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There is a large online network of communities that have dedicated themselves to making outcasts out of boys for their own ends. Sometimes it's for clear ends (

There is a large online network of communities that have dedicated themselves to making outcasts out of boys for their own ends. Sometimes it's for clear ends (like Bannon's work on Gamergate) and sometimes it's an intuitive growth instinct. Places like ZH need attention and they're not going to get it if boys grow up to go college. They need them angry, cynical and isolated. I think HN is one outpost of this network. Imagine a 12-16 year old happening upon HN and becoming a regular. Do you see this person coming away with a positive view of higher education and being encouraged to pursue it? Or are they more likely to develop a cynical, contrarian view?

krrishd 5y ago
> Imagine a 12-16 year old happening upon HN and becoming a regular. Do you see this person coming away with a positive view of higher education and being encouraged to pursue it? Or are they more likely to develop a cynical, contrarian view? This precise thing happened to me years ago, and yes I did develop a cynical/contrarian view about it. I still went to school, but in net think I benefitted from not taking it too seriously. But I don't think HN made me an outcast; I was on here because I was already an outcast and it was a place where there were other people into similar things that I was. I feel the same way about your broader point; I think the cynicism/isolation comes first (even if the internet might reinforce it).
fullshark 5y ago
Chicken or egg thing going on there though wouldn't you say? Are these networks accelerating and finding ways to verbalize emotions/thoughts these boys already have due to a social environment they find themselves in and are unhappy with?
merpnderp 5y ago
This could be true if it weren't for the data showing that boys aren't just underperforming in college, the division begins far earlier in primary school. It isn't that these boys don't have a positive view of higher education, it's that they don't have a positive view of any education. And this view is based on their lived experience.

krrishd 5y ago

> Imagine a 12-16 year old happening upon HN and becoming a regular. Do you see this person coming away with a positive view of higher education and being encouraged to pursue it? Or are they more likely to develop a cynical, contrarian view? This precise thing happened to me years ago, and yes I did develop a cynical/contrarian view about it. I still went to school, but in net think I benefitted from not taking it too seriously. But I don't think HN made me an outcast; I was on here because I was already an outcast and it was a place where there were other people into similar things that I was. I feel the same way about your broader point; I think the cynicism/isolation comes first (even if the internet might reinforce it).

fullshark 5y ago

Chicken or egg thing going on there though wouldn't you say? Are these networks accelerating and finding ways to verbalize emotions/thoughts these boys already have due to a social environment they find themselves in and are unhappy with?

merpnderp 5y ago

This could be true if it weren't for the data showing that boys aren't just underperforming in college, the division begins far earlier in primary school. It isn't that these boys don't have a positive view of higher education, it's that they don't have a positive view of any education. And this view is based on their lived experience.