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Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to gi

by bsanr2 6y ago

Kobe Bryant's death is arguably the most infamous of a year defined by death. This is the only HN post mourning Gunn; again, there were dozens of attempts to give HN readers a place to mourn Bryant's death in a venue they found comfortable. Each of them were either flagged or modded so that they would not show up on the front page. It's interesting that you're unaware who one of the most famous people on the planet was (he was the third most searched topic of the year[1]), but for what it's worth, he was much more than simply a sports professional, and his influence was certainly felt in tech as well as elsewhere.[2] There was no need to "draw a line." HN users could have been allowed to decide for themselves who and how they wanted to talk about things that are meaningful to them and the tech/hacker community. 1: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/12/09/googles-top-trending-searches-election-coronavirus-dominate-2020/6500878002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/12/09/googles-top-t... 2: https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/daily-crunch-kobe-bryant/ https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/daily-crunch-kobe-bryant/

fsloth 6y ago
I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.
- bsanr2 6y ago
  Bryant was, in fact, a major international celebrity. He was among the most popular players in a sport with global reach - his jersey was the highest-selling for many years - and represented the US in 2 Olympic gold medal runs, including when the games were hosted by the nation that represents the largest market for basketball outside the US (China). I suspect, as is common in the tech and venture capital scene worldwide, his race had something to do with the appraisal a limited number of influential people on HN had of him. What's important to me is that people in this community start to recognize the blindspots and, in unfortunate cases, biases which contribute to the schism between the makers and the people whose lives their creations are supposed to be making better. Step one would be taking this criticism seriously and with humility.
  - fsloth 6y ago
    Your analysis of ethnic biases sounds plausible in the general case, but in my specific case I'm fairly ignorant of all athletes and sports - I find them all equally unexciting regardless of ethnicity. I realize this puts me in the minority as rest of humankind is concerned.

by bsanr2 6y ago

fsloth 6y ago

I don’t think it’s interesting I was unaware who he was. I am not located in US and Kobe was not an internatinal celebrity before his death. I remebered reading about the accident but could not link the name to the event. I sense he was important to you. We all have to let go of those who leave us behind. Go in peace.

bsanr2 6y ago
Bryant was, in fact, a major international celebrity. He was among the most popular players in a sport with global reach - his jersey was the highest-selling for many years - and represented the US in 2 Olympic gold medal runs, including when the games were hosted by the nation that represents the largest market for basketball outside the US (China). I suspect, as is common in the tech and venture capital scene worldwide, his race had something to do with the appraisal a limited number of influential people on HN had of him. What's important to me is that people in this community start to recognize the blindspots and, in unfortunate cases, biases which contribute to the schism between the makers and the people whose lives their creations are supposed to be making better. Step one would be taking this criticism seriously and with humility.
- fsloth 6y ago
  Your analysis of ethnic biases sounds plausible in the general case, but in my specific case I'm fairly ignorant of all athletes and sports - I find them all equally unexciting regardless of ethnicity. I realize this puts me in the minority as rest of humankind is concerned.