4 ms·

wait a minute here.. HN: - asks you to self-assign a new name upon joining - has a leader - has a hierarchy (rating system) - esteemed texts which promise

by rboyd 11mo ago

wait a minute here.. HN: - asks you to self-assign a new name upon joining - has a leader - has a hierarchy (rating system) - esteemed texts which promise by adopting a strange method (Lisp) that you can achieve higher levels of wealth and self actualization should I be worried?

TrainedMonkey 11mo ago
People want to belong. If you do not belong to anything that looks like a cult you operate outside of society.
cj 11mo ago
First sentence of the wikipedia page for "Cult": > Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. HN is definitely a social group with unusual and often extreme philosophical beliefs that often aren't mainstream. (And that's why I keep coming back!)
chinathrow 11mo ago
> should I be worried? No, you can (ok, I admit: try) to leave any time. /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com
- TiredOfLife 11mo ago
  Good old "how to stop smoking?" "just stop smoking"
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 11mo ago
  What if there's a forward proxy listening on 127.0.0.1 I don't run mine on 127.0.0.1 but that address is a very popular default
  - hexaga 11mo ago
    127.0.0.2
  - 1970-01-01 11mo ago
    You're supposed to use 0.0.0.0 for site blocks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.0.0.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.0.0.0
- dhhdjjd 11mo ago
  [dead]
- xg15 11mo ago
  If you go that route, at least change the password to some random string to lock yourself out. But that's not leaving either. Your posts are still out there, and so is your account. In fact, no one except you would know you left. There is a reason why the EU mandated the right to deletion.
  - rootusrootus 11mo ago
    > If you go that route, at least change the password to some random string to lock yourself out. I do that once in a while when I find myself wasting too much time participating here. It increases the friction quite a bit, but eventually I cave and recover the password. If you really want to be serious about it, have to change the email address first, then toss the keys to that.
- em-bee 11mo ago
  i think it would be useful to distinguish between addiction and coercion. if you can't leave a cult, it's coercion. if you can't leave hackernews, it's addiction.
dogleash 11mo ago
>should I be worried? If you read Hackers and Painters without realizing you're getting conned, yes. Very much so.
invalidOrTaken 11mo ago
for several years now my resume has labeled me a "Software Cultist"

by rboyd 11mo ago

TrainedMonkey 11mo ago

People want to belong. If you do not belong to anything that looks like a cult you operate outside of society.

cj 11mo ago

First sentence of the wikipedia page for "Cult": > Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. HN is definitely a social group with unusual and often extreme philosophical beliefs that often aren't mainstream. (And that's why I keep coming back!)

chinathrow 11mo ago

> should I be worried? No, you can (ok, I admit: try) to leave any time. /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com

TiredOfLife 11mo ago
Good old "how to stop smoking?" "just stop smoking"
1vuio0pswjnm7 11mo ago
What if there's a forward proxy listening on 127.0.0.1 I don't run mine on 127.0.0.1 but that address is a very popular default
- hexaga 11mo ago
  127.0.0.2
- 1970-01-01 11mo ago
  You're supposed to use 0.0.0.0 for site blocks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.0.0.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.0.0.0
dhhdjjd 11mo ago
[dead]
xg15 11mo ago
If you go that route, at least change the password to some random string to lock yourself out. But that's not leaving either. Your posts are still out there, and so is your account. In fact, no one except you would know you left. There is a reason why the EU mandated the right to deletion.
- rootusrootus 11mo ago
  > If you go that route, at least change the password to some random string to lock yourself out. I do that once in a while when I find myself wasting too much time participating here. It increases the friction quite a bit, but eventually I cave and recover the password. If you really want to be serious about it, have to change the email address first, then toss the keys to that.
em-bee 11mo ago
i think it would be useful to distinguish between addiction and coercion. if you can't leave a cult, it's coercion. if you can't leave hackernews, it's addiction.

dogleash 11mo ago

>should I be worried? If you read Hackers and Painters without realizing you're getting conned, yes. Very much so.

invalidOrTaken 11mo ago

for several years now my resume has labeled me a "Software Cultist"