3 ms·

Have to agree with others that a resounding NO or fuck off is well within the rights and reasonable discourse of the stuff said so often on this site.

dang 2y ago
Since everyone always feels that they are within their rights and reasonable, and that the problem is the wrongness and unreasonableness of others, this principle doesn't help very much. In fact, it's actually a recipe for the container destroying itself.
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  I wonder if those people would also argue it doesn't violate the "be kind" rule. Maybe adding empathy to that list could help. I think the ability to look at things from other people's perspectives and ascribe to the idea that one may very well be wrong... shows a lot more intelligence than the alternative.
- asacrowflies 2y ago
  So basically the "middle ground fallacy" distilled to its purest form as the overarching moderation guidelines for this website? I have been a hackernews reader for almost 15 years and I remember when this very much was not the case. The main goal was TRUTH and CURIOSITY. now the main goal seems to be coddling the most inane and lukewarm minds imaginable. More concerned "politeness" and "civility" They argue that 1+1=5 while I say no FUCK OFF 1+1=2 then the moderator says now now let's be civil here and meet in the middle at 1+1=3 ....no ..fuck off... 1+1=2 And when it comes to REAL engineering or geopolitics or medicine or government policy with people's lives on the line ...the TRUTH matters more than being polite.
  - dang 2y ago
    That's not close to accurate. It was never ok for HN users to tell each other to fuck off, and the purpose of the site is just the same as it always was. As for truth: people telling each other to fuck off does nothing in service of truth. I recommend this old pg quote to you: Comments should be written in the spirit of colleagues cooperating in good faith to figure out the truth about something, not politicians trying to ridicule and misrepresent the other side. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=pg%20colleagues%20cooperating&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

dang 2y ago

Since everyone always feels that they are within their rights and reasonable, and that the problem is the wrongness and unreasonableness of others, this principle doesn't help very much. In fact, it's actually a recipe for the container destroying itself.

ranger_danger 2y ago
I wonder if those people would also argue it doesn't violate the "be kind" rule. Maybe adding empathy to that list could help. I think the ability to look at things from other people's perspectives and ascribe to the idea that one may very well be wrong... shows a lot more intelligence than the alternative.
asacrowflies 2y ago
So basically the "middle ground fallacy" distilled to its purest form as the overarching moderation guidelines for this website? I have been a hackernews reader for almost 15 years and I remember when this very much was not the case. The main goal was TRUTH and CURIOSITY. now the main goal seems to be coddling the most inane and lukewarm minds imaginable. More concerned "politeness" and "civility" They argue that 1+1=5 while I say no FUCK OFF 1+1=2 then the moderator says now now let's be civil here and meet in the middle at 1+1=3 ....no ..fuck off... 1+1=2 And when it comes to REAL engineering or geopolitics or medicine or government policy with people's lives on the line ...the TRUTH matters more than being polite.
- dang 2y ago
  That's not close to accurate. It was never ok for HN users to tell each other to fuck off, and the purpose of the site is just the same as it always was. As for truth: people telling each other to fuck off does nothing in service of truth. I recommend this old pg quote to you: Comments should be written in the spirit of colleagues cooperating in good faith to figure out the truth about something, not politicians trying to ridicule and misrepresent the other side. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=pg%20colleagues%20cooperating&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...