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> 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 ob

by 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.

by brabel 5y ago

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.