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I agree with the good points about the platform. But the points about the userbase reek of pretentiousness. The New Yorker called it Performative Erudition: fr
by aydyn 1y ago
I agree with the good points about the platform. But the points about the userbase reek of pretentiousness.
The New Yorker called it Performative Erudition: frequently, people here are entirely focused on appearing to have insight, appearing smart and avoiding colloquial language to the point where having a straightforward normal conversation is sometimes impossible. To say that the userbase has a "mindset of humility" is almost too ironic for words.
- musicale 1y agoJargon and special terminology aren't necessarily performative; they can also be 1) how people with a shared profession or interest talk to each other, and 2) preferred for precision or context.
- scubbo 1y agoEverything you just said is true. And yet. HNers are still often guilty of Performative Erudition. It's not _just_ the use of technical jargon.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- landl0rd 1y agoYeah but the lingo's pedigree matters. Some words are practical. The dialect you use in an academic paper or the SF set saying "orthogonal" "isomorphic" "non-zero" whatever is performative.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- binary132 1y agoI completely agree. I actually avoided hackernews for years because the users are all so pretentious. Debating in this context is not generally an exercise in self-development. Now I’m completely guilty of it myself. :)
- ainiriand 1y agoSo far away from my own experience! I think I have learn so much from reading comments here, and then following up on other sources... Perhaps those commenters are just used to write in those terms or it can even be a subjective perception. I think as human beings we should judge ourselves with a bit more compassion and, if possible, always leaving space for positivity.
- binary132 1y agoIf anything it has gotten watered down a bit. I see you’re a fellow sub-10k karma haver, so possibly you weren’t around when it was at its most toxic ~10 years ago.
- blast 1y agoThe problem is that you can't combat pretentiousness by declaring others pretentious, because that is even more pretentious.
- xg15 1y agoI wonder if non-native English speakers that post a lot on HN might pick up the "pretentious tone" as part of their writing style, sort of by accident. In the same way like "Reddit English" has its own idioms by now ("Thank you, kind stranger", etc) I'm not a native English speaker myself, and I think I have some feeling for what sounds casual and what sounds pretentious, but I sometimes wonder if that intuition is really correct or off-base.