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Perhaps, but HN incentivizes comments that will produce a reaction (votes, replies). You cannot read too much into what someone wrote here. "Facebook must censo

Perhaps, but HN incentivizes comments that will produce a reaction (votes, replies). You cannot read too much into what someone wrote here. "Facebook must censor all the things!" and "We need a decentralized Facebook so that censorship is impossible!" are not at odds with each other when the goal is to receive a reaction in return, assuming the author has found that those comments produce the reaction they seek. When someone is being truly genuine, I do not believe you will find that contradiction. It is possible that you may not have entirely understood what they have written, and looking for clarification may be worthwhile. Still, given the above, it is not likely worth your time. In places where there is incentive to be genuine, more exploration can be worth it.

Y_Y 5y ago
FWIW I try to avoid working like that. Shouting into the void seems perverse to me, and I definitely enjoy having some signal of engagement and approval when I post something. That said, I try to suspend my disbelief regarding the impossibility of fighting the current and so try to be a good citizen in order to maintain a good city. I'm sure Plato or Kant or has written extensively about this, and dang seemed to approve when I discussed it with him in a separate venue. So now that I've spent lots of years lurking, some more years posting and plenty of time screaming into the darkness elsewhere, I can feel satisfied if I post something that I know is interesting or helpful, even if I don't get any external feedback. (I'm reminded of the whole descent-to-madness that certain areas have academia have undergone for the sake of bibliometrics. See e.g. Peter Higgs' comments: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-... )

Y_Y 5y ago

FWIW I try to avoid working like that. Shouting into the void seems perverse to me, and I definitely enjoy having some signal of engagement and approval when I post something. That said, I try to suspend my disbelief regarding the impossibility of fighting the current and so try to be a good citizen in order to maintain a good city. I'm sure Plato or Kant or has written extensively about this, and dang seemed to approve when I discussed it with him in a separate venue. So now that I've spent lots of years lurking, some more years posting and plenty of time screaming into the darkness elsewhere, I can feel satisfied if I post something that I know is interesting or helpful, even if I don't get any external feedback. (I'm reminded of the whole descent-to-madness that certain areas have academia have undergone for the sake of bibliometrics. See e.g. Peter Higgs' comments: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-... )