4 ms·

> not quite to the same level as the major headlines of the day about the latest Middle East controversy/Soviet threat/identity politics thing. Why do you say

> not quite to the same level as the major headlines of the day about the latest Middle East controversy/Soviet threat/identity politics thing. Why do you say that? I share in the tech-minded proclivity towards not having much interest in people, so I admit to being largely out of the loop, but what is there to be worked up about where you wouldn't equally get worked up around some tech-based topic? It just sounds boring an uninteresting to me. When I have encountered discussions about those topics, all I have is some laughter at how silly the people sound. Just like I'm sure how the "Next.js is awful" conversations sound to the metaphorical grandma.

solardev 2y ago
You, yourself, might just be different/lucky then :) Or you could just be typical here. The average HN user is probably not representative of the average person in the overall population. It's a self-selecting crowd of nerds, many of whom aren't all that interested in more worldly topics. (Nothing wrong with that, mind you. It's part of the reason I'm here and not on mainstream social media.) But out in the greater society, people get all worked up about those other topics, and will go protest in the streets, blockade representatives' houses, send death threats, rage endlessly online, attempt assassinations, go on shooting sprees, etc. Those things are usually triggered by some emotional attachment to some tribal identity and anger towards some out-group. In a monoculture like this, we're mostly peers. Yeah, we might disagree about some particular things, but there's less of an "us vs them" mindset as you see politics, geopolitics, values-based communities, etc. Discussions of technical merit, even when heated, thankfully don't reach those emotional heights quite as often. In my experience, at least...
- randomdata 2y ago
  > But out in the greater society, people get all worked up about those other topics I understand that. Believe me, I can definitely get worked up about Next.js, if you really want to go there...! It is in no way surprising that people interested in people can end up in the same place around topics related to people. > In my experience, at least... But the underscore here is that your experience is based on where your interests (perhaps not the perfect word to describe this, but it's what I got) lie. If you have a greater interest in people, you're going to feel more strongly about it. I'm not bothered by it at all. But, by the same token, what is to say that I don't feel more strongly towards technical controversy than you do?
  - solardev 2y ago
    You very well might! No algorithm is perfect, and no moderation system will get it right every time. But I hope your experience on HN is still a net positive.
    - randomdata 2y ago
      > no moderation system will get it right every time. It doesn't need to, of course. Moderation, outside of blatant spam perhaps, is rather pointless. If someone wants to exclaim "Next.js is the second coming of Jesus", I want to hear it. There is a reason they are saying it. To not get stuck in my bias: For those interested in people, why wouldn't you want to hear "so and so group of people are all _____ and they should all be ________, and oh, your mom sucks"? It is a ridiculous statement at face value, admittedly, but it is someone's attempt at communicating. What they are actually trying to say might teach you something important. Wouldn't you want to surface what they are truly trying to get at? I certainly would for its tech-based counterpart. Especially if it seems to contradict what I hold dear. > But I hope your experience on HN is still a net positive. Naturally! I'm out of here the second it is in any way not positive. No sense wasting your free time on something you don't enjoy.

solardev 2y ago

You, yourself, might just be different/lucky then :) Or you could just be typical here. The average HN user is probably not representative of the average person in the overall population. It's a self-selecting crowd of nerds, many of whom aren't all that interested in more worldly topics. (Nothing wrong with that, mind you. It's part of the reason I'm here and not on mainstream social media.) But out in the greater society, people get all worked up about those other topics, and will go protest in the streets, blockade representatives' houses, send death threats, rage endlessly online, attempt assassinations, go on shooting sprees, etc. Those things are usually triggered by some emotional attachment to some tribal identity and anger towards some out-group. In a monoculture like this, we're mostly peers. Yeah, we might disagree about some particular things, but there's less of an "us vs them" mindset as you see politics, geopolitics, values-based communities, etc. Discussions of technical merit, even when heated, thankfully don't reach those emotional heights quite as often. In my experience, at least...

randomdata 2y ago
> But out in the greater society, people get all worked up about those other topics I understand that. Believe me, I can definitely get worked up about Next.js, if you really want to go there...! It is in no way surprising that people interested in people can end up in the same place around topics related to people. > In my experience, at least... But the underscore here is that your experience is based on where your interests (perhaps not the perfect word to describe this, but it's what I got) lie. If you have a greater interest in people, you're going to feel more strongly about it. I'm not bothered by it at all. But, by the same token, what is to say that I don't feel more strongly towards technical controversy than you do?
- solardev 2y ago
  You very well might! No algorithm is perfect, and no moderation system will get it right every time. But I hope your experience on HN is still a net positive.
  - randomdata 2y ago
    > no moderation system will get it right every time. It doesn't need to, of course. Moderation, outside of blatant spam perhaps, is rather pointless. If someone wants to exclaim "Next.js is the second coming of Jesus", I want to hear it. There is a reason they are saying it. To not get stuck in my bias: For those interested in people, why wouldn't you want to hear "so and so group of people are all _____ and they should all be ________, and oh, your mom sucks"? It is a ridiculous statement at face value, admittedly, but it is someone's attempt at communicating. What they are actually trying to say might teach you something important. Wouldn't you want to surface what they are truly trying to get at? I certainly would for its tech-based counterpart. Especially if it seems to contradict what I hold dear. > But I hope your experience on HN is still a net positive. Naturally! I'm out of here the second it is in any way not positive. No sense wasting your free time on something you don't enjoy.