6 ms·

Because this is the kind of story that cryptocurrency detractors love, and that aligns with the general sentiment towards cryptocurrencies on HN.

by ayngg 5y ago

SavantIdiot 5y ago
Odd: HN is made up of the people closest to cutting-edge technology on the planet, and yet sentiment is negative on cryptocurrency. Hmmm...
- fleddr 5y ago
  It's odd indeed. This is a VC-created forum where its users reject entire sectors of new technology. Besides being anti-crypto, there also anti-google, anti-iot, and anti-any website looking fancier than something from 1996. It's a thing to accept and be entertained by I guess. The stunning lack of self awareness over here is legendary though.
  - SavantIdiot 5y ago
    > The stunning lack of self awareness over here is legendary though. Yes, indeed.
  - pnt12 5y ago
    On another perspective, maybe HN is anti-scams, pro privacy, pro privacy and pro UX. No other discussions face such criticism, only crypto. Does everyone believe them with a burning passion? Or are people afraid of losing money? "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
  - UweSchmidt 5y ago
    Let's see: - Google: monopolistic tendencies, decline of their search engine, copyright troubles for youtubers, overall bad execution with their projects recently. - iot: really bad security and privacy, otherwise it would be neat. - modern websites: gauntlet of cookie banners and modals, ads and surveillance are criticized, page weight often silly, but the capabilities of modern websites are generally appreciated here. - crypto: enables ransomware and other crime, insane energy use, bad track record of ponzi schemes and hacked services, speculation vehicle with few winners, not generally used/usable for real payments; blockchain-based services not feasible (oracle problem, if possible then killer apps would have appeared, a Hello World program requires mining and melts your CPU, etc.) Did I sum up HN's sentiment correctly? Could you point out where the lack of self awareness lies?
    - fleddr 5y ago
      Yes, I could. You just did it, as did the 3 other replies. You double down and confirm my point. Like I said, I see the humor in it. It's culture. Every forum has a culture. That's why you came to the defense, even in absence of an attack. I know I won't change that, but I do want to explain my counter point by means of an example. You have absolutely no idea how deeply I hate Google. I could write books full of it. Yet I will still not fall in the trap of an absolute closed mind or simplistic binary rejection. Same for crypto and for anything large and impactful. It's a hard thing to do these days, to be a technologist for technology sake, and to cleanly separate it from the maker's reputation, personal politics, and so on. Very few things in life can be sorted into good or bad. So when you have topics that are close to taboo, yes, I do think that's odd.
      - UweSchmidt 5y ago
        I tried to present the arguments around here in a nuanced way. I don't think that there is much of a closed mind or a simplistic binary rejection, or a taboo, on technical topics here on HN. The onus is on crypto boosters (who are usually invested and would benefit from more hype) to present better arguments and demonstrate the general benefit/feasability of crypto.
        fleddr 5y ago
        You don't think there's a closed mind because you're never on that other side. So you likely never experience it. Yes, there are self-serving crypto maximalists. But even if you add nuance, you get downvoted and standard replies debunked years ago. Doesn't matter what you say, the arguments aren't even heard. That's absolute closed mindedness. And the quality of many of those replies shows how extremely little those people know about it at all. A massive problem? No. But I'm just telling you it does exist.
      - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
        Shrug it's happening throughout technical circles, at least in the English-speaking world. It's one thing to try to push back against politics that you feel are harmful and disenfranchising, in purely political or social forums. It's another when technology forums develop taboos on what technology you can and cannot discuss. I agree it's cultural, but folks who are immersed in the culture don't seem to be willing to call it that. I'm really looking forward for this to be "over" so that the internet can have nuanced discussions about technology again.
- wavesounds 5y ago
  It's because so far all of these crypto currencies use terrible technology that is destroying the planet. There's nothing "cutting-edge" about block chain, it was a neat idea 12 years ago but since then it's proven itself to be a completely shit database.
  - SavantIdiot 5y ago
    Well, IMO, that's not entirely true. The idea of a hash-based unalterable ledger is still unique (what's a comparable strategy?), but is still finding its footing. I think a blockchain has applications, and maybe cryptocurrency will be one, but this is all in its infancy. Applications are still being considered, and implementors are learning that hard way that the intersection of monetary systems, economic feasibility, and security is nontrivial and some brogrammer can't just knock out a coin in a weekend and have it be meaningful. I think it will take at least another few decades for a real cryptocurrency to emerge (if one ever does) and even then it will probably be small-scale (bank interchange?) or for some other application and not a global consumer thing. It just has too many issues that no one has figured out yet (transparancy, insurability, privacy, energy cost, scalability, transactional cost, etc.)
- imtringued 5y ago
  Cutting edge black market currencies? Most people aren't interested in that. People come with their Argentina and Venezuela inflation and capital control stories and I fully agree with them but it feels like that is in no way justifying the hype around cryptocurrencies. Average people just want the MLM fueled number go up speculation and that is about it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

Because this is the kind of story that cryptocurrency detractors love, and that aligns with the general sentiment towards cryptocurrencies on HN.

by ayngg 5y ago

Because this is the kind of story that cryptocurrency detractors love, and that aligns with the general sentiment towards cryptocurrencies on HN.

SavantIdiot 5y ago

Odd: HN is made up of the people closest to cutting-edge technology on the planet, and yet sentiment is negative on cryptocurrency. Hmmm...

fleddr 5y ago
It's odd indeed. This is a VC-created forum where its users reject entire sectors of new technology. Besides being anti-crypto, there also anti-google, anti-iot, and anti-any website looking fancier than something from 1996. It's a thing to accept and be entertained by I guess. The stunning lack of self awareness over here is legendary though.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  > The stunning lack of self awareness over here is legendary though. Yes, indeed.
- pnt12 5y ago
  On another perspective, maybe HN is anti-scams, pro privacy, pro privacy and pro UX. No other discussions face such criticism, only crypto. Does everyone believe them with a burning passion? Or are people afraid of losing money? "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
- UweSchmidt 5y ago
  Let's see: - Google: monopolistic tendencies, decline of their search engine, copyright troubles for youtubers, overall bad execution with their projects recently. - iot: really bad security and privacy, otherwise it would be neat. - modern websites: gauntlet of cookie banners and modals, ads and surveillance are criticized, page weight often silly, but the capabilities of modern websites are generally appreciated here. - crypto: enables ransomware and other crime, insane energy use, bad track record of ponzi schemes and hacked services, speculation vehicle with few winners, not generally used/usable for real payments; blockchain-based services not feasible (oracle problem, if possible then killer apps would have appeared, a Hello World program requires mining and melts your CPU, etc.) Did I sum up HN's sentiment correctly? Could you point out where the lack of self awareness lies?
  - fleddr 5y ago
    Yes, I could. You just did it, as did the 3 other replies. You double down and confirm my point. Like I said, I see the humor in it. It's culture. Every forum has a culture. That's why you came to the defense, even in absence of an attack. I know I won't change that, but I do want to explain my counter point by means of an example. You have absolutely no idea how deeply I hate Google. I could write books full of it. Yet I will still not fall in the trap of an absolute closed mind or simplistic binary rejection. Same for crypto and for anything large and impactful. It's a hard thing to do these days, to be a technologist for technology sake, and to cleanly separate it from the maker's reputation, personal politics, and so on. Very few things in life can be sorted into good or bad. So when you have topics that are close to taboo, yes, I do think that's odd.
    - UweSchmidt 5y ago
      I tried to present the arguments around here in a nuanced way. I don't think that there is much of a closed mind or a simplistic binary rejection, or a taboo, on technical topics here on HN. The onus is on crypto boosters (who are usually invested and would benefit from more hype) to present better arguments and demonstrate the general benefit/feasability of crypto.
      - fleddr 5y ago
        You don't think there's a closed mind because you're never on that other side. So you likely never experience it. Yes, there are self-serving crypto maximalists. But even if you add nuance, you get downvoted and standard replies debunked years ago. Doesn't matter what you say, the arguments aren't even heard. That's absolute closed mindedness. And the quality of many of those replies shows how extremely little those people know about it at all. A massive problem? No. But I'm just telling you it does exist.
    - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
      Shrug it's happening throughout technical circles, at least in the English-speaking world. It's one thing to try to push back against politics that you feel are harmful and disenfranchising, in purely political or social forums. It's another when technology forums develop taboos on what technology you can and cannot discuss. I agree it's cultural, but folks who are immersed in the culture don't seem to be willing to call it that. I'm really looking forward for this to be "over" so that the internet can have nuanced discussions about technology again.
wavesounds 5y ago
It's because so far all of these crypto currencies use terrible technology that is destroying the planet. There's nothing "cutting-edge" about block chain, it was a neat idea 12 years ago but since then it's proven itself to be a completely shit database.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  Well, IMO, that's not entirely true. The idea of a hash-based unalterable ledger is still unique (what's a comparable strategy?), but is still finding its footing. I think a blockchain has applications, and maybe cryptocurrency will be one, but this is all in its infancy. Applications are still being considered, and implementors are learning that hard way that the intersection of monetary systems, economic feasibility, and security is nontrivial and some brogrammer can't just knock out a coin in a weekend and have it be meaningful. I think it will take at least another few decades for a real cryptocurrency to emerge (if one ever does) and even then it will probably be small-scale (bank interchange?) or for some other application and not a global consumer thing. It just has too many issues that no one has figured out yet (transparancy, insurability, privacy, energy cost, scalability, transactional cost, etc.)
imtringued 5y ago
Cutting edge black market currencies? Most people aren't interested in that. People come with their Argentina and Venezuela inflation and capital control stories and I fully agree with them but it feels like that is in no way justifying the hype around cryptocurrencies. Average people just want the MLM fueled number go up speculation and that is about it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]