5 ms·

The politics threads on HN are very revelatory for me. I always thought the HN crowd is very analytical, logical and knows how to understand data and reason wit

The politics threads on HN are very revelatory for me. I always thought the HN crowd is very analytical, logical and knows how to understand data and reason with it. In that sense these threads are more disappointing than some random interactions on reddit or twitter.

stingraycharles 5y ago
Even analytical, logical people make interpretations; politics is prone to many different reasonable interpretations, and it’s often difficult to establish facts, so you see a vast variety of opinions. I think generally speaking political discussions are discouraged on HN for this precise reason.
brabel 5y ago
> I always thought the HN crowd is very analytical, logical and knows how to understand data and reason with it. Did you arrive at that conclusion driven by observation and evidence? If so, then that means you notice this behaviour only on the politics threads. Now, ask yourself: are people here really not behaving analytically and logically only when it comes to politics, but you only happen to notice that when it comes to politics? Or maybe you only think that this happens in politics because you have an unreasonably emotional reaction to truly analytical points of view that contradict your political view points?
- watwut 5y ago
  > Did you arrive at that conclusion driven by observation and evidence? If so, then that means you notice this behaviour only on the politics threads You second sentence does not follow from first one. It is quite possible for HN to have that behavior in more then one topic while OP making the first observation in politics.
- zamadatix 5y ago
  I'm having a brain fart on the word/phrase to describe this but it'd be really interesting to see how "split" accounts are when commenting on the technical articles vs fluff articles. It may well be different groups commenting on certain posts often and others not as often giving a strong rise to a real difference in tone/analysis. There may not be things like "subreddits" here but that doesn't inherently mean you can pick a random political topic and expect the same userbase is participating. This wouldn't rule out the above, both reasons can coexist even, but it'd add to the understanding significantly.
- Swenrekcah 5y ago
  It happens in politics because yes, people in general have much more emotional reactions to topics like politics and religion. That’s why people who might otherwise have a logical and analytical approach to technical matters forget how to apply that when it comes to these topics. That is also the reason why politics and religion are not generally “allowed topics” on this forum except when directly related to tech or a major world event.
ferdowsi 5y ago
Technical discussions are far more ideologically driven than we give them credit for. Witness the hype cycles and evangelism machines around certain technologies, programming languages, etc. They're often barely rooted in technical merit.
xwdv 5y ago
I think it is more likely you came to that conclusion because you don’t agree with their opinions, a common mistake people make. Without good self-awareness we will assume people who don’t think like us are somehow dumb or irrational. Look no further than say, an opposing political party, and I bet you’d write off most of its members as blithering idiots. Personally, I find the HN crowd to be very logical and intelligent on most issues, though there are some pockets of ignorance and SJWs. However, much of that ignorance is fueled by external motivations and misguided desires.
- texaslonghorn5 5y ago
steve76 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
shagmin 5y ago
Can't find the article, but I vaguely remember reading an article I think from Hacker News which aggregated some statistics like people with an engineering background are much more likely to be a terrorist, more likely to be on one extreme side or the other on the political spectrum, and things like that. Politics seems to be so ingrained in people, being analytical and everything can just help people can find things that support their biases easier.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

stingraycharles 5y ago

Even analytical, logical people make interpretations; politics is prone to many different reasonable interpretations, and it’s often difficult to establish facts, so you see a vast variety of opinions. I think generally speaking political discussions are discouraged on HN for this precise reason.

brabel 5y ago

> I always thought the HN crowd is very analytical, logical and knows how to understand data and reason with it. Did you arrive at that conclusion driven by observation and evidence? If so, then that means you notice this behaviour only on the politics threads. Now, ask yourself: are people here really not behaving analytically and logically only when it comes to politics, but you only happen to notice that when it comes to politics? Or maybe you only think that this happens in politics because you have an unreasonably emotional reaction to truly analytical points of view that contradict your political view points?

watwut 5y ago
> Did you arrive at that conclusion driven by observation and evidence? If so, then that means you notice this behaviour only on the politics threads You second sentence does not follow from first one. It is quite possible for HN to have that behavior in more then one topic while OP making the first observation in politics.
zamadatix 5y ago
I'm having a brain fart on the word/phrase to describe this but it'd be really interesting to see how "split" accounts are when commenting on the technical articles vs fluff articles. It may well be different groups commenting on certain posts often and others not as often giving a strong rise to a real difference in tone/analysis. There may not be things like "subreddits" here but that doesn't inherently mean you can pick a random political topic and expect the same userbase is participating. This wouldn't rule out the above, both reasons can coexist even, but it'd add to the understanding significantly.
Swenrekcah 5y ago
It happens in politics because yes, people in general have much more emotional reactions to topics like politics and religion. That’s why people who might otherwise have a logical and analytical approach to technical matters forget how to apply that when it comes to these topics. That is also the reason why politics and religion are not generally “allowed topics” on this forum except when directly related to tech or a major world event.

ferdowsi 5y ago

Technical discussions are far more ideologically driven than we give them credit for. Witness the hype cycles and evangelism machines around certain technologies, programming languages, etc. They're often barely rooted in technical merit.

xwdv 5y ago

I think it is more likely you came to that conclusion because you don’t agree with their opinions, a common mistake people make. Without good self-awareness we will assume people who don’t think like us are somehow dumb or irrational. Look no further than say, an opposing political party, and I bet you’d write off most of its members as blithering idiots. Personally, I find the HN crowd to be very logical and intelligent on most issues, though there are some pockets of ignorance and SJWs. However, much of that ignorance is fueled by external motivations and misguided desires.

texaslonghorn5 5y ago

steve76 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

shagmin 5y ago

Can't find the article, but I vaguely remember reading an article I think from Hacker News which aggregated some statistics like people with an engineering background are much more likely to be a terrorist, more likely to be on one extreme side or the other on the political spectrum, and things like that. Politics seems to be so ingrained in people, being analytical and everything can just help people can find things that support their biases easier.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]