5 ms·

To all those replying to edw519 - please stop witch-hunting. First prosecutor, then MIT, then.. edw519? Its possible any of these parties made a mistake.. now

by jonmc12 14y ago

To all those replying to edw519 - please stop witch-hunting. First prosecutor, then MIT, then.. edw519? Its possible any of these parties made a mistake.. now that they can look back and reflect. But, even after reflection its very possible that each party made the best decision they could with the information at hand. Maybe I'm lucky, but I find 99%+ of people I meet in this world are well intentioned, and if I invest the empathy cycles I almost always can see their point of view and understand why they made the decision that they did. Does your sympathy towards aaronsw merit that you throw empathy out the window? No. Do you actually understand the complex set of events that occurred and how these events relate to one another and the rest of the world? No. Surely, a solution to prevent such a terrible scenario from re-occuring is far removed from personal attacks: - if you don't like how district attorney works - get moving on changing the law - don't think prosecutor did their job? point out their job description vs their actions to the proper authority - don't like how MIT managed case? reach out to the MIT beaurocracy and work with them to improve their process - don't like edw519 *most upvoted* post on the Sept article? suggest policy changes that could prevent such a comment from appearing on HN - etc When you start with the point of view that we are all reasonable, and well intentioned.. the problem then becomes about process and culture, and you can actually start making progress.

sethbc 14y ago
> - don't like edw519 most upvoted post on the Sept article? suggest policy changes that could prevent such a comment from appearing on HN Let's just eliminate the ability to vote on comments. Seems reasonable. Or pg could shut down the site. Then Ed couldn't make the comment in the first place, right? Maybe Ed still thinks he was right and he feels compelled to backpedal because in hindsight his comments seem insensitive. Or maybe your 99%+ statistic is wrong and wisdom of the crowds isn't all it's cracked up to be. If anything, the juxtaposition between this thread and the original thread shows the hypocrisy endemic to crowd driven discussion.
noahc 14y ago
To add to this, it might be useful to add why Ed was wrong. He wasn't wrong because he lacked empathy or because he was looking to be a bully. He was wrong because his mental model of how federal cases work was wrong. He, much like my self, probably assumed that someone with millions of dollars could fund the litigation of a federal case, however, the nature of these prosecutions tend to freeze assets, alienate friends and business partners who could help fund a defense and generally make it impossible for justice to be done. I would have been wrong about this too. We all get stuff wrong from time to time, and to be honest, I'm not sure where the line should be drawn. However, I firmly believe edw519's comments come from a place of experience, love, and support even if it might not be what we always want to hear. My hope is that my comments when based in love and charity would not be subject to similar comments that edw519's comments have been. It's okay to disagree and edw519 might even disagree in someways with what he wrote.
Milagre 14y ago
> When you start with the point of view that we are all reasonable, and well intentioned.. the problem then becomes about process and culture, and you can actually start making progress. In my studies of nonviolent resistance, this was the core message: People act on what they feel is the right thing to do at the time. If the world deems that wrong, that's a different discussion, and a learning experience for both the world and the actor. In order to make progress, you must empathize with that person, communicate with them on their terms, and open a discussion on both of your beliefs without judgement. +1 jonmc12 for your point of view.
fdeeee12212 14y ago
Now your defending the Prosecutor that a Harvard Law Professor called out as a bully? The Prosecutor knew that it would destroy his life but she didn't care. After all stealing publicly funded academic papers is a big crime. edw519 deserves to be witch hunted at least on HN. I find it appalling his insensitive comment is at the top still. I find your logic extending to all crimes. You should write a essay defending James Holmes while you are at at. Sorry but your a piece of sh*t
desireco42 14y ago
He doesn't need a lawyer, he can write response himself. It just seems it is hard to apologize, much harder then being a witty soundbite commenter.

by jonmc12 14y ago

sethbc 14y ago

> - don't like edw519 most upvoted post on the Sept article? suggest policy changes that could prevent such a comment from appearing on HN Let's just eliminate the ability to vote on comments. Seems reasonable. Or pg could shut down the site. Then Ed couldn't make the comment in the first place, right? Maybe Ed still thinks he was right and he feels compelled to backpedal because in hindsight his comments seem insensitive. Or maybe your 99%+ statistic is wrong and wisdom of the crowds isn't all it's cracked up to be. If anything, the juxtaposition between this thread and the original thread shows the hypocrisy endemic to crowd driven discussion.

noahc 14y ago

To add to this, it might be useful to add why Ed was wrong. He wasn't wrong because he lacked empathy or because he was looking to be a bully. He was wrong because his mental model of how federal cases work was wrong. He, much like my self, probably assumed that someone with millions of dollars could fund the litigation of a federal case, however, the nature of these prosecutions tend to freeze assets, alienate friends and business partners who could help fund a defense and generally make it impossible for justice to be done. I would have been wrong about this too. We all get stuff wrong from time to time, and to be honest, I'm not sure where the line should be drawn. However, I firmly believe edw519's comments come from a place of experience, love, and support even if it might not be what we always want to hear. My hope is that my comments when based in love and charity would not be subject to similar comments that edw519's comments have been. It's okay to disagree and edw519 might even disagree in someways with what he wrote.

Milagre 14y ago

> When you start with the point of view that we are all reasonable, and well intentioned.. the problem then becomes about process and culture, and you can actually start making progress. In my studies of nonviolent resistance, this was the core message: People act on what they feel is the right thing to do at the time. If the world deems that wrong, that's a different discussion, and a learning experience for both the world and the actor. In order to make progress, you must empathize with that person, communicate with them on their terms, and open a discussion on both of your beliefs without judgement. +1 jonmc12 for your point of view.

fdeeee12212 14y ago

Now your defending the Prosecutor that a Harvard Law Professor called out as a bully? The Prosecutor knew that it would destroy his life but she didn't care. After all stealing publicly funded academic papers is a big crime. edw519 deserves to be witch hunted at least on HN. I find it appalling his insensitive comment is at the top still. I find your logic extending to all crimes. You should write a essay defending James Holmes while you are at at. Sorry but your a piece of sh*t

desireco42 14y ago

He doesn't need a lawyer, he can write response himself. It just seems it is hard to apologize, much harder then being a witty soundbite commenter.