4 ms·

It's not uncharitable. It's highly qualified and based on more than twelve years of experience posting here. I know essentially nothing about HIV. I know a lit

It's not uncharitable. It's highly qualified and based on more than twelve years of experience posting here. I know essentially nothing about HIV. I know a little something about using fasting to successfully treat an incurable condition. I didn't share that because it is routinely ridiculous levels of drama for me to comment on that and some people here absolutely remember me and target me. I have some mental models for why I think fasting is beneficial. I didn't share those because those amount to "personal opinion" and I can't back them up. I am happy to hear medical reasons why fasting is unlikely to work for HIV. That's mostly not the substance of the feedback I got initially.

short_sells_poo 5y ago
I'm really sorry that you have been the victim of such forum drama. I also agree with you that people on this forum are on balance likely to dismiss non-mainstream medical approaches. If you are open minded about these and want to discuss them without prejudice, you'll often be met with responses that may be snarky or unfairly dismissive. That's the unfair reality of holding non-mainstream ideas. By default, they are off-piste, niche, etc... However, I didn't see anything like that in any of the responses here. A very valid point was raised that you support your proposition (ie that HIV might be helped by fasting) with a Quora link. People who are not closed to the idea will find that the link just contains some anecdotal information which at best can confirm sub-conscious pre-concieved biases, but not be a robust argument. Worse, it plays into the hand of those who are outright dismissive because you served them a perfect strawman to attack. Ultimately, with any discussion forum you have to consider the audience. People don't owe you anything and particularly a forum like this where things are supposed to be debated based on merit, the bar to debate claims is relatively high. All these considered, it would've been better to simply ignore the quora link, or at least strongly annotate it saying it is just anecdotal and should not be taken as supporting evidence.
asveikau 5y ago
I recognize your username and I think we had small, non-antagonistic interactions here where I basically (IIRC) asked you to elaborate on your condition. I want to say that people who respond in the way you're mentioning are very likely a minority. A lot of people will read your comments and reply nothing at all. That's probably most of us, and therefore, any given comment's largest audience. That would have been me, had I not decided to comment this a little after I read your comment.
- DoreenMichele 5y ago
  I don't really want to add to the drama here, so I've chosen to be silent for a bit. I'm also not comfortable "ignoring" you. What I described above is a persistent pattern. I don't believe I'm imagining it nor overreacting. I don't know some means to escape it without talking about it some. It's certainly not the entirety of my experience here. I wouldn't hang here so much if it were all downside.
  - asveikau 5y ago
    Not saying you're imagining it or overreacting, just trying to call attention to the fact that commenters on any topic are outnumbered by those who are reading and don't react. For whatever that is worth to you. Perhaps not much. I suspect it may be helpful perspective for many of us.
    - DoreenMichele 5y ago
      I really wasn't trying to suggest that you were. I was actually trying to acknowledge your good intentions. Thank you.
Karunamon 5y ago
This resonates hard. I know we're deep in the meta weeds here, but I find this constant demand for sources (and the always-accompanying derail about the quality of those provided) to be one of the worst issues about this site. HN is not an academic paper, a Wikipedia article, a matter of journalism, a speech&debate exhibition or anything other than an informal discussion on the internet. In such discussions, people are allowed to quote from memory and personal experience, speculate, and occasionally be wrong... and I find the pressure to not do this to be not just a little disrespectful and dehumanizing. If people want all comments cited to ACM standards, there won't be any comments.
- DoreenMichele 5y ago
  It's occasionally pretty frothing at the mouth worthy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23988056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23988056

short_sells_poo 5y ago

I'm really sorry that you have been the victim of such forum drama. I also agree with you that people on this forum are on balance likely to dismiss non-mainstream medical approaches. If you are open minded about these and want to discuss them without prejudice, you'll often be met with responses that may be snarky or unfairly dismissive. That's the unfair reality of holding non-mainstream ideas. By default, they are off-piste, niche, etc... However, I didn't see anything like that in any of the responses here. A very valid point was raised that you support your proposition (ie that HIV might be helped by fasting) with a Quora link. People who are not closed to the idea will find that the link just contains some anecdotal information which at best can confirm sub-conscious pre-concieved biases, but not be a robust argument. Worse, it plays into the hand of those who are outright dismissive because you served them a perfect strawman to attack. Ultimately, with any discussion forum you have to consider the audience. People don't owe you anything and particularly a forum like this where things are supposed to be debated based on merit, the bar to debate claims is relatively high. All these considered, it would've been better to simply ignore the quora link, or at least strongly annotate it saying it is just anecdotal and should not be taken as supporting evidence.

asveikau 5y ago

I recognize your username and I think we had small, non-antagonistic interactions here where I basically (IIRC) asked you to elaborate on your condition. I want to say that people who respond in the way you're mentioning are very likely a minority. A lot of people will read your comments and reply nothing at all. That's probably most of us, and therefore, any given comment's largest audience. That would have been me, had I not decided to comment this a little after I read your comment.

DoreenMichele 5y ago
I don't really want to add to the drama here, so I've chosen to be silent for a bit. I'm also not comfortable "ignoring" you. What I described above is a persistent pattern. I don't believe I'm imagining it nor overreacting. I don't know some means to escape it without talking about it some. It's certainly not the entirety of my experience here. I wouldn't hang here so much if it were all downside.
- asveikau 5y ago
  Not saying you're imagining it or overreacting, just trying to call attention to the fact that commenters on any topic are outnumbered by those who are reading and don't react. For whatever that is worth to you. Perhaps not much. I suspect it may be helpful perspective for many of us.
  - DoreenMichele 5y ago
    I really wasn't trying to suggest that you were. I was actually trying to acknowledge your good intentions. Thank you.

Karunamon 5y ago

This resonates hard. I know we're deep in the meta weeds here, but I find this constant demand for sources (and the always-accompanying derail about the quality of those provided) to be one of the worst issues about this site. HN is not an academic paper, a Wikipedia article, a matter of journalism, a speech&debate exhibition or anything other than an informal discussion on the internet. In such discussions, people are allowed to quote from memory and personal experience, speculate, and occasionally be wrong... and I find the pressure to not do this to be not just a little disrespectful and dehumanizing. If people want all comments cited to ACM standards, there won't be any comments.

DoreenMichele 5y ago
It's occasionally pretty frothing at the mouth worthy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23988056 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23988056