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This thread has made me think less of Hacker News. All of it. The hate posts were pretty petty, but the fawning is pretty gross as well. We wonder why there's

This thread has made me think less of Hacker News. All of it. The hate posts were pretty petty, but the fawning is pretty gross as well. We wonder why there's so much ageism. It's because age obsessions stem from this "cool list" narcissistic nonsense. But this is a prejudice all of us will face, because we're all (well, almost all, and with luck) going to be old some day. The sign of maturity is to see something like this, neither be impressed nor upset/resentful, and just move on. Some magazine made a list somewhere. There were names on it. Don't remember most of 'em. Not news, not interesting, #toobusygettingshitdone, et cetera. I didn't even read the list and have no idea who's on it, so I have no opinion of the selection, but the fact that people care is appalling.

andyakb 14y ago
the fawning? it's the end of the year and forbes came out with a list recognizing people of their accomplishments. it seems like many people in this thread know some of these people and wanted to congratulate them. what's wrong with that?
k_kelly 14y ago
I don't understand. The merits of hating / supporting a magazine is one thing. However achieving something of note before thirty is hardly an easy thing and not really something I'd criticize just to criticize. If you don't take support from your peers, or admire their success I don't really see what you yourself are working towards. Also, by commentating on the general state of HN instead of reading the article, you are not in fact improving the quality of conversation found here.
Mz 14y ago
Oh, I think they make lists of "young people who did impressive shit" in part because most lists of "people who did impressive shit" are pretty well dominated by older people. It's a little like making lists of "women who are important for some fucking reason or other", which is lefthanded admission that general lists of "people who are important for some fucking reason or other" are extremely male dominated. -- Observation by a 47yo female
Retric 14y ago
There are a lot of successful people under 30. Especially when you include things like Writer, Actor, Athletes, and people who have taken seed funding, but are not yet profitable. What I thought was interesting was how much overlap there was with the category's. (Art & Style, Education, Energy, Finance, Food & Wine, Games & Apps, Hollywood, Law & Policy, Marketing & Advertising, Media, Music, Science & Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurs, Sports, Tech) It was like they created did some research for interesting people and then created new category's after the fact. But, that may also relate to who was willing to be on there list.
pdog 14y ago
For the most part, it's a list of some pretty impressive young people doing some pretty impressive things. You don't have to shit all over it in this thread because you're butthurt.
- michaelochurch 14y ago
  Not "butthurt". (People still use that phrase?) Not even in a startup, so out of contention anyway. My point is that we should be excited about those impressive things, not some list that was compiled.
  - pdog 14y ago
    List shows us those impressive thing?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
larrys 14y ago
"Some magazine made a list somewhere" Lists like this for magazines and are obviously a well thought out strategy to build circulation. This year the Forbes list has even been expanded into more categories so more people can have a feather in their cap. Press releases will be issued and every small town newspaper in america repeats the info about how some person made the list in Forbes. And here on Hacker News (note pg comment on this thread with congratulations confirming the authority and importance of all of this) as well as blogs and other news site that need some fresh material. The one question that isn't answered anywhere, that I can find, is who are the "panel of expert judges" that helped the Forbes people with the choices? That's certainly relevant.
pg 14y ago
The sign of maturity is to see something like this, neither be impressed nor upset/resentful, and just move on. If that's what you think, why didn't you?
- edanm 14y ago
  Do you consider these lists interesting? Are you happy when you see YC names in this article?
  - pg 14y ago
    Sure. I learned a bunch of things I didn't know. I had no idea Spotify's valuation was so high, for example, and I didn't know people were using location in cryptography. And sure, I'm happy to see YC alumni in the list. It's nice for them to get some recognition.
- jkn 14y ago
  From OP's comment: I didn't even read the list and have no idea who's on it He might not be interested in Forbes' list, but care about the reaction from the HN community. I see no contradiction.
  - pg 14y ago
    From OP's comment: It's because age obsessions stem from this "cool list" narcissistic nonsense.
- paganel 14y ago
  He just wrote down his impressions, nothing wrong with that. Or we can turn this into a YT-circlejerk.

andyakb 14y ago

the fawning? it's the end of the year and forbes came out with a list recognizing people of their accomplishments. it seems like many people in this thread know some of these people and wanted to congratulate them. what's wrong with that?

k_kelly 14y ago

I don't understand. The merits of hating / supporting a magazine is one thing. However achieving something of note before thirty is hardly an easy thing and not really something I'd criticize just to criticize. If you don't take support from your peers, or admire their success I don't really see what you yourself are working towards. Also, by commentating on the general state of HN instead of reading the article, you are not in fact improving the quality of conversation found here.

Mz 14y ago

Oh, I think they make lists of "young people who did impressive shit" in part because most lists of "people who did impressive shit" are pretty well dominated by older people. It's a little like making lists of "women who are important for some fucking reason or other", which is lefthanded admission that general lists of "people who are important for some fucking reason or other" are extremely male dominated. -- Observation by a 47yo female

Retric 14y ago

There are a lot of successful people under 30. Especially when you include things like Writer, Actor, Athletes, and people who have taken seed funding, but are not yet profitable. What I thought was interesting was how much overlap there was with the category's. (Art & Style, Education, Energy, Finance, Food & Wine, Games & Apps, Hollywood, Law & Policy, Marketing & Advertising, Media, Music, Science & Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurs, Sports, Tech) It was like they created did some research for interesting people and then created new category's after the fact. But, that may also relate to who was willing to be on there list.

pdog 14y ago

For the most part, it's a list of some pretty impressive young people doing some pretty impressive things. You don't have to shit all over it in this thread because you're butthurt.

michaelochurch 14y ago
Not "butthurt". (People still use that phrase?) Not even in a startup, so out of contention anyway. My point is that we should be excited about those impressive things, not some list that was compiled.
- pdog 14y ago
  List shows us those impressive thing?

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

larrys 14y ago

"Some magazine made a list somewhere" Lists like this for magazines and are obviously a well thought out strategy to build circulation. This year the Forbes list has even been expanded into more categories so more people can have a feather in their cap. Press releases will be issued and every small town newspaper in america repeats the info about how some person made the list in Forbes. And here on Hacker News (note pg comment on this thread with congratulations confirming the authority and importance of all of this) as well as blogs and other news site that need some fresh material. The one question that isn't answered anywhere, that I can find, is who are the "panel of expert judges" that helped the Forbes people with the choices? That's certainly relevant.

pg 14y ago

The sign of maturity is to see something like this, neither be impressed nor upset/resentful, and just move on. If that's what you think, why didn't you?

edanm 14y ago
Do you consider these lists interesting? Are you happy when you see YC names in this article?
- pg 14y ago
  Sure. I learned a bunch of things I didn't know. I had no idea Spotify's valuation was so high, for example, and I didn't know people were using location in cryptography. And sure, I'm happy to see YC alumni in the list. It's nice for them to get some recognition.
jkn 14y ago
From OP's comment: I didn't even read the list and have no idea who's on it He might not be interested in Forbes' list, but care about the reaction from the HN community. I see no contradiction.
- pg 14y ago
  From OP's comment: It's because age obsessions stem from this "cool list" narcissistic nonsense.
paganel 14y ago
He just wrote down his impressions, nothing wrong with that. Or we can turn this into a YT-circlejerk.