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The comments in HN threads regarding the vaccines are bizarre. The majority of stances here essentially boil down to "the vaccine is fine" vs "the vaccine is ba

The comments in HN threads regarding the vaccines are bizarre. The majority of stances here essentially boil down to "the vaccine is fine" vs "the vaccine is bad."

mistermann 5y ago
I think this is somewhat by design on culture war topics (which anything covid definitely is). https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. > Eschew flamebait. [Which is essentially impossible on this topic if one is to disagree.] > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity. This is offset by other guidelines, although it seems that erring on the side of harmony & homogeneity is preferred (which if the goal is entertainment, is probably right: HN is a site for intellectual curiosity, not epistemology): > Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. > Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents. > A good critical comment teaches us something. > It tramples curiosity. [Implying curiosity is good/acceptable.]
dang 5y ago
That's unfortunately how polarized topics work. We can't do much about human nature.
- zo1 5y ago
  It's more than just human nature this time around. Something about this whole polarization and specifically this stuff with Covid is just firing off alarm bells in my head.
  - dmatech 5y ago
    Fear tends to polarize people. It drives them to seek drastic solutions to problems because the stakes are seen as too high to be calm and deliberate.
moate 5y ago
I mean, the majority of stances on any message board/comments section boil down to that. Why would HN be magically different?
throw10920 5y ago
The majority of the comments that I see in this thread have to do with the FDA, FOIA, and transparency, with only a scarce few comments that are black-and-white like you described.

The comments in HN threads regarding the vaccines are bizarre. The majority of stances here essentially boil down to "the vaccine is fine" vs "the vaccine is bad."

mistermann 5y ago

I think this is somewhat by design on culture war topics (which anything covid definitely is). https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. > Eschew flamebait. [Which is essentially impossible on this topic if one is to disagree.] > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity. This is offset by other guidelines, although it seems that erring on the side of harmony & homogeneity is preferred (which if the goal is entertainment, is probably right: HN is a site for intellectual curiosity, not epistemology): > Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. > Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents. > A good critical comment teaches us something. > It tramples curiosity. [Implying curiosity is good/acceptable.]

dang 5y ago

That's unfortunately how polarized topics work. We can't do much about human nature.

zo1 5y ago
It's more than just human nature this time around. Something about this whole polarization and specifically this stuff with Covid is just firing off alarm bells in my head.
- dmatech 5y ago
  Fear tends to polarize people. It drives them to seek drastic solutions to problems because the stakes are seen as too high to be calm and deliberate.

moate 5y ago

I mean, the majority of stances on any message board/comments section boil down to that. Why would HN be magically different?

throw10920 5y ago

The majority of the comments that I see in this thread have to do with the FDA, FOIA, and transparency, with only a scarce few comments that are black-and-white like you described.