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I didn't downvote it, but your comment was pretty useless as far as knowledge building goes. You merely made a claim about something that's controversial, non-o

I didn't downvote it, but your comment was pretty useless as far as knowledge building goes. You merely made a claim about something that's controversial, non-obvious to most of the population and has more nuance than you let on. In this case, explicitly mentioning the antibiotics abuse and how that leads to resistance would've made a big difference in quality. Going further and explaining feasible ways about how to deal with it and how to manage the economical and lifestyle impact of possible solutions in a feasible manner would've been even better.

goldenkey 6y ago
It isn't really the burden of the statement maker to enunciate his arguments to the nth degree lest suffer the pangs of mob downvotes. At least it shouldn't be, on a decent realm of discourse. If anything, the downvotes just show a low level of informedness of the average HN user.
- EGreg 6y ago
  Exactly. The word “superbugs” implies antibiotic resistance, and anyone who is skeptical or curious about the connection between factory farms and antibiotic resistance due to HUMAN activity can look it up. I could go to the nth degree and speak about how capitalism creates a lot of negative externalities, including factory farming, pollution, depression and the current state of the news. In fact take the latter — here is a website for what the problem is, what the solutions are, and how to fix it... as well as an hour long interview that goes into all the details: https://rational.app https://rational.app https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M8HbvC6vqIY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M8HbvC6vqIY I often go into amazing detail and write blog posts about each topic... but if I link to them on HN, I would usually get accused of throwing out “20 claims at once” and “shilling my blog” and my videos and solutions (that I give away for free). You just can’t win with some people...
  - mixedCase 6y ago
    Throwing links as an answer (instead of using them as an addendum or because it's a valid source) is considered bad practice in discussion since usually they're not a direct rebuttal to specific points made. If you were making a detailed argument about the issues with unregulated capitalism, and I would just respond with "Go read some Mises", it's just a lazy cop-out that doesn't address the problems you're presenting and lowers whatever value the comments may have to a reader, even if I had a point or not.
    - EGreg 6y ago
      I am not telling you to read “some” Mises. I am giving you a link to the exact arguments, all you have to do is click it and view it
- mixedCase 6y ago
  Yes, it is their burden, specially when you're treating a subject that has a lot of depth. You cannot form a decent realm of discourse when every comment is low-effort. This is the kind of thing that (for now, and only up to a certain degree) separates Hacker News from things like popular subreddits that only chant trendy opinions or act as venting boxes without much actual factual discussion going on. FWIW I'm just as guilty as the GP of doing the same at times, and I should be called out for it as well whenever it happens. Sometimes we don't know what we don't know, know too much and take things for granted, or can't tell when our biases are showing. It is up to the community as a whole to keep the standards high.

goldenkey 6y ago

It isn't really the burden of the statement maker to enunciate his arguments to the nth degree lest suffer the pangs of mob downvotes. At least it shouldn't be, on a decent realm of discourse. If anything, the downvotes just show a low level of informedness of the average HN user.

EGreg 6y ago
Exactly. The word “superbugs” implies antibiotic resistance, and anyone who is skeptical or curious about the connection between factory farms and antibiotic resistance due to HUMAN activity can look it up. I could go to the nth degree and speak about how capitalism creates a lot of negative externalities, including factory farming, pollution, depression and the current state of the news. In fact take the latter — here is a website for what the problem is, what the solutions are, and how to fix it... as well as an hour long interview that goes into all the details: https://rational.app https://rational.app https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M8HbvC6vqIY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M8HbvC6vqIY I often go into amazing detail and write blog posts about each topic... but if I link to them on HN, I would usually get accused of throwing out “20 claims at once” and “shilling my blog” and my videos and solutions (that I give away for free). You just can’t win with some people...
- mixedCase 6y ago
  Throwing links as an answer (instead of using them as an addendum or because it's a valid source) is considered bad practice in discussion since usually they're not a direct rebuttal to specific points made. If you were making a detailed argument about the issues with unregulated capitalism, and I would just respond with "Go read some Mises", it's just a lazy cop-out that doesn't address the problems you're presenting and lowers whatever value the comments may have to a reader, even if I had a point or not.
  - EGreg 6y ago
    I am not telling you to read “some” Mises. I am giving you a link to the exact arguments, all you have to do is click it and view it
mixedCase 6y ago
Yes, it is their burden, specially when you're treating a subject that has a lot of depth. You cannot form a decent realm of discourse when every comment is low-effort. This is the kind of thing that (for now, and only up to a certain degree) separates Hacker News from things like popular subreddits that only chant trendy opinions or act as venting boxes without much actual factual discussion going on. FWIW I'm just as guilty as the GP of doing the same at times, and I should be called out for it as well whenever it happens. Sometimes we don't know what we don't know, know too much and take things for granted, or can't tell when our biases are showing. It is up to the community as a whole to keep the standards high.