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by dang 2470 days ago
True things can be personal attacks.
1 comments

Describing the state of something is not an attack
You can't reduce communication to simple rules like that. It depends on who is communicating what to whom and why.

For example, when a middle school kid has acne and another kid goes on about their face, that is not a neutral "describing the state of something". Everything they say may be facts, yet it is certainly a personal attack—and the more cruel, the more true it is.

Seriously are you taking child behavior as an example?

"Argument by analogy" look it up

Adults are no different from children in this respect, and the example is particularly easy to relate to.

Please don't post rude swipes in HN comments. It's against the site guidelines (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html), even when addressing a moderator.

The bar for what is offensive is very low it seems. Any good discussion will always end up offending some one. Just don't take it too personally
I wouldn't personally frame this in terms of "the bar for what is offensive", with its overtones of "what you can't say" and all of that. It's rather that we want users to remain kind to each other, when talking about difficult things. The intention is not to exclude or suppress communication, but to enhance it.

Still, you're welcome to frame it in whatever way works for you. The point is that you need to follow the site guidelines if you want to continue posting here. If you'd please review them and take their spirit more to heart, we'd be grateful.