5 ms·

Summary: because it’s all about “Me”! Me me me.

jesuscript 4y ago
Interestingly enough the opening sentence was “I’m a little like Walter White in the TV show Breaking Bad.”. The moral of the story in Breaking Bad was that Walter was so self absorbed and selfish that he risked everything in his life. How clueless we all are about the machinations of our own ego.
- zichy 4y ago
  Using this as an opening sentence without any irony is the worst thing I ever read.
  - imiric 4y ago
    This thread is an example of the worst kind of commentary to be found on HN. These knee-jerk negative responses have become a meme at this point. Instead of jumping to conclusions about the article (and author!) based on its first sentence, how about we take some nuance into consideration and try to understand where they're coming from? With a positive attitude, you can clearly see that the author's comparison is towards the character's desire to focus on their work, instead of the "messy" processes around it. It's a superficial comparison about this one specific trait, not about the entire character or the series.
    - jesuscript 4y ago
      It’s good critique. Think about how much is conveyed in just a sentence. You wrote three paragraphs to a one sentence reply. How much did one sentence make you think? A lot. In other words, you are proving that our initial takeaway from the opening sentence was valid. How egotistical, to publish your book in a unconventional way, explain that you are doing so, proclaim you are a little like Walter White. How could one not judge the whole thing? So what’s the critique here? Maybe there’s a better way to fucking say stuff. And one should, especially if you are literally in the business of expressing yourself. Why doesn’t he tell the truth? Would a publisher even publish it? Would a paperback even get to a store? Does he have a better chance at marketing and broadcasting the book in digital form? Probably right? But no, he’s little like Walter White. What’s truly meme status now days is self aggrandizement and constant exercises in vanity and patting one self on the back. It has scaled to ridiculous levels, and the overwhelming waves of it drowns valid criticism. No, you shouldn’t write this article at all. You should publish your book, evaluate it’s success and failure, and then write your analysis.
      - quest88 4y ago
        It's a Twitter hot-take that shouldn't be rewarded. We can expect HNers to be better.
        itsoktocry 4y ago
        Perhaps your issue is that you believe people can be judged based on their choice of social media, or that your reactions here serve as a "reward" for anything. HN is not Lake Woebegone, where all of the posters are above average.
        pessimizer 4y ago
        Is that worse that believing that people should be judged by their understanding of the deeper meanings behind the AMC prestige crime television series Breaking Bad?
    - shakna 4y ago
      The author, is a writer. They comprehend that the first few words that you present, will set the tone and understanding for what follows. That any nuance created, flows onwards from the context that you have first presented. Some random writing on Twitter, or in their own little blog, should be afforded more sympathy than just their first sentence, because they probably don't have a clue what they're doing. That is not the same context as someone who intends to present a literary work, that can hold itself, on its own value. Much like how we would hold a CEO more responsible for his words, than a warehouse employee. Both may be representing the company, within their context, but one comes with a set of expectations and responsibilities that the other would never encompass.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
jmeister 4y ago
He gives detailed calculations about how it is better for him financially(and for creative freedom) to publish on Substack. John McWhorter did something similar, wrote out the chapters of his recent book as separate essays on substack. Neither of these two are unknown names. There is something happening here.
- ElCheapo 4y ago
  I don't care about the creativity of an artist, if to access your content I have to connect to the internet and browse through an unfit proprietary platform and read your long form content through a bright computer screen for hours you'll have none of my clicks. I hope he publishes the thing in PDF or EPUB when he's done, otherwise it's just like reading a novel with a magnifying glass and by glueing together the newspaper extracts.

Interestingly enough the opening sentence was “I’m a little like Walter White in the TV show Breaking Bad.”. The moral of the story in Breaking Bad was that Walter was so self absorbed and selfish that he risked everything in his life. How clueless we all are about the machinations of our own ego.

zichy 4y ago
Using this as an opening sentence without any irony is the worst thing I ever read.
- imiric 4y ago
  This thread is an example of the worst kind of commentary to be found on HN. These knee-jerk negative responses have become a meme at this point. Instead of jumping to conclusions about the article (and author!) based on its first sentence, how about we take some nuance into consideration and try to understand where they're coming from? With a positive attitude, you can clearly see that the author's comparison is towards the character's desire to focus on their work, instead of the "messy" processes around it. It's a superficial comparison about this one specific trait, not about the entire character or the series.
  - jesuscript 4y ago
    It’s good critique. Think about how much is conveyed in just a sentence. You wrote three paragraphs to a one sentence reply. How much did one sentence make you think? A lot. In other words, you are proving that our initial takeaway from the opening sentence was valid. How egotistical, to publish your book in a unconventional way, explain that you are doing so, proclaim you are a little like Walter White. How could one not judge the whole thing? So what’s the critique here? Maybe there’s a better way to fucking say stuff. And one should, especially if you are literally in the business of expressing yourself. Why doesn’t he tell the truth? Would a publisher even publish it? Would a paperback even get to a store? Does he have a better chance at marketing and broadcasting the book in digital form? Probably right? But no, he’s little like Walter White. What’s truly meme status now days is self aggrandizement and constant exercises in vanity and patting one self on the back. It has scaled to ridiculous levels, and the overwhelming waves of it drowns valid criticism. No, you shouldn’t write this article at all. You should publish your book, evaluate it’s success and failure, and then write your analysis.
    - quest88 4y ago
      It's a Twitter hot-take that shouldn't be rewarded. We can expect HNers to be better.
      - itsoktocry 4y ago
        Perhaps your issue is that you believe people can be judged based on their choice of social media, or that your reactions here serve as a "reward" for anything. HN is not Lake Woebegone, where all of the posters are above average.
        pessimizer 4y ago
        Is that worse that believing that people should be judged by their understanding of the deeper meanings behind the AMC prestige crime television series Breaking Bad?
  - shakna 4y ago
    The author, is a writer. They comprehend that the first few words that you present, will set the tone and understanding for what follows. That any nuance created, flows onwards from the context that you have first presented. Some random writing on Twitter, or in their own little blog, should be afforded more sympathy than just their first sentence, because they probably don't have a clue what they're doing. That is not the same context as someone who intends to present a literary work, that can hold itself, on its own value. Much like how we would hold a CEO more responsible for his words, than a warehouse employee. Both may be representing the company, within their context, but one comes with a set of expectations and responsibilities that the other would never encompass.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

jmeister 4y ago

He gives detailed calculations about how it is better for him financially(and for creative freedom) to publish on Substack. John McWhorter did something similar, wrote out the chapters of his recent book as separate essays on substack. Neither of these two are unknown names. There is something happening here.

ElCheapo 4y ago
I don't care about the creativity of an artist, if to access your content I have to connect to the internet and browse through an unfit proprietary platform and read your long form content through a bright computer screen for hours you'll have none of my clicks. I hope he publishes the thing in PDF or EPUB when he's done, otherwise it's just like reading a novel with a magnifying glass and by glueing together the newspaper extracts.