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A "controversial discussion" is what happens here when we start discussing, say, the merits of different memory management schemes. People entering a conversat
by jlgreco 13y ago
A "controversial discussion" is what happens here when we start discussing, say, the merits of different memory management schemes. People entering a conversation in disagreement, presenting opposing views, considering other views carefully, and then writing civil and constructive rebuttals to those opposing views that further the discussion. Not a religious war, a technical discussion that involves disagreement.
That is not the sort of conversation that that Paul Graham considers a flamewar.
- kmfrk 13y agoHonest question, how often do people go on to downvote comments and flag threads when discussing memory management schemes?
- jlgreco 13y agoFlag? Probably not often, and that is because controversy is not a bad thing; those discussions don't need to be flagged. That is the point I am making here, HN handles controversy very well, except certain types of topics generate flamewar, not mere controversy. Those get smacked down. Downvoted? Probably more often than you would guess; many people downvote for disagreement just as they upvote for agreement. As an example: Go (language) is a popular but quite controversial topic here. It is pretty easy to get downvoted in discussions on the merits of the language, but those discussions don't get flagged off the site and flamewars are rare (if present at all).