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On the other hand, many of my hot takes over the years have been celebrated, but it seems to happen when they are long and dense (and not personal attacks). Per
by guscost 5y ago
On the other hand, many of my hot takes over the years have been celebrated, but it seems to happen when they are long and dense (and not personal attacks). Perhaps it is because fewer people read/flag them. Perhaps it is because this community values eloquence (or effort) over substance.
Add to that the built-in handicap because this community (like every other) values in-group opinions much more than out-group opinions, and it doesn’t make sense to even try better/longer arguments. I’m going to stop participating in controversy on this site, and move the infowar project over to audio chatrooms, where a conversation like this actually has a chance.
To everyone else: Arguing controversial topics with strangers, in Reddit-style text threads, is primitive and ineffective. The technology is insufficient for the task, and it will never get better.
- spadez 5y ago> The technology is insufficient for the task, and it will never get better. This is very true. But I don't think it is a problem with technology. It is just that you cannot really have a valuable insight by putting a 10000 idiots in a room and have them argue it out. In other words, you cannot replace one intelligent man with a 10000 idiots, hence the failure of HN and similar forums. These things are only good for sharing interesting things, so the best way to use is to just use posted links, and never to engage in discussion.
- dang 5y agoCommenters going on about how other people are idiots is actually a strong marker of mediocre comments. If you guys would please indulge in that kind of thing somewhere else, we'd appreciate it. It's tedious, and it's against the site guidelines. Note this one: "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html