I'm grateful this exists, so that I can link to it. When you try to point out a trend and give five or six examples, and people nitpick one but ignore the gene

I'm grateful this exists, so that I can link to it. When you try to point out a trend and give five or six examples, and people nitpick one but ignore the general point... I don't know, it seems almost perverse. The magic of Hacker News (or Reddit, a very long time ago) was that it didn't have much of that. It's changing. Still the best public discussion on the internet, but pedanticism is on the rise. HN used to feel like having a coffee and snacks in the living room of a very gracious host who created an eclectic mix of people -- just to get a good discussion going. I liked contributing, and though I'd at times make poorly thought arguments (I hadn't studied enough history to see the politics I advocated weren't quite right), I always felt like I had a shot to engage someone in discussion. Now, the place feels like you've got to be aware of rhetoric in front of a potentially hostile crowd, fighting for the payoff of... the crowd's fleeting ephemeral approval. Which is one reason why I don't comment much here any more.