There is a big difference between negativism and cold reality. For example, these three posts in the original Ask HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?

There is a big difference between negativism and cold reality. For example, these three posts in the original Ask HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4893858 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4893858 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4893826 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4893826 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4894378 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4894378 Are all actionable, informative and realistic. They aren't negative comments. Sure, there were some "This is dumb and you are stupid" posts in the thread, but most of the replies were sincerely realistic. It really wasn't middlebrow dismissal...it was "this is going to be hard, and here is why". In all honesty, that is exactly the sort of feedback I would want as someone doing basic research in an area. I would want to know why it is going to be hard, why certain interests/business ideas are entrenched, etc.