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While my inclination is to agree with your critical view of social science research, I think picking at this example misses the point of the article. The idea
by spartango 13y ago
While my inclination is to agree with your critical view of social science research, I think picking at this example misses the point of the article.
The idea that 'hivemind' discussions are drowning out 'other' viewpoints has merit with respect to this forum. There are copious examples, from role-of-government discussions to technical preferences.
Indeed, there are cases where the community massively promotes dubious science that it finds agreeable.
We would be foolish to throw out this author's commentary because one of his examples is not bulletproof.
- bcoates 13y agoThat assumes that the purpose of HN is to be a debate site, or a 20th century "fairness doctrine" media outlet, or a town-hall style public forum. I do not think any HN is any of those things or well-suited to become one. Most of the useful and interesting things that come out of HN are in threads that assume the answer to the big question and make some interesting point about the details.
- protomyth 13y agoI don't dismiss the whole of the article, but I do dismiss its premise event. I get the greater point, but I do not like starting off a perfectly fine argument with such a poor premise. It reeks of wanting to write an article on an important subject and using a poorly chosen event as the "catalyst" or "trigger point" for your need to write it. Also, I am not among those who take that sentence from the article as a "statement of truth".