4 ms·

Is HN something between Reddit and Buzzfeed now? Apologies if this sounds smartass-y but the quality of top posts in the frontpage has dropped significantly the

Is HN something between Reddit and Buzzfeed now? Apologies if this sounds smartass-y but the quality of top posts in the frontpage has dropped significantly the past two years.

password54321 4y ago
Got a bad result?
- antegamisou 4y ago
  I have done similar tests in the past including this one and I scored over 125 in all of them. But it doesn't really matter because you can't gauge g by a matrix reasoning test alone (I estimate my 'real' IQ to be -1 SD from what I scored) . And that's what makes posts like this one low quality - pop. (Believing an online test gives an accurate estimate of your intellect.)
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - ComradePhil 4y ago
    125 is Neil deGrasse Tyson level and won't even get you into Mensa. If you think that is smart, well good for you. Also, Mensa Norway has very similar test when you go to take it in person... and results are close to what you get online.
    - antegamisou 4y ago
      Ignoring the uneducated claims about someone's IQ based on their public appearance, where in the parent comment did I say the word smart? Also you downplaying the range of ~ +1.5SD is a textbook example of spending too much time on YT watching Jordan Peterson's lectures on IQ. People with actual* +1.5 - 2 SD IQ, are STEM PhD's, not your average Internet rando. *subjects of standardized intelligence testing (WAIS, SB) not prone to practice effects like all the RPMs online. Yes, I just said that practicing enough Ravens will get you to Mensa provided a three digit 'baseline'.
      - JoshuaDavid 4y ago
        The median STEM PhD probably has[1] around a +2 SD IQ, but the median person with a +2 SD IQ does not have a STEM PhD or similarly impressive educational attainment (2% of people have a +2 SD IQ but only 1.2% of people have PhDs, and only 20% of people with PhDs have STEM PhDs[2]). Your average internet rando does indeed have a lower IQ, but given that someone does have a +2SD IQ, that person is still more likely to be an internet rando than to be an impressive STEM PhD, for much the same reason as your average 6'4" person is more likely to be a car salesman than an NBA player despite almost all NBA players being really tall. [1] http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/iq.htm http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/iq.htm [2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/185353/number-of-doctoral-degrees-by-field-of-research/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/185353/number-of-doctora...
andrelaszlo 4y ago
I have the same feeling sometimes, but when I went back and checked some historical HN front pages, it wasn't amazing either. Here's the one from 5 years ago, for example: https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2017-05-03 https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2017-05-03 Or 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2012-05-03 https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2012-05-03 For me it seems to be selective memory. Sometimes it seems like it's all the same, it's just the names of companies and technologies that change. Am I just getting old?
akvadrako 4y ago
Maybe. It certainly seems like HN has grown a lot. Probably a lot of people moved here when Reddit went to shit.
yarg 4y ago
It happens; as one social network turns to shit, the evacuees drag down the quality of the platform they escape to. It happened to reddit with the digg exodus, and it's slowly happening here as the powers that be attempt to convert reddit into something to do with money.

Is HN something between Reddit and Buzzfeed now? Apologies if this sounds smartass-y but the quality of top posts in the frontpage has dropped significantly the past two years.

password54321 4y ago

Got a bad result?

antegamisou 4y ago
I have done similar tests in the past including this one and I scored over 125 in all of them. But it doesn't really matter because you can't gauge g by a matrix reasoning test alone (I estimate my 'real' IQ to be -1 SD from what I scored) . And that's what makes posts like this one low quality - pop. (Believing an online test gives an accurate estimate of your intellect.)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ComradePhil 4y ago
  125 is Neil deGrasse Tyson level and won't even get you into Mensa. If you think that is smart, well good for you. Also, Mensa Norway has very similar test when you go to take it in person... and results are close to what you get online.
  - antegamisou 4y ago
    Ignoring the uneducated claims about someone's IQ based on their public appearance, where in the parent comment did I say the word smart? Also you downplaying the range of ~ +1.5SD is a textbook example of spending too much time on YT watching Jordan Peterson's lectures on IQ. People with actual* +1.5 - 2 SD IQ, are STEM PhD's, not your average Internet rando. *subjects of standardized intelligence testing (WAIS, SB) not prone to practice effects like all the RPMs online. Yes, I just said that practicing enough Ravens will get you to Mensa provided a three digit 'baseline'.
    - JoshuaDavid 4y ago
      The median STEM PhD probably has[1] around a +2 SD IQ, but the median person with a +2 SD IQ does not have a STEM PhD or similarly impressive educational attainment (2% of people have a +2 SD IQ but only 1.2% of people have PhDs, and only 20% of people with PhDs have STEM PhDs[2]). Your average internet rando does indeed have a lower IQ, but given that someone does have a +2SD IQ, that person is still more likely to be an internet rando than to be an impressive STEM PhD, for much the same reason as your average 6'4" person is more likely to be a car salesman than an NBA player despite almost all NBA players being really tall. [1] http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/iq.htm http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/iq.htm [2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/185353/number-of-doctoral-degrees-by-field-of-research/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/185353/number-of-doctora...

andrelaszlo 4y ago

I have the same feeling sometimes, but when I went back and checked some historical HN front pages, it wasn't amazing either. Here's the one from 5 years ago, for example: https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2017-05-03 https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2017-05-03 Or 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2012-05-03 https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2012-05-03 For me it seems to be selective memory. Sometimes it seems like it's all the same, it's just the names of companies and technologies that change. Am I just getting old?

akvadrako 4y ago

Maybe. It certainly seems like HN has grown a lot. Probably a lot of people moved here when Reddit went to shit.

yarg 4y ago

It happens; as one social network turns to shit, the evacuees drag down the quality of the platform they escape to. It happened to reddit with the digg exodus, and it's slowly happening here as the powers that be attempt to convert reddit into something to do with money.