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seems like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 was right. Of course his comment got flagged and no one b

by smabie 6y ago

seems like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 was right. Of course his comment got flagged and no one believed him (except me I suppose)

divbzero 6y ago
We can honor a man’s accomplishments and contributions to the world while being frank about what he suffered and potentially died from. Furthermore, we could probably cope with addiction and other forms of mental illness better if we continue to talk about it more openly. It’s no better or worse than suffering from purely physical conditions like diabetes or cancer or obesity. There are things we can and should do to try to be healthy, but there are also other genetic and environmental factors that are out of our control. I think the article was good to be not judgmental of it, and hope others in similar situations do not fear that others will judge either.
- jonoon4484 6y ago
  Agreed. It is heartbreaking this happened, but something we can learn from. The silence due to the stigma of addiction and mental illness only serves to worsen it. Thousands die from these conditions every day. Why should we not talk about it?
danso 6y ago
I think the Forbes story is well-done and important, but I also don’t blame HNers for flag-killing that comment. Not because it was disrespectful and/or “too soon”. But because it was essentially a “just trust me” assertion by an anonymous user, who also admitted they heard this second-hand. Without additional context, the only basis for accepting the assertion is faith that anon-HN users wouldn’t be so malicious. Contrast the exzappos comment with its top (grandchild) reply - which asserted firsthand knowledge and provided context with references to past public reports: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25236958 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25236958 (it obviously helps that the replier is non-anonymous, but I’m not criticizing u/exzappos for being anonymous)
- tempsy 6y ago
  There were just as many people all over that thread that attempted to rationalize the unusual circumstances of this death by pointing to how quickly fire can spread, why someone would be awake or in the basement or difficult to reach by firefighters at 3am with zero evidence as well. Point is, I found it just as baffling as to why so many felt compelled to explain away the strange elements of the initial story as I would if someone said something totally outlandish with no evidence as well.
  - mattm 6y ago
    It's difficult for people to reconcile the real person when all they know is the carefully crafted public persona.
filmgirlcw 6y ago
Or maybe people believed it but found it to be in poor taste and lacking any proof aside from a burner account and a smug whiff of, “trust me.” It’s really important to talk about addiction and to help loosen the stigma around it. It’s also gross to flippantly gossip without any context or details, hours after someone has died, in a forum where people who were affected by the person are grieving. Both things can be true. The gossip in the comment can be true and it can get flagged for being in poor taste.

by smabie 6y ago

seems like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843 was right. Of course his comment got flagged and no one believed him (except me I suppose)

divbzero 6y ago

We can honor a man’s accomplishments and contributions to the world while being frank about what he suffered and potentially died from. Furthermore, we could probably cope with addiction and other forms of mental illness better if we continue to talk about it more openly. It’s no better or worse than suffering from purely physical conditions like diabetes or cancer or obesity. There are things we can and should do to try to be healthy, but there are also other genetic and environmental factors that are out of our control. I think the article was good to be not judgmental of it, and hope others in similar situations do not fear that others will judge either.

jonoon4484 6y ago
Agreed. It is heartbreaking this happened, but something we can learn from. The silence due to the stigma of addiction and mental illness only serves to worsen it. Thousands die from these conditions every day. Why should we not talk about it?

danso 6y ago

I think the Forbes story is well-done and important, but I also don’t blame HNers for flag-killing that comment. Not because it was disrespectful and/or “too soon”. But because it was essentially a “just trust me” assertion by an anonymous user, who also admitted they heard this second-hand. Without additional context, the only basis for accepting the assertion is faith that anon-HN users wouldn’t be so malicious. Contrast the exzappos comment with its top (grandchild) reply - which asserted firsthand knowledge and provided context with references to past public reports: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25236958 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25236958 (it obviously helps that the replier is non-anonymous, but I’m not criticizing u/exzappos for being anonymous)

tempsy 6y ago
There were just as many people all over that thread that attempted to rationalize the unusual circumstances of this death by pointing to how quickly fire can spread, why someone would be awake or in the basement or difficult to reach by firefighters at 3am with zero evidence as well. Point is, I found it just as baffling as to why so many felt compelled to explain away the strange elements of the initial story as I would if someone said something totally outlandish with no evidence as well.
- mattm 6y ago
  It's difficult for people to reconcile the real person when all they know is the carefully crafted public persona.

filmgirlcw 6y ago

Or maybe people believed it but found it to be in poor taste and lacking any proof aside from a burner account and a smug whiff of, “trust me.” It’s really important to talk about addiction and to help loosen the stigma around it. It’s also gross to flippantly gossip without any context or details, hours after someone has died, in a forum where people who were affected by the person are grieving. Both things can be true. The gossip in the comment can be true and it can get flagged for being in poor taste.