5 ms·

Reddit is way too stupid for an intelligent person to make progress there. Much more likely, the kid will create a Hacker News account and become the Hegemon.

by javert 15y ago

philwelch 15y ago
On the contrary, it takes a lot of intelligence, of a certain kind, to bend a mass of common idiots to your side. It takes dishonesty as well, but certainly there is some skill involved.
- javert 15y ago
  I thought this would come up. I think redditors are too stupid even for that. I mean, there is a certain point where you're preaching the Gospel to a group of orangutans, no? Anyway, it matters not.
unimpressive 15y ago
>the Hegemon. Okay, after searching the web I give up. Can you please explain what that is? (I get a general gist from related words but it would be nice to know what you're specifically referring to.)
- mdanger 15y ago
  I believe it's a reference to the Ender's Game series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enders_Game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enders_Game, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Hegemon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Hegemon), as lampooned here: http://xkcd.com/635/ http://xkcd.com/635/
- javert 15y ago
  It's a reference to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series) More specifically, a pair of kids (neither of which is the main character) create online pseudonyms ("Locke" and "Demosthenes") and eventually use them to convince the world of their great ideas (that they post in online forums). One of the kids eventually becomes "Hegemon," or the world leader. By the way, I'd extremely highly recommend "Ender's Game" (the first book). Besides being an utterly awesome book, I even got a friend who "hated" reading to try it, and even he liked it. I mean, it's that good.
  - unimpressive 15y ago
    >By the way, I'd extremely highly recommend "Ender's Game" (the first book). Besides being an utterly awesome book, I even got a friend who "hated" reading to try it, and even he liked it. I mean, it's that good. I've read it. (There was someone else who posted before you, but I'm replying here because I thought it would be good to clarify that.) Thank you all for reminding me of that part of Ender's Game. It's been a while since I've read it. But for what it's worth I did think of that when I saw the reference. I just didn't know that was Peter's title once he ruled earth.
  - caf 15y ago
    ...or listen to it - the audio book of Ender's Game is very good, and I believe Orson Scott Card may have said that he felt that this was the optimum form for the work.
    - SoftwareMaven 15y ago
      He did, in fact, say that. The 20th Anniversary Edition[1] is a full-cast production with an afterward by the author. Highly recommended. 1. http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V5A12Y&qid=1336884609&sr=1-1 http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V5A12Y&qid...
- lotharbot 15y ago
  It's probably a reference to the Orson Scott Card series of books that started with Ender's Game. Ender's older brother Peter[0] was a sociopath/sadist who becomes an influential blogger (under pseudonyms) and eventually takes the position of Hegemon (something like a president-king of Earth). [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wiggin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wiggin
andrewflnr 15y ago
Of course, Reddit would be only one of the channels he worked through. As long as you know you're working with stupid people, you can work on manipulating them. But maybe that's more of a Demosthenes thing.

Reddit is way too stupid for an intelligent person to make progress there. Much more likely, the kid will create a Hacker News account and become the Hegemon.

by javert 15y ago

Reddit is way too stupid for an intelligent person to make progress there. Much more likely, the kid will create a Hacker News account and become the Hegemon.

philwelch 15y ago

On the contrary, it takes a lot of intelligence, of a certain kind, to bend a mass of common idiots to your side. It takes dishonesty as well, but certainly there is some skill involved.

javert 15y ago
I thought this would come up. I think redditors are too stupid even for that. I mean, there is a certain point where you're preaching the Gospel to a group of orangutans, no? Anyway, it matters not.

unimpressive 15y ago

>the Hegemon. Okay, after searching the web I give up. Can you please explain what that is? (I get a general gist from related words but it would be nice to know what you're specifically referring to.)

mdanger 15y ago
I believe it's a reference to the Ender's Game series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enders_Game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enders_Game, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Hegemon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Hegemon), as lampooned here: http://xkcd.com/635/ http://xkcd.com/635/
javert 15y ago
It's a reference to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game_(series) More specifically, a pair of kids (neither of which is the main character) create online pseudonyms ("Locke" and "Demosthenes") and eventually use them to convince the world of their great ideas (that they post in online forums). One of the kids eventually becomes "Hegemon," or the world leader. By the way, I'd extremely highly recommend "Ender's Game" (the first book). Besides being an utterly awesome book, I even got a friend who "hated" reading to try it, and even he liked it. I mean, it's that good.
- unimpressive 15y ago
  >By the way, I'd extremely highly recommend "Ender's Game" (the first book). Besides being an utterly awesome book, I even got a friend who "hated" reading to try it, and even he liked it. I mean, it's that good. I've read it. (There was someone else who posted before you, but I'm replying here because I thought it would be good to clarify that.) Thank you all for reminding me of that part of Ender's Game. It's been a while since I've read it. But for what it's worth I did think of that when I saw the reference. I just didn't know that was Peter's title once he ruled earth.
- caf 15y ago
  ...or listen to it - the audio book of Ender's Game is very good, and I believe Orson Scott Card may have said that he felt that this was the optimum form for the work.
  - SoftwareMaven 15y ago
    He did, in fact, say that. The 20th Anniversary Edition[1] is a full-cast production with an afterward by the author. Highly recommended. 1. http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V5A12Y&qid=1336884609&sr=1-1 http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002V5A12Y&qid...
lotharbot 15y ago
It's probably a reference to the Orson Scott Card series of books that started with Ender's Game. Ender's older brother Peter[0] was a sociopath/sadist who becomes an influential blogger (under pseudonyms) and eventually takes the position of Hegemon (something like a president-king of Earth). [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wiggin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wiggin

andrewflnr 15y ago

Of course, Reddit would be only one of the channels he worked through. As long as you know you're working with stupid people, you can work on manipulating them. But maybe that's more of a Demosthenes thing.