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The more topics you are knowledgeable about on HN, the more glaring the mass lack of competence the comments generally have except for topics like algorithms. E
by ikiris 4y ago
The more topics you are knowledgeable about on HN, the more glaring the mass lack of competence the comments generally have except for topics like algorithms. Especially on anything bordering economics, medicine, and some others. It's similar to knoll's law. The libertarian / austrian (economics) skews are sometimes wild, and equally wildly inaccurate, sometimes bordering on conspiracy / delusional thinking.
- spacechild1 4y ago> The libertarian / austrian I am Austrian and I am a bit confused...
- ikiris 4y agosorry, meant specifically austrian school of economics there. Austrians the people are cool :)
- spacechild1 4y agoNo worries! TIL
- hinkley 4y agoapparently he has a problem with your schools though.
- joe_the_user 4y agoI don't think I've gotten that much more knowledgeable in the last few years but maybe I should take that as the explanation for HN seeming to decline - it's certainly the most flattering possibility.
- sophacles 4y agoEvery now and then when I've got some time to kill I'll go look at old comment sections (particularly when Dang links previous iterations of a discussion) and compare it to what I see today. It turns out that the quality hasn't changed greatly, though viewpoints, popular gripes, etc may have. I've discovered that a lot of my thoughts about "hn is going to shit" are usually better phrased as "I dislike that this viewpoint is popular now" or "I've come around to seeing that differently". Particularly when it turns out I preserved my old viewpoint in the form of a comment on the old article. A related thing is: look through places where the crowd skews young/newb like r/programmerhumor. You'll see arguments, discussions, etc about things that might make you think "I thought that was settled ages ago" but in reality were just things you got experienced perspective on, and/or grew out of. People grow and change - usually in a slow and steady way that's hard to see in the mirror. I suspect you've picked up a lot of knowledge and some new perspectives - a few years is a long time!