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In substance I agree with you. But at the same time I think HN would be better off without downvoting at all. An ethos of free speech is entirely lacking.
by pmdulaney 5mo ago
In substance I agree with you. But at the same time I think HN would be better off without downvoting at all. An ethos of free speech is entirely lacking.
- bigyabai 5mo agoI don't know why you would expect an ethos of free speech from a privately-owned, privately funded service provided to you at-will by venture capital. YC isn't a charity organization.
- pmdulaney 5mo agoI think you're right, not essentially because YC is a privately-funded service, but because their sense is that the majority of their users enjoy expressing their disapproval of those with whom they disagree.
- bigyabai 5mo agoThe fundamental reason why you're not entitled to free speech is because HN is not public property. You can manufacture whatever kind of persecution complex you want, I don't care.
- pmdulaney 5mo agoI'm not talking about a legal entitlement, hence ethos, not right. You know, just common courtesy -- the kind that resists the temptation to throw around accusations of "persecution complex". But perhaps the concept is foreign to your kind if thinking.
- bediger4000 5mo agoOn the contrary: we know, from the paradox of tolerance, that some speech must not be tolerated. That's philosophy, but real world experience backs it up. The parable of the Nazi bar has roots in the world, and we have the example of the heat death of Usenet as well