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The open and largely unspoken secret of the internet is that only the mentally or emotionally unbalanced post here. The ratio of people who use the internet to

The open and largely unspoken secret of the internet is that only the mentally or emotionally unbalanced post here. The ratio of people who use the internet to people who post regularly on the internet is something like 1000:1. Only nutters talk on the internet. > late-night dinners with VCs or yacht rides with rich people Wat? Where are you coming from? > conversations that are deep about touchy issues Everybody does this, all the time. Maybe your friends are too shallow for you? > Where are the places to start (and continue) conversations about important issues without self-censoring and walking on eggshells? Go ahead and have them, right here on Hacker News. If you're "self-censoring and walking on eggshells" and you're NOT just an asshole, then you just need to study rhetoric. It's an ancient art, thousands of years old, there's plenty of material to work with. If you're well-spoken (and your opinions or ideas are not simply odious) then who cares if people get mad at you? It's on them to reply in kind or they're the assholes, eh?

seydor 4y ago
so I didnt even state any issues and am already presumed to have shallow friends, being an asshole, ignorant of rhetoric and not being well-spoken. maybe eggshells was an understatement
- carapace 4y ago
  I apologize for insulting you, that was not my intention. I have to point out that you're being defensive and taking an uncharitable view of what I said. Your friends may be shallow relative to you, I don't say anything about their absolute level of shallowness/depth. I'm a pretty shallow person myself (once you get away from the minutia of computer programming, and even there there are a lot of people who are much deeper than I am.) Nevertheless, it happens sometimes that you find yourself with a circle of friends that you are no longer satisfied with, maybe that's personal growth, or maybe you're just becoming a cranky old man. I'm just speculating, there's no need to take any of this personally. (I'm using the pronoun "you" in the general sense, not about you seydor specifically, okay?) I never called you an asshole. Without knowing more about you, it's a possibility, but I'm trying to discount that. It's like saying, "You're not a flying purple people eater, so it must be something else" is not calling you a "flying purple people eater", right? As for "ignorant of rhetoric and not being well-spoken" you seem determined to be offended. I'm just trying to help. If you're not an asshole,, if you don't entertain odious opinions, if you have good rhetorical skills and are well-spoken, and you still feel you have to walk on eggshells, then I would say that the problem must be that you're just looking in the wrong places? I.e. you're not going to get good debate on Imgur. In any event, I hope this find you well, and offer it in the spirit of open and civil discussion. Have a good day.

seydor 4y ago

so I didnt even state any issues and am already presumed to have shallow friends, being an asshole, ignorant of rhetoric and not being well-spoken. maybe eggshells was an understatement

carapace 4y ago
I apologize for insulting you, that was not my intention. I have to point out that you're being defensive and taking an uncharitable view of what I said. Your friends may be shallow relative to you, I don't say anything about their absolute level of shallowness/depth. I'm a pretty shallow person myself (once you get away from the minutia of computer programming, and even there there are a lot of people who are much deeper than I am.) Nevertheless, it happens sometimes that you find yourself with a circle of friends that you are no longer satisfied with, maybe that's personal growth, or maybe you're just becoming a cranky old man. I'm just speculating, there's no need to take any of this personally. (I'm using the pronoun "you" in the general sense, not about you seydor specifically, okay?) I never called you an asshole. Without knowing more about you, it's a possibility, but I'm trying to discount that. It's like saying, "You're not a flying purple people eater, so it must be something else" is not calling you a "flying purple people eater", right? As for "ignorant of rhetoric and not being well-spoken" you seem determined to be offended. I'm just trying to help. If you're not an asshole,, if you don't entertain odious opinions, if you have good rhetorical skills and are well-spoken, and you still feel you have to walk on eggshells, then I would say that the problem must be that you're just looking in the wrong places? I.e. you're not going to get good debate on Imgur. In any event, I hope this find you well, and offer it in the spirit of open and civil discussion. Have a good day.