4 ms·
I can relate with most of the things from the blog post, and I am sure the pain the author goes through is real. In no way I want to diminish it. Having said t
by mujina93 5y ago
I can relate with most of the things from the blog post, and I am sure the pain the author goes through is real. In no way I want to diminish it.
Having said that, a couple of things:
- I think on HN it would be more appropriate to link to medical/scientific resources, instead of personal blog pages like this, which despite being relatable, are dangerous to extrapolate an objective and statistical view on the topic from. I personally found some parts to be too driven by animosity (against "nonbelievers"), and some to show contradictory advice. There are several good parts, but overall I did not find it a high quality piece, and I would advice against proposing that as a flagship piece.
- When I read pieces like these, the question that pops into my mind is: how can we distinguish a person that has a condition and that needs comprehension from a person that is just lazy, that just wants to do what they want all the time, and that lies to you about them being in pain (or maybe even lie to themselves, having built a view of the world in which they thing they are going through something and they are legitimized to act in a certain way, or they built a habit and can't help to act in that way)?
I do not ask this with the intent of provoking anybody. It is a serious question, both philosophical (what is lazyness? Is there a thing such as inability to focus with and without malice? Who has the right to judge morally?) and practical/scientific/medical (how can we distinguish an illness from something that would look indistinguishable, when hearing from people claiming it? What are objective methods that we can use to declare that we are witnessing a legitimate impairment in someone? Does a right moment ever come for nudging, scolding, encouraging? Or is it never the right thing to do, with anybody?)
I think, to answer the latter, more statistical surveys would be useful for all of us to share and to read, so that we could avoid the usual anecdote-driven arguments that most of the time plague threads like this one, even on a website like HN, which is full of scientific-minded people.
I am the first one that would like to read more academic literature and less anecdotes on the topic, but I am not very informed. So, if anybody has resources to share that could help the discussion, please do! :)
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]