapace 7y ago
    Yeah, that's called culture.
Fjolsvith 7y ago
I've burned so much karma on political commenting that HN now limits me to about 5 comments a day, period.

Thanks for clarifying. I am in the same boat. Whenever I go against ideologies of HN, I am always prepared to lose some karma also. I refuse to use a throwaway account.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

As it should be. Politics done right means we can agree or disagree with each other, but otherwise still coexist in peace. As for burning karma, you can lose it when arguing either way, and in my experience, whether you lose or gain points depends primarily on a) the quality of your comment (as separate from contents), and b) whether it's the US or Europe that's awake at the time you post it.

yourbandsucks 7y ago
I mean.. politics ought not to be an exercise in demanding conformity and punishing any non-standard thought.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Exactly. What I like on HN is that, unlike some other communities I've observed, you can still gain votes when reasonably arguing on either side of the issue. The hive mind isn't as strong yet to defy all reason.
  - yourbandsucks 7y ago
    Eh. I commented that "Chinese people are people too" the other day and got pretty heavily downvoted. Are those downvoters expressing a reasoned belief that Chinese people aren't people? Or are they just reduced to a set of tribal motor reflexes with up and down arrows? I'm actually kinda hoping it's the 2nd one rather than the first.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      I said "can", not "you always do". That said, context matters, and in the wrong context, a terse factual statement will be taken by almost everyone at anything but face value.
    - piedar 7y ago
      Oh come on now - don't pretend that comment was some neutral statement of fact. It was a clear implication of moral failure in your opponent's argument. And it's not really persuasive to then double down on a false dilemma (is my out-group evil, or just stupid?).
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - yourbandsucks 7y ago
        Think of it as a scissor statement. Either it's the most mild, milquetoast statement possible or it's a declaration of war against Human Rights, Mom and Apple Pie.
    - Fjolsvith 7y ago
      It is probably due that that phrase could be considered a negative commentary on CCP's take on human rights. I've noticed that anything indicating a negative regarding China is squashed hard anymore on HN.
  - xiphias2 7y ago
    Didn't it change a lot in the last couple of years? A few years ago I felt that I can speak freely, and in the worst case I wasn't upvoted. Nowdays I feel much more like I need to choose my words very carefully.
- carapace 7y ago
  Yeah, that's called culture.

Fjolsvith 7y ago

I've burned so much karma on political commenting that HN now limits me to about 5 comments a day, period.