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This thread is a great lesson in "Politics is a mind virus" I recommend you read the HN thread when Ulbricht was sentenced [0] first, then come here and read a
by FergusArgyll 2y ago
This thread is a great lesson in "Politics is a mind virus"
I recommend you read the HN thread when Ulbricht was sentenced [0] first, then come here and read all the "Honest, genuine question, why?"s
Then start practicing not letting politics influence your thought process
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9626985
- rcpt 2y agoThe main thing I notice is that back then we were writing paragraphs.
- zoklet-enjoyer 2y agoI mostly stopped typing in paragraphs because I use a smart phone for most of my internetting. It's a lot easier to write your thoughts on a keyboard
- dredmorbius 2y agoUsing a touchscreen halves my IQ. (I'm challenged enough to start with.)
- pizza 2y agoThe value of the <EOS> token has gone up since then.
- JHonaker 2y agoWow. I thought you were being glib, but the average comment length is noticeably higher in the linked discussion. While length isn’t necessarily a valid proxy for meaningful conversation, this was definitely an eye-opening contrast to the current thread.
- ktallett 2y ago[flagged]
- ada1981 2y agoI’m confused as Trump said he wanted to be tough on crime and drugs and “kill drug dealers”, but he just pardoned one of the worlds largest drug dealers.
- ktallett 2y agoHe was never a drug dealer, he provided a platform that was used to sell drugs. The pardon was a surprise, however his sentence was unfairly strict and he was clearly made an example out of that hasn't happened to any other platform provider. Just as an example, there have been investigations in to the use of Snapchat as a method for drug dealers and gangs of drug dealers to access kids to sell them drugs However there has been absolutely zero discussion in the public domain even about shutting it down or requiring new laws to stop this, let alone considering charging the owners.
- ChadBrogramer69 2y ago[dead]
- cookie_monsta 2y agoHmm, but you have to be squinting pretty hard to see an equivalence between Snapchat and silk road
- ktallett 2y agoEven if you compare like for like, SR Vs SR2, the responses, charges, and sentences still aren't the same.
- thayne 2y agoThere is a huge difference between a communication platform that some users abuse for illegal purposes, and a platform whose primary purpose is a marketplace for illegal goods.
- 2y ago
- Trasmatta 2y agoOr it could be different people commenting than on that original thread? And people might have changed their minds? HN is not a monolith. Humans are not static. You don't need to blame it on "politics being a mind virus".
- ktallett 2y agoBased on the sheer number of posts that have misrepresented the charges or misunderstood why he was actually in prison, it appears to partially be a lack of knowledge on the case, likely due to time hazing some of the memories. Of course someone will change their mind, and some may have their view influenced by who happens to support him.
- latexr 2y agoExactly. If anything, the one thing that’s guaranteed in these types of threads is that someone will make this same tired argument of “aha, but HN back then said differently” as if it’s some kind of gotcha. I used to always look, and not only was it never the same people but the threads are largely more balanced than the original poster let on. It’s like the contrarian dynamic, which dang has to explain over and over and over and over and over again. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=%22contrarian%20dynamic%22%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- brookst 2y agoBut “mind virus“ is such a cool phrase, and it implies that people who disagree with you are not just wrong, but diseased. Great bit of rhetoric.
- kurisufag 2y agoi prefer 'mind-killer', myself. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9weLK2AJ9JEt2Tt8f/politics-is-the-mind-killer https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9weLK2AJ9JEt2Tt8f/politics-i...
- slg 2y agoTalk like this is never apolitical. No political change can occur without discussion first and therefore preemptively dismissing political discussion is inherently an endorsement of the current power structures. There is no way to actually discuss this specific story without discussing politics. A president pardoning someone is an inherently political act and that is only emphasized when it was done on his first day in office and with a statement that includes lines like "The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me." That is all part of the story of what happened here and it involves politics whether you like it or not.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- amrocha 2y agoIt’s different people commenting on each post. There’s no “mind virus”.
- tayo42 2y agoIt was pretty out of left field and seemingly uncharacteristic for the him to do this. It's fair to ask why. I think Trump is terrible in every way, think the pardon is fine, but can't help but wonder why and other questions about it
- georgeplusplus 2y ago[flagged]
- smallmancontrov 2y ago"Politics" is a dismissive word for crypto's evolution over the last decade. North Korea ransoming our hospitals, industrial scale gambling and scam enablement, wealthy kingpins buying self-serving policy. Crypto grew up. So did our opinions. That doesn't change what Ross Ulbricht did, but we can now see him as continuous with a great evil that we couldn't see at the time. With more information, our opinions changed, and they were right to change.
- throw124121276 2y agoI don't see anything special about that thread. There are in fact more people there who believe the contract killing allegations than now.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- eagleinparadise 2y ago[flagged]
- qingcharles 2y agoI think this comment would have got less downvotes if you could have made it somewhat shorter. Walls of text like this just scream Unabomber manifesto to me :)
- reaperman 2y agoFor anyone who followed the Silk Road / Ross Ulbrict saga, this is all obvious and surface-level.
- anigbrowl 2y agoDon't cut and paste AI output. Anyone on HN who wants it can generate it themselves. Post your own thoughts.
- steele 2y agoDonald literally cites Mommy Ulbricht's political inclinations...
- Terr_ 2y agoCould you post the literal text? I don't really want to make a Doubleplustruth Social account, and it doesn't seem to be in other news excerpts.
- PKop 2y agoHis posts are public: https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113869112741612092 https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/1138691127416... "I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross. The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"
- Terr_ 2y agoThanks, I tried their front-page but it seemed to demand an account before any browsing or searching.
- LeafItAlone 2y agoWell, that thread is almost a decade old. HN a decade ago was a very different vibe than today. You are insinuating one thing, but perhaps it is also possible reason is that the same people with those old views of the crimes have grown and their views changed. I know mine certainly have gone that way. I’d have to imagine other users have grown with me.
- santoshalper 2y agoMan, that shit is so old. Even if you're right, which I don't think you are, you are adding nothing to the conversation but cynicism.
- yieldcrv 2y agoAt the time of sentencing, did we already know that the murder for hire plots were created by corrupt Secret Service and DEA agents on trial next door? and all of that was withheld from the defense and the jury? because that's where the story really jumps the shark. I'm all for some accountability - such as the 12 years in prison already - but that particular case should have been dropped for several reasons, I've seen cases dropped for way less.
- andrewmutz 2y agoNah social media is just about engagement. People who are happy with the article don’t bother to comment. Those who are outraged comment. It’s just two different groups of people commenting
- swat535 2y agoWhat exactly are you trying to say here? That people can't change their minds? That HN is a hivemind ? (news flash: it's not , it's more diverse than you actually think) or that everything is attributed to "Politics is a mind virus" ? if so, what do you mind by this term specifically? I personally, find little substance in such comments. If you have an opinion on the matter (which seemingly you do), then please share it so that we can have a discussion about it. So.. care to elaborate?
- entropyneur 2y agoI believe they are implying that people are disapproving the pardon because it was done by Trump.
- lom 2y agoThe craziest part about that thread is how much the attitude around drugs has changed in the past years. 10 years ago the comments felt a lot more optimistic about drugs and liberalization. I guess since then, the fentanyl crisis has happened and shown that drugs also have more negative impacts