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I think you may be expecting a little too much from people. While this site and its comment section is a little more mature than say, reddit (full of memes and

I think you may be expecting a little too much from people. While this site and its comment section is a little more mature than say, reddit (full of memes and jokes for the most part), it's also not at a level of something like a professional conference full of PhD's where your comments will be received at the same level as they are given. From your comments you seem like a very learned individual, possibly with much education, who comments about many different subjects and has much knowledge accumulated in each. Some people may find this off-putting, perhaps even being a bit jealous, because of the breadth of your interests and knowledge. You have a very extensive vocabulary and your writing style is very organized. You use section dividers: — ⁂ — which, while appreciated to keep things easy to read, might come off as pretentious and trying to show off. Some comments may come off as racist or biased, while all you're trying to do is engage in discussion and present a different viewpoint. There is so much to learn in the world, that there is no need to dumb things down for others, no need to fall in line with what the thought-du-jour is on a subject, and no need to be ashamed for wanting to better ourselves in both knowledge and understanding. I feel this way, and I hope you do too. I personally believe that another community is needed to get to the level of discussion you're after. I would go to that site. But I hope you don't become discouraged and stop posting here. Because even if people don't engage with your comments, or perhaps down-vote you because they feel threatened or put off by what I mentioned above, there are those (like myself) that read things and learn from them. We may not comment much, but we're out there.

kragen 5y ago
> Some comments may come off as racist or biased, while all you're trying to do is engage in discussion and present a different viewpoint. At the point where it "may come off as racist or biased" for me to say that many Chinese people who grew up in China think the Chinese government is good and will be offended by attempts to demonize it, we've entered into some kind of toxic mental pathology that goes far beyond questions of whether I'm pretentious (I guess I am) or off-putting (undoubtedly at times, perhaps always), or whether HN is "something like a professional conference." God, let's hope that never happens! HN can avoid being degraded into a professional conference without becoming the Salem witch trials. Those aren't the only two alternatives!

kragen 5y ago

> Some comments may come off as racist or biased, while all you're trying to do is engage in discussion and present a different viewpoint. At the point where it "may come off as racist or biased" for me to say that many Chinese people who grew up in China think the Chinese government is good and will be offended by attempts to demonize it, we've entered into some kind of toxic mental pathology that goes far beyond questions of whether I'm pretentious (I guess I am) or off-putting (undoubtedly at times, perhaps always), or whether HN is "something like a professional conference." God, let's hope that never happens! HN can avoid being degraded into a professional conference without becoming the Salem witch trials. Those aren't the only two alternatives!