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"Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." It's not my place to go around quoting the rules, but I was jus

"Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." It's not my place to go around quoting the rules, but I was just hoping to calm the waters a little bit. We could all use a bit of "let's step back and talk this over rather than argue passionately for a position," I think. E.g. the article is about the implication of AI on society at large.

nerdponx 6y ago
This is BS, with all due respect. Are people not allowed to express strong, lucid, and well-reasoned opinions on existentially important topics?
- sanxiyn 6y ago
  No, they are not allowed, on HN.
- fpgaminer 6y ago
  People are certainly allowed to express strong opinions. It can be cathartic to write out your frustrations. But HN isn't the place for that. Comments like that, even though they _feel_ like they contribute to something, tend to really just be selfish and don't contribute to discussion. Political threads on HN get filled with 1000s of such comments, and none of them lead to _interesting_ discussion. Interesting, thoughtful discussion is what we're after, and what we tend to see more of here than other places. That's what I, and I believe the majority of users here, come here for. I've personally been frustrated by the recent political threads, not because I don't want to see those threads here, but because I desperately want the comments to say something _interesting_. Something thoughtful that I can't get elsewhere (from the news or Reddit). But about an hour after such articles show up they're so bloated only a single thread of comments is visible per page, making it too difficult to navigate and find any useful discussion that might be happening. In other words, HN isn't our personal emotional outlet. It can be used for that _occasionally_, but since _everyone_ uses it for that under certain topics like politics, it's best to avoid doing so there.
- lijogdfljk 6y ago
  According to those rules you just read, not always. Not sure why that's difficult to comprehend or accept. Just like how Twitter isn't required to spew Trump's bullshit, HN isn't required to support forms of discourse it does not see as constructive or beneficial. Does this sound controversial to you?

nerdponx 6y ago

This is BS, with all due respect. Are people not allowed to express strong, lucid, and well-reasoned opinions on existentially important topics?

sanxiyn 6y ago
No, they are not allowed, on HN.
fpgaminer 6y ago
People are certainly allowed to express strong opinions. It can be cathartic to write out your frustrations. But HN isn't the place for that. Comments like that, even though they _feel_ like they contribute to something, tend to really just be selfish and don't contribute to discussion. Political threads on HN get filled with 1000s of such comments, and none of them lead to _interesting_ discussion. Interesting, thoughtful discussion is what we're after, and what we tend to see more of here than other places. That's what I, and I believe the majority of users here, come here for. I've personally been frustrated by the recent political threads, not because I don't want to see those threads here, but because I desperately want the comments to say something _interesting_. Something thoughtful that I can't get elsewhere (from the news or Reddit). But about an hour after such articles show up they're so bloated only a single thread of comments is visible per page, making it too difficult to navigate and find any useful discussion that might be happening. In other words, HN isn't our personal emotional outlet. It can be used for that _occasionally_, but since _everyone_ uses it for that under certain topics like politics, it's best to avoid doing so there.
lijogdfljk 6y ago
According to those rules you just read, not always. Not sure why that's difficult to comprehend or accept. Just like how Twitter isn't required to spew Trump's bullshit, HN isn't required to support forms of discourse it does not see as constructive or beneficial. Does this sound controversial to you?