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I don't understand the waves of down votes in this thread. Not very HN-like.

by drtillberg 7y ago

syshum 7y ago
Yes it is. Libertarianism is not a welcome here
- drtillberg 7y ago
  That's part of it. But I think it's bigger-- when it comes to topics like this, especially legal/economic ones, a community that ordinarily impresses on technical and scientific subjects as wise and timeless, displays a bizarre groupthink that levels at a secondary school-level sophistication. It's sad.
- dang 7y ago
  People with opposite politics have the opposite picture: HN often aligns with more Libertarian ideologies https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316611 There is a definite right-libertarian bias on HN, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. Everything not toeing that line is attacked and downvoted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21432833 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21432833 Hacker News has become a forum for uber nationalistic right-winged libertarians https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21231654 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21231654 There's a lot of very neoliberal or libertarian politics going on in the comments round here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21186128 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21186128 hacker news is a bubble of mostly middle class white male libertarians https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20637454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20637454 If you go against any kind of socially conservative or libertarian perspective it will get down voted and very likely flagged. It's always been this way. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20643695 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20643695 It's totally expected. This is a heavy technolibertarian site https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230037 the techno-libertarian norm around here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18671955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18671955 Hacker News has a libertarian leaning ideology among both its community and site-runners https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16019694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16019694 Because it's HN, where opinions other than "hooray libertarian technocracy" are frowned upon https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307091 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307091 this site is a haven for alt-right and libertarian people who believe this stuff https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14205262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14205262 There are just as many claims of the opposite; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21449589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21449589 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21245485 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21245485. In reality, HN is a large pluralistic community, with more than enough material to support any impression of bias that you're primed for. The comments you notice and dislike make a stronger impression than the comments you agree with, building up a feeling that the community is against you. This can't be a function of HN, because HN is the same for everybody. Rather, it's in the eye of the beholder: an afterimage of the things they ran into and disliked here. The phenomenon is so consistent that you can not only predict what someone's opinions are, but also how intensely they hold them, from their image of the community's bias.
  - drtillberg 7y ago
    I appreciate that you are passionate on the point @dang, but I read those comments you link as confirming there is a perception among users that folks are flaming and downvoting on HN to pursue a political or ideological agenda. They flame and downvote each other, I guess. I love HN, but I'm not impressed by the quality of this discourse or by labels like 'flamebait', anecdotally it's getting worse, and I'm not even convinced the activity even is that authentic or organic.
    - dang 7y ago
      I don't see a disagreement here? Yes, politically committed users flame and downvote each other, and the quality of the discourse when they do that is unimpressive.
JeremyBanks 7y ago
Is it adding anything to the conversation?
fouric 7y ago
It's very HN-like to downvote a flamebait comment made without any details, reasoning, or evidence.

I don't understand the waves of down votes in this thread. Not very HN-like.

syshum 7y ago

Yes it is. Libertarianism is not a welcome here

drtillberg 7y ago
That's part of it. But I think it's bigger-- when it comes to topics like this, especially legal/economic ones, a community that ordinarily impresses on technical and scientific subjects as wise and timeless, displays a bizarre groupthink that levels at a secondary school-level sophistication. It's sad.
dang 7y ago
People with opposite politics have the opposite picture: HN often aligns with more Libertarian ideologies https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316611 There is a definite right-libertarian bias on HN, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. Everything not toeing that line is attacked and downvoted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21432833 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21432833 Hacker News has become a forum for uber nationalistic right-winged libertarians https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21231654 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21231654 There's a lot of very neoliberal or libertarian politics going on in the comments round here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21186128 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21186128 hacker news is a bubble of mostly middle class white male libertarians https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20637454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20637454 If you go against any kind of socially conservative or libertarian perspective it will get down voted and very likely flagged. It's always been this way. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20643695 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20643695 It's totally expected. This is a heavy technolibertarian site https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19230037 the techno-libertarian norm around here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18671955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18671955 Hacker News has a libertarian leaning ideology among both its community and site-runners https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16019694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16019694 Because it's HN, where opinions other than "hooray libertarian technocracy" are frowned upon https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307091 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15307091 this site is a haven for alt-right and libertarian people who believe this stuff https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14205262 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14205262 There are just as many claims of the opposite; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21449589 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21449589 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21245485 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21245485. In reality, HN is a large pluralistic community, with more than enough material to support any impression of bias that you're primed for. The comments you notice and dislike make a stronger impression than the comments you agree with, building up a feeling that the community is against you. This can't be a function of HN, because HN is the same for everybody. Rather, it's in the eye of the beholder: an afterimage of the things they ran into and disliked here. The phenomenon is so consistent that you can not only predict what someone's opinions are, but also how intensely they hold them, from their image of the community's bias.
- drtillberg 7y ago
  I appreciate that you are passionate on the point @dang, but I read those comments you link as confirming there is a perception among users that folks are flaming and downvoting on HN to pursue a political or ideological agenda. They flame and downvote each other, I guess. I love HN, but I'm not impressed by the quality of this discourse or by labels like 'flamebait', anecdotally it's getting worse, and I'm not even convinced the activity even is that authentic or organic.
  - dang 7y ago
    I don't see a disagreement here? Yes, politically committed users flame and downvote each other, and the quality of the discourse when they do that is unimpressive.

JeremyBanks 7y ago

Is it adding anything to the conversation?

fouric 7y ago

It's very HN-like to downvote a flamebait comment made without any details, reasoning, or evidence.