4 ms·
The "baity" part of it was by far the most interesting part, for me. The title once sounded like the premise for a potentially amazing movie, and now just seems
by meowface 7y ago
The "baity" part of it was by far the most interesting part, for me. The title once sounded like the premise for a potentially amazing movie, and now just seems boring and inapplicable for me and most other readers who otherwise would've clicked it with the previous title. (Not to knock the value of translating scientific works.)
If I were you, I'd retain some aspect of the "race against the clock before your probable untimely death which you know is soon coming" portion. Some baitiness is unavoidable when that's the story.
The misogynist trolls will probably flock to a comment section like this regardless, if there's something about a female technologist or scientist in the title. I think removing the old title is kind of letting them win.
- dang 7y agoIt's standard HN moderation to replace baity titles. Basically, it's the headline writers' job to sex up the title and make everything sound like a car chase, and it's our job to knock it back to size so readers can attend to the substance. Part of the experiment of HN is to learn, together, how to calm ourselves down so we can find the quieter sort of material genuinely interesting again. There's plenty that's interesting here. (We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22199116. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22199116.)
- meowface 7y agoI agree "The Pregnant Scientist Who Raced Against Death to Transform Physics" was way too extreme and in need of changing, but I still think totally neutering it is burying the lede.
- ghaff 7y agoNo movie that I know of. But there is a play Emelie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight.