6 ms·

The deleted comment with a lot of replies was: > I go to IT/comp-sci conferences and often meet people who don't drink, ever. These people won't have a single

by ivank 12y ago

The deleted comment with a lot of replies was: > I go to IT/comp-sci conferences and often meet people who don't drink, ever. These people won't have a single glass of wine or beer. I had to ask myself why. If someone told me they used to be an alcoholic and completely quit alcohol, I'd have nothing but respect, but this is not what these people are about. > They'll claim they don't like the effects of alcohol, but the truth is they think drinking is unprofessional. They're afraid of losing control, of looking foolish. To me, this symbolizes conservatism. These are people who are not adventurous. They won't try some unknown dish on the restaurant menu, they won't want to go to a restaurant from a culture they're unfamiliar with. They might think shellfish are disgusting and weird. They'll want to go to some chain restaurant and have a steak with fries. > I don't like these people. Why? Because they're unadventurous people, who have most likely never tried pot even once in their life. They don't like new ideas. They're afraid that one drink will make their life deviate ever so slightly from the usual boring predictability they crave. If you present them with some new idea, they'll give you nothing but doubt, a long list of reasons why your idea is risky and might not work, and thus isn't worth trying. You shouldn't be developing your own programming language, Java does everything you need, it's Turing Complete. Fuck these people.

nfoz 12y ago
I never drink but have spent the vast majority of my free time for more than a year writing a programming language. lol :)
vbuterin 12y ago
I'm not a steak-and-fries person at all (or even a sandwich-and-salad or rice-and-veggie person, which I've internalized as my own safe defaults); I go out and have unfamiliar dishes quite often. If I want to do something amazing and interesting I visit a new country or go on a 20km walk. And I've invented two programming languages as well :) However, I avoid alcohol specifically because it's just not something that I see myself needing in my life, and with the secondary goal of legitimizing nonconformism and pursuit of one's own values in general. I actually see drinking as a more "boring" choice than not drinking.
dfc 12y ago
I appreciate that you reposted the deleted comment to quell my curiosity and that you were considerate enough to not include the original authors username. One of the big reasons I was curious about the content of the comment is that I have been thinking about comment karma and the utility of deleting comments lately. Comments like this make a strong case against being able to delete comments. In order for karma to be most effective it seems that it must not only quantify a user's positive contributions but also the user's negative contributions. If a user knows they can make potentially dumb/offensive comments and delete them before taking a karma hit they do not need to filter their thoughts before hitting submit. In my opinion clicking submit is an implicit statement that I stand by my comment and that it was submitted in good faith and is a sincere expression of my opinion. I am not entirely sure what the purpose of delete is. If someone asks "what is the X of y?" and my response is factually incorrect the comment/answer will be downvoted. People that see my downvoted answer will know that it has been judged "unacceptable" by the HN community; so I do not think there is a reason to worry about spreading false information. If the question is not about a factual matter and my opinion is judged unacceptable by the HN community so be it. I made my comment with the best of intentions and should stand by what I said in the comment.
- vxNsr 12y ago
  One reason I find the delete, or edit useful is, sometimes I'll type up a comment come back a while later, read it, hit post without really thinking, and then go back and see the context, and realize I'm an idiot[0] and quickly edit or delete the comment before anyone else finds out. [0] http://xkcd.com/481/ http://xkcd.com/481/
  - dfc 12y ago
    It seems like you are saying that the utility of the delete function is that it allows a user (you, me and everyone else) to submit comments without thinking about the content and quality of the comment. What is wrong with increasing the incentive to do a "am I being a moron check" before hitting submit?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
GhostHardware 12y ago
I don't drink. Why? If I drink I have terrible hangovers and can't function the next day. I go to the gym 3 times a week and on weekends I do rock climbing. I'm trying to get a job as a fulltime developer and that requires me to try get as much programming as I can in a single day. If I go out to drink and get myself wasted then I'm wasting my precious time. I got drunk a lot of time already and seriously can't imagine why would I want to do that instead of working on myself in my free time. But I guess I'm just one of unadventurous people.
- andrewflnr 12y ago
  Having some stupid chemical mess with your head is an obstacle to processing new ideas and experiences as they deserve.

by ivank 12y ago

nfoz 12y ago

I never drink but have spent the vast majority of my free time for more than a year writing a programming language. lol :)

vbuterin 12y ago

I'm not a steak-and-fries person at all (or even a sandwich-and-salad or rice-and-veggie person, which I've internalized as my own safe defaults); I go out and have unfamiliar dishes quite often. If I want to do something amazing and interesting I visit a new country or go on a 20km walk. And I've invented two programming languages as well :) However, I avoid alcohol specifically because it's just not something that I see myself needing in my life, and with the secondary goal of legitimizing nonconformism and pursuit of one's own values in general. I actually see drinking as a more "boring" choice than not drinking.

dfc 12y ago

I appreciate that you reposted the deleted comment to quell my curiosity and that you were considerate enough to not include the original authors username. One of the big reasons I was curious about the content of the comment is that I have been thinking about comment karma and the utility of deleting comments lately. Comments like this make a strong case against being able to delete comments. In order for karma to be most effective it seems that it must not only quantify a user's positive contributions but also the user's negative contributions. If a user knows they can make potentially dumb/offensive comments and delete them before taking a karma hit they do not need to filter their thoughts before hitting submit. In my opinion clicking submit is an implicit statement that I stand by my comment and that it was submitted in good faith and is a sincere expression of my opinion. I am not entirely sure what the purpose of delete is. If someone asks "what is the X of y?" and my response is factually incorrect the comment/answer will be downvoted. People that see my downvoted answer will know that it has been judged "unacceptable" by the HN community; so I do not think there is a reason to worry about spreading false information. If the question is not about a factual matter and my opinion is judged unacceptable by the HN community so be it. I made my comment with the best of intentions and should stand by what I said in the comment.

vxNsr 12y ago
One reason I find the delete, or edit useful is, sometimes I'll type up a comment come back a while later, read it, hit post without really thinking, and then go back and see the context, and realize I'm an idiot[0] and quickly edit or delete the comment before anyone else finds out. [0] http://xkcd.com/481/ http://xkcd.com/481/
- dfc 12y ago
  It seems like you are saying that the utility of the delete function is that it allows a user (you, me and everyone else) to submit comments without thinking about the content and quality of the comment. What is wrong with increasing the incentive to do a "am I being a moron check" before hitting submit?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

GhostHardware 12y ago

I don't drink. Why? If I drink I have terrible hangovers and can't function the next day. I go to the gym 3 times a week and on weekends I do rock climbing. I'm trying to get a job as a fulltime developer and that requires me to try get as much programming as I can in a single day. If I go out to drink and get myself wasted then I'm wasting my precious time. I got drunk a lot of time already and seriously can't imagine why would I want to do that instead of working on myself in my free time. But I guess I'm just one of unadventurous people.

andrewflnr 12y ago
Having some stupid chemical mess with your head is an obstacle to processing new ideas and experiences as they deserve.