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One could wonder why it isn’t automated.

by frutiger 7y ago

jedimastert 7y ago
I don't think I've seen any kind of bots on HN.
- thrwaway69 7y ago
  Isn't there a bot for posting job threads every month?
- StephenAmar 7y ago
  I'm certain this was reposted because they talked about this law on today's Radiolab broadcast (a repeat of a previous episode): https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91697-numbers https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91697...
dredmorbius 7y ago
The "past" link on topic posts will provide that. Though it doesn't indicate how many previous discussions there were, or what discussion occurred. Dang's comments (or occasionally, those by others, I've been known to add similar myself) manifest that information into the thread in a more immediately tangible way. That's ... an interesting property of UI/UX and simple perception that itself leads to some interesting questions. I've been looking at the notion of manifest vs. latent functions (Bronislaw Malinowski and Robert K. Merton), which implies the related notion of manifest vs. latent perceptions or awareness (I'm not finding any ... manifest ... discussion of this, though I'm sure it exists). And there's a strong psychological element here. Dang's moderation often hinges on this -- retitling of posts and detaching of threads all change the degree of manifestation of certain aspects of a topic. Dang's guidance is generally toward promoting productive discussion, and of avoiding derailment. Which might start approaching a latent answer to your question ;-)
- frutiger 7y ago
  I wasn’t suggesting that Dan G’s entire job could be automated. Merely that scanning for historical matches with sufficient karma and posting an algolia link would be a few lines of trivial Python. Clearly even the mere suggestion touched the community’s proverbial nerve. I wonder if Dan G has life aspirations beyond HN moderator and how the community shall survive without his touch.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    And I wasn't shooting down the suggestion, but noting what parts of it are implemented, how that does/doesn't seem to work, and potential considerations in potentially automating the process. Of dang's future aspirations I know not.

One could wonder why it isn’t automated.

jedimastert 7y ago

I don't think I've seen any kind of bots on HN.

thrwaway69 7y ago
Isn't there a bot for posting job threads every month?
StephenAmar 7y ago
I'm certain this was reposted because they talked about this law on today's Radiolab broadcast (a repeat of a previous episode): https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91697-numbers https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91697...

dredmorbius 7y ago

The "past" link on topic posts will provide that. Though it doesn't indicate how many previous discussions there were, or what discussion occurred. Dang's comments (or occasionally, those by others, I've been known to add similar myself) manifest that information into the thread in a more immediately tangible way. That's ... an interesting property of UI/UX and simple perception that itself leads to some interesting questions. I've been looking at the notion of manifest vs. latent functions (Bronislaw Malinowski and Robert K. Merton), which implies the related notion of manifest vs. latent perceptions or awareness (I'm not finding any ... manifest ... discussion of this, though I'm sure it exists). And there's a strong psychological element here. Dang's moderation often hinges on this -- retitling of posts and detaching of threads all change the degree of manifestation of certain aspects of a topic. Dang's guidance is generally toward promoting productive discussion, and of avoiding derailment. Which might start approaching a latent answer to your question ;-)

frutiger 7y ago
I wasn’t suggesting that Dan G’s entire job could be automated. Merely that scanning for historical matches with sufficient karma and posting an algolia link would be a few lines of trivial Python. Clearly even the mere suggestion touched the community’s proverbial nerve. I wonder if Dan G has life aspirations beyond HN moderator and how the community shall survive without his touch.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  And I wasn't shooting down the suggestion, but noting what parts of it are implemented, how that does/doesn't seem to work, and potential considerations in potentially automating the process. Of dang's future aspirations I know not.