3 ms·

HN exists for us to comment on articles. The majority of comments are from folks who didn't even read the article (and that's fine). Turning off comments makes

• d--b 3y ago
  Well, this post is surely going to get removed because of flaming in comments, so, which is better, post with no comments, or no post at all?
  • pc86 3y ago
    Having civil conversation and banning aggressively those who can't be adults?
  • xpe 3y ago
    > Well, this post is surely going to get removed because of flaming in comments This is one prediction of many possible outcomes. Independent of the probability of a negative downstream outcome: 1. It is preferable to correct the unwelcome behavior itself, not the acceptable events simply preceding it (that are non-causal). For example, we denounce when a bully punches a kid, not that the kid stood his ground.* 2. We don't want to create a self-fulfilling prophecy in the form of self-censorship. * I'm not dogmatic on this. There are interesting situations with blurry lines. For example, consider defensive driving, where it is rational to anticipate risky behavior from other drivers and proactively guard against it, rather than waiting for an accident to happen.
  • xpe 3y ago
    > so, which is better, post with no comments, or no post at all? The false choice dilemma is dead. Long live the false choice dilemma!