4 ms·

It just pisses me off sometimes. How can a community of people be so aligned with my interests, and yet they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people o

It just pisses me off sometimes. How can a community of people be so aligned with my interests, and yet they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people on the planet? Everyone in this community is used to being the smartest person in the room, and it shows. No one ever assumes good faith on the part of other posters. No one ever actually tries to understand the other point of view. No one even understands what they themselves are saying. This is an echo chamber of the most egoistic people on the planet, and that's why I browse HN. It's like some kind of massive terrarium for the socially doomed. Even your comment is offensive, with the passive aggressive "Let's not do X," as if we're part of some kind of collective, or I'm some kind of child that needs to be gently chided for my remark. You don't know me. I don't know you. Where does this holier-than-thou attitude come from?

AnimalMuppet 6y ago
It comes from the site rules. Don't personally attack people here.
jedimastert 6y ago
> they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people on the planet > Where does this holier-than-thou attitude come from? I don't think it's just whomever "they" is...
- jovial_cavalier 6y ago
  The low quality of HN comments is universally recognized. It's just why you think they're shit that varies.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
slingnow 6y ago
The amount of opinion spewed as fact in your rant is impressive. Which makes it even more entertaining when you compare it against the point you're trying to make.
kennywinker 6y ago
Literally your 2nd-to-last comment before this was "What a tedious and unpleasant person". I'm not trying to "gotcha" here, and I'm sure the parent post to that was unpleasant and tedious, but I am hoping you'll consider that you might be doing some of the same thing you're upset about others doing. Describing anyone as "the socially doomed" to me indicates an attachment to the idea of mainstream social mores as "right". The most socially awkward people I know also happen to have the most friends. fwiw, the trick I've found for enjoying hn comments is to ignore the pedantic, argumentative ones, and find the nuggets of joy and wisdom. Not saying I always manage to do that either, but... that's the only time I enjoy reading the comments.
dahart 6y ago
I think everything you're saying is a reasonable interpretation of the behavior you observe, but I don't think it's the only possible nor the only plausible explanation, so it might be worth diving into what assumptions you might be making, especially considering that you're aware of what I think is one of the core issues - we don't know each other. Text is hard to see through sometimes, and language is often vague. It's not always obvious when something is a joke, and it's not always guaranteed that something said in jest will be received the same way, nor that it's actually funny. Also downvotes are given for a wide variety of reasons (same as upvotes) so downvotes don't even necessarily indicate that a joke was interpreted as unfunny- it might simply be detracting or not relevant. It's best to not take downvotes personally, because they're often not given for the reasons you assume. (BTW I see good jokes on HN getting upvotes all the time, so make sure to avoid jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information.) > Even your comment is offensive, with the passive aggressive "Let's not do X," as if we're part of some kind of collective, or I'm some kind of child that needs to be gently chided for my remark. Sorry to say so, but this is off the mark. Your comment is explicitly offensive toward people who are actually autistic. This is a sort of collective, it is a community of hackers, and gentle encouragement to keep things civil and in line with the guidelines is allowed and encouraged. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
mistermann 6y ago
Well, I see what you did there, if it's any consolation. But I think it's also a good and underappreciated point you make. > Where does this holier-than-thou attitude come from? Do you mean that literally?
reaperducer 6y ago
How can a community of people be so aligned with my interests, and yet they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people on the planet? There are other places on the internet where intelligent, articulate people gather to exchange wisdom and the occasional burst of cleverness or humor is appreciated. For reasons beyond the scope of this discussion, HN isn't it.
Rexxar 6y ago
You are the one who is judging others. There is just an (implicit) rule that there are better places for humor than here and that it's better in the long run for everybody to keep discussions on topic. So yes, as for every other rules, it's sometimes annoying but there is no reason to be so upset about this.
6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago
>Everyone who is downvoting this comment has incurable autism. Humorless and unpleasant are subjective. Not everyone is going to like your humor. Doubly so if you’re going, not just for an insult, but an edgy insult. Personally I think your comment is a shitty joke that comes off as an offensive version of holier than thou for your enlightened sense of humor. I think you’re longer response is an uncannily apt description of itself.
dang 6y ago
If you're posting comments like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24454454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24454454 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153684 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153612 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153612 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22618156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22618156, it's not really cool to diss the community for being "unpleasant, stuck up people" and "holier-than-thou attitude". That's actually one reason the site guidelines say "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.": https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html After pondering it for years, I believe there are deep reasons why people arrive at anthropomorphized images of the community like this. We generalize based on what makes the strongest impression on us, and unfortunately what we dislike tends to make stronger impressions than what we feel good or neutral about: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=notice%20dislike%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... The community that you think you're encountering is thus an afterimage of things you noticed and disliked because those burn more into the retina. (I don't mean 'you' personally; this is common.) It's your own creation, in the sense that the selection of inputs is determined by your own pre-existing opinions and feelings. This is how we end up feeling surrounded by demons in a place like this, when in reality it is just a large and diffuse population sample: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=demons%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so.... People with different (let's call it) pre-existing conditions notice different things, make different generalizations, and construct different images. The reason it gets so emotional is that our relationships with other people are the most intensely emotional part of our lives, and a large and diffuse set of social inputs provides all the data points one could possibly need to select from. A lot of people experience HN painfully in this way. That's a pity, and I feel bad about it; I think the solution is for the community to get more accurate reflection about the dynamics that lead to these impressions. If enough people become aware of them, maybe the needle will shift some. I wrote about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23308098 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23308098. In that case the context was about people feeling surrounded by social/political enemies rather than by unpleasant/stuck-up people, but the underlying dynamic seems the same.
bendbro 6y ago
Hello. I'm a recruiter for a stealth startup with prominent venture capital backing. Its public name is Reset. We're seeking specifically minded individuals to populate an artificially selected breakaway society. Our society bears itself on a rational religion of individualism, stability, heritage, and an immutable interface to the collective. Time is fleeting. For next steps, email founders@reset.gov

AnimalMuppet 6y ago

It comes from the site rules. Don't personally attack people here.

jedimastert 6y ago

> they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people on the planet > Where does this holier-than-thou attitude come from? I don't think it's just whomever "they" is...

jovial_cavalier 6y ago
The low quality of HN comments is universally recognized. It's just why you think they're shit that varies.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

slingnow 6y ago

The amount of opinion spewed as fact in your rant is impressive. Which makes it even more entertaining when you compare it against the point you're trying to make.

kennywinker 6y ago

Literally your 2nd-to-last comment before this was "What a tedious and unpleasant person". I'm not trying to "gotcha" here, and I'm sure the parent post to that was unpleasant and tedious, but I am hoping you'll consider that you might be doing some of the same thing you're upset about others doing. Describing anyone as "the socially doomed" to me indicates an attachment to the idea of mainstream social mores as "right". The most socially awkward people I know also happen to have the most friends. fwiw, the trick I've found for enjoying hn comments is to ignore the pedantic, argumentative ones, and find the nuggets of joy and wisdom. Not saying I always manage to do that either, but... that's the only time I enjoy reading the comments.

dahart 6y ago

I think everything you're saying is a reasonable interpretation of the behavior you observe, but I don't think it's the only possible nor the only plausible explanation, so it might be worth diving into what assumptions you might be making, especially considering that you're aware of what I think is one of the core issues - we don't know each other. Text is hard to see through sometimes, and language is often vague. It's not always obvious when something is a joke, and it's not always guaranteed that something said in jest will be received the same way, nor that it's actually funny. Also downvotes are given for a wide variety of reasons (same as upvotes) so downvotes don't even necessarily indicate that a joke was interpreted as unfunny- it might simply be detracting or not relevant. It's best to not take downvotes personally, because they're often not given for the reasons you assume. (BTW I see good jokes on HN getting upvotes all the time, so make sure to avoid jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information.) > Even your comment is offensive, with the passive aggressive "Let's not do X," as if we're part of some kind of collective, or I'm some kind of child that needs to be gently chided for my remark. Sorry to say so, but this is off the mark. Your comment is explicitly offensive toward people who are actually autistic. This is a sort of collective, it is a community of hackers, and gentle encouragement to keep things civil and in line with the guidelines is allowed and encouraged. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

mistermann 6y ago

Well, I see what you did there, if it's any consolation. But I think it's also a good and underappreciated point you make. > Where does this holier-than-thou attitude come from? Do you mean that literally?

reaperducer 6y ago

How can a community of people be so aligned with my interests, and yet they are the most unpleasant, unfunny, stuck up people on the planet? There are other places on the internet where intelligent, articulate people gather to exchange wisdom and the occasional burst of cleverness or humor is appreciated. For reasons beyond the scope of this discussion, HN isn't it.

Rexxar 6y ago

You are the one who is judging others. There is just an (implicit) rule that there are better places for humor than here and that it's better in the long run for everybody to keep discussions on topic. So yes, as for every other rules, it's sometimes annoying but there is no reason to be so upset about this.

6gvONxR4sf7o 6y ago

>Everyone who is downvoting this comment has incurable autism. Humorless and unpleasant are subjective. Not everyone is going to like your humor. Doubly so if you’re going, not just for an insult, but an edgy insult. Personally I think your comment is a shitty joke that comes off as an offensive version of holier than thou for your enlightened sense of humor. I think you’re longer response is an uncannily apt description of itself.

dang 6y ago

If you're posting comments like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24454454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24454454 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153684 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153684 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153612 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24153612 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22618156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22618156, it's not really cool to diss the community for being "unpleasant, stuck up people" and "holier-than-thou attitude". That's actually one reason the site guidelines say "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.": https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html After pondering it for years, I believe there are deep reasons why people arrive at anthropomorphized images of the community like this. We generalize based on what makes the strongest impression on us, and unfortunately what we dislike tends to make stronger impressions than what we feel good or neutral about: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=notice%20dislike%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... The community that you think you're encountering is thus an afterimage of things you noticed and disliked because those burn more into the retina. (I don't mean 'you' personally; this is common.) It's your own creation, in the sense that the selection of inputs is determined by your own pre-existing opinions and feelings. This is how we end up feeling surrounded by demons in a place like this, when in reality it is just a large and diffuse population sample: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=demons%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so.... People with different (let's call it) pre-existing conditions notice different things, make different generalizations, and construct different images. The reason it gets so emotional is that our relationships with other people are the most intensely emotional part of our lives, and a large and diffuse set of social inputs provides all the data points one could possibly need to select from. A lot of people experience HN painfully in this way. That's a pity, and I feel bad about it; I think the solution is for the community to get more accurate reflection about the dynamics that lead to these impressions. If enough people become aware of them, maybe the needle will shift some. I wrote about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23308098 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23308098. In that case the context was about people feeling surrounded by social/political enemies rather than by unpleasant/stuck-up people, but the underlying dynamic seems the same.

bendbro 6y ago

Hello. I'm a recruiter for a stealth startup with prominent venture capital backing. Its public name is Reset. We're seeking specifically minded individuals to populate an artificially selected breakaway society. Our society bears itself on a rational religion of individualism, stability, heritage, and an immutable interface to the collective. Time is fleeting. For next steps, email founders@reset.gov