3 ms·

Out of curiosity, what do people think the social version of this? I've noticed that certain people can say nearly anything and people will gush all over it, e

Out of curiosity, what do people think the social version of this? I've noticed that certain people can say nearly anything and people will gush all over it, even when it's clearly foolish or someone else said the same thing just 10 minutes previous.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
oefrha 7y ago
Case study: a certain pg essay and recent discussion on HN. ducks
- bschne 7y ago
  If you want to criticize an essay/oppinion to make a point, just refer to it by name and state why you think it supports the argument you're trying to make
  - WilliamEdward 7y ago
    That's dangerous to do here when the essay in question is written by someone with a massive cult following.
    - _curious_ 7y ago
      What's is dangerous about it?
  - oefrha 7y ago
    This was just a little swipe, I didn’t intend to go deep into it, and actually planned to delete the comment after a few minutes. Of course that plan was foiled by your reply.
  - jdashg 7y ago
    That's not always necessary, and it's a good way to get dragged down into quibbling. The GP rings true to me, even though I'm not sure precisely which of the PG essays they most had in mind.
    - vikramkr 7y ago
      They could at least state which essay so its not just randomly out of the blue
  - snowwrestler 7y ago
    As an example, PG's "submarine" essay gets cited here all the time as amazing insightful when all it does is talk about basic concepts of PR, an industry that is hundreds of years old.
ceilingcorner 7y ago
Essentially any extremely wealthy person can pontificate on a topic and be taken seriously, even if they have zero background in the topic and their opinion is easily dismissed by those with knowledge of the field. That's what happens when you make financial success equivalent to wisdom.
- booleandilemma 7y ago
  Also see: HiPPO https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/HiPPOs-highest-paid-persons-opinions https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/HiPPOs-highest-paid...
notafraudster 7y ago
I generally find that just about every "What Worked For Me" success essay gets praise and careful parsing. We seem to think that success is a product of either being or doing the right type of thing rather than luck. We seem to think advice is universal enough to apply to everyone rather than being highly contingent. I am suspicious of both.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

oefrha 7y ago

Case study: a certain pg essay and recent discussion on HN. ducks

bschne 7y ago
If you want to criticize an essay/oppinion to make a point, just refer to it by name and state why you think it supports the argument you're trying to make
- WilliamEdward 7y ago
  That's dangerous to do here when the essay in question is written by someone with a massive cult following.
  - _curious_ 7y ago
    What's is dangerous about it?
- oefrha 7y ago
  This was just a little swipe, I didn’t intend to go deep into it, and actually planned to delete the comment after a few minutes. Of course that plan was foiled by your reply.
- jdashg 7y ago
  That's not always necessary, and it's a good way to get dragged down into quibbling. The GP rings true to me, even though I'm not sure precisely which of the PG essays they most had in mind.
  - vikramkr 7y ago
    They could at least state which essay so its not just randomly out of the blue
- snowwrestler 7y ago
  As an example, PG's "submarine" essay gets cited here all the time as amazing insightful when all it does is talk about basic concepts of PR, an industry that is hundreds of years old.

ceilingcorner 7y ago

Essentially any extremely wealthy person can pontificate on a topic and be taken seriously, even if they have zero background in the topic and their opinion is easily dismissed by those with knowledge of the field. That's what happens when you make financial success equivalent to wisdom.

booleandilemma 7y ago
Also see: HiPPO https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/HiPPOs-highest-paid-persons-opinions https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/HiPPOs-highest-paid...

notafraudster 7y ago

I generally find that just about every "What Worked For Me" success essay gets praise and careful parsing. We seem to think that success is a product of either being or doing the right type of thing rather than luck. We seem to think advice is universal enough to apply to everyone rather than being highly contingent. I am suspicious of both.