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If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. HackerNews has never been about Karma for me. I'm here for educated discussi

If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. HackerNews has never been about Karma for me. I'm here for educated discussion. As soon as this site ceases to be the forefront of intelligent technical discussion on the Internet, I'll bounce, but I care much more about discussion than Karma, which is worth reiterating. Karma has no value, but the strength of your arguments carry weight.

thekevan 13y ago
>If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. I see a number next to my name, the points are real. Not imagined. However I see the points as like video game scores. They are not terribly important even among ordinary issues, but still fun to keep an eye on once in a while. It's neat but not important.
- josh2600 13y ago
  It's all just 0's and 1's buddy.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    No, that's just the medium used to transport the information.
brudgers 13y ago
Some days, I am above it. Others, I am working it. And sometimes the meaning I attach catches me unaware. A few months ago, I was dead dog down. Two projects had gone to shit, an out of town trip got cancelled, and I was enduring some wanton meanness along one vector of my social life. I was having a particularly bad day. And as stupid as it sounds, seeing a bump in points at the end of the day was hugely positive. All the other shit was bigger and more important. But in the moment, those few points had more value...and then I realized how much I love my family and friends and karma points faded back to normal. Karma scores embody whatever meaning we attach to them. For me, that meaning varies over time.
icebraining 13y ago
Karma is social validation. It's a sign that others are reading what your write and find value or agree with it, and why would we be posting observations and information if not for others to read? Of course, karma is not a particularly precise way of determining what others think of you, but then again, that's fairly common as far as methods of social validation go.
- nealabq 13y ago
  Richard Feynman wrote a book called What Do You Care What Other People Think? I think he wrote it because he likes to tell stories, not for social validation. Although I'm not sure of that ... now I'm confused.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    It's not a dichotomy. I'm sure he did like to tell stories; and he also liked them read, otherwise he wouldn't have published them. And is it particularly hard to believe that he also enjoyed knowing that others read and enjoyed his books? People don't always do things for just one reason. And social validation is not a bad thing; I mean, why would it be bad to feel better about yourself for knowing that others enjoy and appreciate what you did?
nealabq 13y ago
>If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. Bitcoin is also imaginary points on the Internet. I hope I don't end up disheartened.
- josh2600 13y ago
  Bitcoin is a tad more fungible than HN Karma, but I appreciate the point. I think you're being facetious, but I do appreciate the point.
- icebraining 13y ago
  Most money nowadays is just some records on some databases. I certainly don't keep more than maybe 30% of my paycheck in physical cash at any point in time.
Shivetya 13y ago
Can the Karma indicator be turned off? I would be just as happy never knowing my number. I certainly don't know it on Slashdot but I enjoy posting there as well. My concern with these imaginary numbers is people game them all the time which in turn makes me chuckle every time I see my "score"
sneak 13y ago
> If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. I'm not counting them, HN is and displaying them to me. "I deliberately avoid calculating that number, because if you start measuring something you start optimizing it, and I know it's the wrong thing to optimize." —pg (emphasis mine)
trotsky 13y ago
Based on some experience with clan gaming back in the day, if you're counting imaginary points on the internet and you're doing really well it's difficult to describe it as disheartening.

thekevan 13y ago

>If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. I see a number next to my name, the points are real. Not imagined. However I see the points as like video game scores. They are not terribly important even among ordinary issues, but still fun to keep an eye on once in a while. It's neat but not important.

josh2600 13y ago
It's all just 0's and 1's buddy.
- icebraining 13y ago
  No, that's just the medium used to transport the information.

brudgers 13y ago

Some days, I am above it. Others, I am working it. And sometimes the meaning I attach catches me unaware. A few months ago, I was dead dog down. Two projects had gone to shit, an out of town trip got cancelled, and I was enduring some wanton meanness along one vector of my social life. I was having a particularly bad day. And as stupid as it sounds, seeing a bump in points at the end of the day was hugely positive. All the other shit was bigger and more important. But in the moment, those few points had more value...and then I realized how much I love my family and friends and karma points faded back to normal. Karma scores embody whatever meaning we attach to them. For me, that meaning varies over time.

icebraining 13y ago

Karma is social validation. It's a sign that others are reading what your write and find value or agree with it, and why would we be posting observations and information if not for others to read? Of course, karma is not a particularly precise way of determining what others think of you, but then again, that's fairly common as far as methods of social validation go.

nealabq 13y ago
Richard Feynman wrote a book called What Do You Care What Other People Think? I think he wrote it because he likes to tell stories, not for social validation. Although I'm not sure of that ... now I'm confused.
- icebraining 13y ago
  It's not a dichotomy. I'm sure he did like to tell stories; and he also liked them read, otherwise he wouldn't have published them. And is it particularly hard to believe that he also enjoyed knowing that others read and enjoyed his books? People don't always do things for just one reason. And social validation is not a bad thing; I mean, why would it be bad to feel better about yourself for knowing that others enjoy and appreciate what you did?

nealabq 13y ago

>If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. Bitcoin is also imaginary points on the Internet. I hope I don't end up disheartened.

josh2600 13y ago
Bitcoin is a tad more fungible than HN Karma, but I appreciate the point. I think you're being facetious, but I do appreciate the point.
icebraining 13y ago
Most money nowadays is just some records on some databases. I certainly don't keep more than maybe 30% of my paycheck in physical cash at any point in time.

Shivetya 13y ago

Can the Karma indicator be turned off? I would be just as happy never knowing my number. I certainly don't know it on Slashdot but I enjoy posting there as well. My concern with these imaginary numbers is people game them all the time which in turn makes me chuckle every time I see my "score"

sneak 13y ago

> If you're counting imaginary points on the Internet you'll always be disheartened. I'm not counting them, HN is and displaying them to me. "I deliberately avoid calculating that number, because if you start measuring something you start optimizing it, and I know it's the wrong thing to optimize." —pg (emphasis mine)

trotsky 13y ago

Based on some experience with clan gaming back in the day, if you're counting imaginary points on the internet and you're doing really well it's difficult to describe it as disheartening.