6 ms·

I think the enculturation model is incomplete; I think another big aspect of it is that the system’s capacity as an IQ filter diminishes. It’s easy to get 100 p

by wyager 5y ago

I think the enculturation model is incomplete; I think another big aspect of it is that the system’s capacity as an IQ filter diminishes. It’s easy to get 100 people together that are mostly >2stddev, but it’s basically impossible to get 10,000 people together that are mostly >2stddev. The same process has occurred on many websites. I don’t think the culture necessarily changes as much as the userbase just gets dumber.

BizarroLand 5y ago
IQ doesn't have the relevance you think it does, it's basically an thinly veiled excuse to be an elitist jerk. Being technical is a pathway and IQ only identifies how fast you can travel down that pathway. Someone who started before you but who moves slower can still be far beyond you or have gone down paths to treasures you would never discover because you with your high IQ decided it was dumb.
exo-pla-net 5y ago
Axiom 1: Knowledgeable and mature people are repulsed by windbags and vicious people. Axiom 2: There are vastly more windbags and vicious people than there are knowledgeable and mature people. Axiom 3: Online moderation / gatekeeping is imperfect. Axiom 4: Successful moderation depends on a few keystone people. Lemma 1: A community of knowledgeable, mature people will be under perpetual assault by entropy. The internet baseline of know-nothing gasbags and vicious, damaged people will be pounding on the gates of any community. Lemma 2: Some of the horde will bypass any gatekeeping and moderation to land blows on the knowledgeable and mature people. They'll be repulsed, and some will leave the community. Lemma 3: The keystone moderators are inevitably among the people subjected to these blows. After a serious blow or one blow too many, some will get fed up and leave, and moderation will get worse, increasing the rate of knowledgeable and mature people getting repulsed by their own community and leaving. A hole will form in the fortifications, and the barbarians will flood in, driving out everyone mature and knowledgeable. Thereom: A knowledgeable, mature online community that is open to new users will eventually collapse into the internet baseline. Corollary 1: If you're knowledgeable and mature and currently part of an open online community you love, you too will eventually get repulsed by it and leave. Enjoy it while it lasts. Corollary 2: There are several knowledgeable and mature people here on Hacker News. They're here entirely because of dang. He is our keystone, weathering the assault of the barbarians for all of our sake. When he throws in the towel, we're done.
- ghoward 5y ago
  > Corollary 2: There are several knowledgeable and mature people here on Hacker News. They're here entirely because of dang. He is our keystone, weathering the assault of the barbarians for all of our sake. When he throws in the towel, we're done. Truer words were never said about Hacker News. I think he's paid. I hope he's paid.
- esyir 5y ago
  This sounds about right to me, and has been my understanding of how communities homogenise and decay. Gatekeeping, in my opinion, doesn't deserve its bad rep. It alone is the only way to stem the tide in most situations.
- wrycoder 5y ago
  Largely true, but the up/down buttons are also very important.

by wyager 5y ago

BizarroLand 5y ago

IQ doesn't have the relevance you think it does, it's basically an thinly veiled excuse to be an elitist jerk. Being technical is a pathway and IQ only identifies how fast you can travel down that pathway. Someone who started before you but who moves slower can still be far beyond you or have gone down paths to treasures you would never discover because you with your high IQ decided it was dumb.

exo-pla-net 5y ago

Axiom 1: Knowledgeable and mature people are repulsed by windbags and vicious people. Axiom 2: There are vastly more windbags and vicious people than there are knowledgeable and mature people. Axiom 3: Online moderation / gatekeeping is imperfect. Axiom 4: Successful moderation depends on a few keystone people. Lemma 1: A community of knowledgeable, mature people will be under perpetual assault by entropy. The internet baseline of know-nothing gasbags and vicious, damaged people will be pounding on the gates of any community. Lemma 2: Some of the horde will bypass any gatekeeping and moderation to land blows on the knowledgeable and mature people. They'll be repulsed, and some will leave the community. Lemma 3: The keystone moderators are inevitably among the people subjected to these blows. After a serious blow or one blow too many, some will get fed up and leave, and moderation will get worse, increasing the rate of knowledgeable and mature people getting repulsed by their own community and leaving. A hole will form in the fortifications, and the barbarians will flood in, driving out everyone mature and knowledgeable. Thereom: A knowledgeable, mature online community that is open to new users will eventually collapse into the internet baseline. Corollary 1: If you're knowledgeable and mature and currently part of an open online community you love, you too will eventually get repulsed by it and leave. Enjoy it while it lasts. Corollary 2: There are several knowledgeable and mature people here on Hacker News. They're here entirely because of dang. He is our keystone, weathering the assault of the barbarians for all of our sake. When he throws in the towel, we're done.

ghoward 5y ago
> Corollary 2: There are several knowledgeable and mature people here on Hacker News. They're here entirely because of dang. He is our keystone, weathering the assault of the barbarians for all of our sake. When he throws in the towel, we're done. Truer words were never said about Hacker News. I think he's paid. I hope he's paid.
esyir 5y ago
This sounds about right to me, and has been my understanding of how communities homogenise and decay. Gatekeeping, in my opinion, doesn't deserve its bad rep. It alone is the only way to stem the tide in most situations.
wrycoder 5y ago
Largely true, but the up/down buttons are also very important.