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So I'm scrolling back in my comments. Not all converge. Here is a long one where I learned something: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8228967 https://news.

So I'm scrolling back in my comments. Not all converge. Here is a long one where I learned something: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8228967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8228967 Here is a rather deep one that later led to a productive offline conversation. We didn't converge to a conclusion, but we did figure out what data was needed to find one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8219369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8219369 I know these threads are ugly, but I don't think they are unproductive. I have certainly learned quite a bit from such threads (about analytical philosophy, computer security, marketing), and have changed my opinion on a number of matters. As for the suppression of naughty comments, it's posts like this one [1] that suggests suppressing certain discussion if it makes YC look good. I know YC has been targeted in the past, and it appears that Altman wants to head off future attacks. I have no doubt that all else held equal, you'd like to make HN a better place. But make HN a place with better discussions but also a focal point of criticism for YC? [1] http://blog.samaltman.com/what-ive-learned-from-female-founders-so-far http://blog.samaltman.com/what-ive-learned-from-female-found... Specifically this comment: "And we're working on something to improve the quality of Hacker News comments."

tptacek 12y ago
Neither of those two threads are uncivilized in the least, so it's hard to see what point you're trying to make. For an example of an uncivilized thread, try "Why Doctors Are Sick Of Their Profession" from today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8246760 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8246760
- yummyfajitas 12y ago
  They are long, but not uncivilized. That's the point - HN goes to significant effort to avoid long threads, and in my view a lot of our best information is contained in long threads. If lack of civility is what we want to avoid, maybe we should target that directly.
  - tptacek 12y ago
    No, HN doesn't avoid long threads. Incivility is what's being targeted.
    - yummyfajitas 12y ago
      The post I originally responded to was discussing various ways HN discourages long threads, at least relative to reddit. HN also explicitly penalizes stories with comments >> upvotes, and makes it difficult to reply to longer discussions via exponential backoff procedures (I know you can work around it by clicking the "link").
      - scott_s 12y ago
        The reply-timer is not aimed at long discussions per-se, but to avoid quick-fire, heated back-and-forths between parties. The idea is that such exchanges are correlated with noise.
        rntz 12y ago
        It's not relevant what it's intended to do, but what it does. If it makes long conversations hard, that's a con. (OTOH, if it avoids heated exchange, that's a pro. I don't really have a strong position one way or the other.)

tptacek 12y ago

Neither of those two threads are uncivilized in the least, so it's hard to see what point you're trying to make. For an example of an uncivilized thread, try "Why Doctors Are Sick Of Their Profession" from today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8246760 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8246760

yummyfajitas 12y ago
They are long, but not uncivilized. That's the point - HN goes to significant effort to avoid long threads, and in my view a lot of our best information is contained in long threads. If lack of civility is what we want to avoid, maybe we should target that directly.
- tptacek 12y ago
  No, HN doesn't avoid long threads. Incivility is what's being targeted.
  - yummyfajitas 12y ago
    The post I originally responded to was discussing various ways HN discourages long threads, at least relative to reddit. HN also explicitly penalizes stories with comments >> upvotes, and makes it difficult to reply to longer discussions via exponential backoff procedures (I know you can work around it by clicking the "link").
    - scott_s 12y ago
      The reply-timer is not aimed at long discussions per-se, but to avoid quick-fire, heated back-and-forths between parties. The idea is that such exchanges are correlated with noise.
      - rntz 12y ago
        It's not relevant what it's intended to do, but what it does. If it makes long conversations hard, that's a con. (OTOH, if it avoids heated exchange, that's a pro. I don't really have a strong position one way or the other.)