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Totally right. Polarizing/absolutist proclamations like the OP tend to start noisy, unhelpful discussions on HN. It's even worse when (as here) the OP concern
by mturmon 12y ago
Totally right. Polarizing/absolutist proclamations like the OP tend to start noisy, unhelpful discussions on HN. It's even worse when (as here) the OP concerns a general topic where most HN readers have anecdotal evidence, but only anecdotal evidence.
This kind of outrageous statement can be kind of fun in a small group, at dinner or a bar, but not here (IMO).
- dang 12y agoDo you think the discussion in this thread is that bad? I don't—mainly because many people have been commenting from significant relevant experience. The replies to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7763777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7763777, for example, are really good.
- mturmon 12y agoNo, it's not truly bad, just very anecdotal, and I think we can do better. (But I didn't flag the article.) Also -- the peripheral concerns around this particular writer, who has written on a variety of red-button topics, can make things go downhill fast.
- geekam 12y agoOP here. I'd like to say that I did not know about the author's other controversial articles and many of which I find disturbing. I was on a journey to figure out whether PhD (esp. in other fields than your prior ones) makes sense, for myself and while doing so came across this article and HN seemed like a nice place to have a discussion. My apologies to not have searched HN prior to submitting this, to see if it will be a re-post. However, even if comments were anecdotal, it still helped me understand the gravity of the situation.
- dang 12y agoAnecdotes are just fine on Hacker News. They belong in conversation. People communicate in stories. Citing studies is fine too, but not required. This is a forum, not a journal.