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First of all, thanks for answering. Even if I don’t agree with you, I appreciate the effort explaining your thoughts. > It's odd that you say "it's literally h
by pb7 6y ago
First of all, thanks for answering. Even if I don’t agree with you, I appreciate the effort explaining your thoughts.
> It's odd that you say "it's literally his username" when they were clearly different.
The literal part is that it is in his username. If his username had been “AChineseMan12345” and I stereotyped him by calling him Wang because it’s a common Chinese surname, then yes, it would be harassment and an attack. This was not.
> indicator of an ethnic attack
Calling people’s ideas “pro-Western bias” is also an ethnic attack but you seemed to only have a problem with it because it was starting a flame war. Flame wars are people fighting over which phones are best, not attacking entire hemispheres.
> The fact that you repeated it after another user started it is particularly awful, because now we have the semblance not merely of an ethnic attack but a gang attack.
I did not repeat it. What other users on this site have to say after me has nothing to do with the content of my message.
> We've had to ask you three times in the past not to attack other users personally, which is well into the 99th percentile, so maybe there's some sort of pattern.
Let’s be clear here. You asked me. It’s quite possible you have a personal bias that clashes with mine but let’s be clear that it isn’t a committee with diverse views deciding here. I’m highly skeptical of the 99th percentile claim given that so many people make throwaway accounts that post all the controversial stuff that gets flagged so they don’t have to be associated with it. Your moderation may be better than most but perhaps the lack of diversity of thought and unconscious bias are prevalent factors in some of your decisions.
- dang 6y agoAh you're right- your comment was the one that started it, not repeated it. Sorry I mixed those two up. The GP used the term "pro-Western" because the parent comment had used it. That's not the same thing at all. In any case, I don't see that as an ethnic attack. Extracting part of someone's username because it sounds Chinese and flinging it back at them in an argument about China seems altogether more aggressive. Not really sure how to reply to the other points. I confess I pulled the number 99 out of...someplace non-quantitative, but at the same time I'm certain that it's far fewer than 1% of users whom we've had to ask three times not to do personal attacks on HN. Is it bias? Not sure how to know that. But it's certainly not personal bias against you.