4 ms·

On jeopardy you phrase your answer in the form of a question. It adds a minor layer of complexity, similar to what you call a shit sandwich. It’s the longest ru

On jeopardy you phrase your answer in the form of a question. It adds a minor layer of complexity, similar to what you call a shit sandwich. It’s the longest running game show on tv, maybe one of the longest running show of any type other than the news. Sometimes people forget to phrase their answers in the form of a question. Alex would say, “oh, I’m sorry but you have to phrase your answer as a question.” Dan reminds me of Alex Tribeck in that way. The winners on hn, those with the most karma, never seem to make that mistake. It’s a fairly low barrier, but for some of us quite a challenge.

roflyear 4y ago
Yeah, it is a problem for sure. I have said plenty of inappropriate stuff on this site I think, and been moderated for it, but I don't have anything against the site or the users. It is just difficult or impossible to really obey the HN guidelines, and if you step out of line just a few times you basically get silenced in a big way (if you post a single "fuck you" here, you're in trouble!)
- galangalalgol 4y ago
  Do you normally use "fuck you" in conversations in anything other than a light-hearted way? I just read the guidelines and they describe my preferred communication pattern. I said my friends express emotions in their argument, and now I've learned to, but personal attacks and assuming bad faith are going to just cause me to block someone, as I don't see how the conversation could be productive at that point. The couple times I tried to escalate to match that sort of argument it did go well though. I guess that is just the communication style of some? I don't like it, makes want to hit people. Only done that once at work, and luckily they tried first so they weren't safe to report it.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    I wouldn’t go that far. There is a huge difference between “your idea is dumb” and “you are dumb”
    - galangalalgol 4y ago
      Exactly! Never go full Linus. Not even Linus does that anymore. Even gentle mockery about breaking the pipeline gets overreacted to, and that is annoying. I try to say the idea won't work rather than it is dumb, but I may try it the other way with one of my mentees, I think they might respond better.
  - 2devnull 4y ago
    I do and unlike hn, nobody gently corrects. You just end up with fewer friends. Karma, as much as I hate the term, or people “hearting” tweets, or downvoting posts, has made me a better person in the real world. But the important thing is to only submit yourself to good algorithms and good social feedback. There are places in the net where the prevailing wisdom, manifest as upvotes/downvotes will make you a worse person. Clearly, of all the internet, HN is the best in this regard. Largely thanks to Dan’s moderate moderation and the smart, curious and diverse user base.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    I'll turn this around: you've never told someone to go fuck themselves? I would say that I've used it more IRL than online!! I don't think it is a thing to commonly use in conversations, no. When people are discussing things in good faith, it is inappropriate. But there are times when it is appropriate, IMO. You're having a good faith discussion here I think, if I just replied "fuck you" yeah. It would be pretty mean. Also, sorry, I should have elaborated: by "fuck you" I don't always mean literally fuck you. I also mean phrases like "You obviously don't want to have a conversation about this" etc.. which are dismissive and against the guidelines of HN (I have been rate-limited for this type of speech, btw) Sometimes it is appropriate, even if that appropriateness is only like you're saying: advertising to people like you that you don't want to converse with me. Good! :) Much worse for me to just "obey the rules" and troll you in good faith while adhering to the guidelines, IMO. Much more toxic, too. It is like your coworker who, every time you try and have a constructive conversation with, says "I'll set up a meeting to talk about this" or "we'll discuss it on standup" or "send me an email about this" or whatever - and never follows up. Polite, appropriate, work-safe - but much more toxic than if they would just say "we're not doing that b/c of XYZ, sorry" (which is long-form for "fuck you"). So yeah, it should be OK to say "fuck you" on a healthy forum! ;)

roflyear 4y ago

Yeah, it is a problem for sure. I have said plenty of inappropriate stuff on this site I think, and been moderated for it, but I don't have anything against the site or the users. It is just difficult or impossible to really obey the HN guidelines, and if you step out of line just a few times you basically get silenced in a big way (if you post a single "fuck you" here, you're in trouble!)

galangalalgol 4y ago
Do you normally use "fuck you" in conversations in anything other than a light-hearted way? I just read the guidelines and they describe my preferred communication pattern. I said my friends express emotions in their argument, and now I've learned to, but personal attacks and assuming bad faith are going to just cause me to block someone, as I don't see how the conversation could be productive at that point. The couple times I tried to escalate to match that sort of argument it did go well though. I guess that is just the communication style of some? I don't like it, makes want to hit people. Only done that once at work, and luckily they tried first so they weren't safe to report it.
- scarface74 4y ago
  I wouldn’t go that far. There is a huge difference between “your idea is dumb” and “you are dumb”
  - galangalalgol 4y ago
    Exactly! Never go full Linus. Not even Linus does that anymore. Even gentle mockery about breaking the pipeline gets overreacted to, and that is annoying. I try to say the idea won't work rather than it is dumb, but I may try it the other way with one of my mentees, I think they might respond better.
- 2devnull 4y ago
  I do and unlike hn, nobody gently corrects. You just end up with fewer friends. Karma, as much as I hate the term, or people “hearting” tweets, or downvoting posts, has made me a better person in the real world. But the important thing is to only submit yourself to good algorithms and good social feedback. There are places in the net where the prevailing wisdom, manifest as upvotes/downvotes will make you a worse person. Clearly, of all the internet, HN is the best in this regard. Largely thanks to Dan’s moderate moderation and the smart, curious and diverse user base.
- roflyear 4y ago
  I'll turn this around: you've never told someone to go fuck themselves? I would say that I've used it more IRL than online!! I don't think it is a thing to commonly use in conversations, no. When people are discussing things in good faith, it is inappropriate. But there are times when it is appropriate, IMO. You're having a good faith discussion here I think, if I just replied "fuck you" yeah. It would be pretty mean. Also, sorry, I should have elaborated: by "fuck you" I don't always mean literally fuck you. I also mean phrases like "You obviously don't want to have a conversation about this" etc.. which are dismissive and against the guidelines of HN (I have been rate-limited for this type of speech, btw) Sometimes it is appropriate, even if that appropriateness is only like you're saying: advertising to people like you that you don't want to converse with me. Good! :) Much worse for me to just "obey the rules" and troll you in good faith while adhering to the guidelines, IMO. Much more toxic, too. It is like your coworker who, every time you try and have a constructive conversation with, says "I'll set up a meeting to talk about this" or "we'll discuss it on standup" or "send me an email about this" or whatever - and never follows up. Polite, appropriate, work-safe - but much more toxic than if they would just say "we're not doing that b/c of XYZ, sorry" (which is long-form for "fuck you"). So yeah, it should be OK to say "fuck you" on a healthy forum! ;)