[woodruffw]

You can do whatever you please!

Not everybody knows, because he's a relative nobody who occasionally gets laundered through HN. My only role in this entire thing is making sure that the bits that I know are available for consideration.

[piggybox]

Thanks! I, for one, have never heard of this person.

[jsilence]

He does not seem to be a complete mindless dummy. Ever tried to contact and argue with him? I'd honestly watch that.

Same thing with Jordan Peterson. I must not agree with his stand points and positions, but his arguments are compelling at times and it is fun watching and following his stuff. I can only broaden my view if don't look into the same direction all the time.

[woodruffw]

Both Peterson and Smith’s content falls squarely into the tarpit of bullshit asymmetry: anything that they chose to mouth off on takes an asymmetrically large amount of effort to rebut. That’s not how I’d prefer to spend my time, and it’s not something I can reasonably ask any person to do.

[torstenvl]

> takes an asymmetrically large amount of effort to rebut

And so... you'd rather just badmouth him on HN instead? This entire subthread is an ad hominem, and entirely inappropriate.

[woodruffw]

> And so... you'd rather just badmouth him on HN instead?

Where's the badmouthing? His reactionary politics are a critical part of the personal brand that he uses to advance his (again, incredibly mundane and well-trodden) content.

And guess what: I agree that it's inappropriate for HN. All things being equal, I'd prefer not to spend even the limited time I've spent today thinking about this. But for as long as reactionaries continue to use HN to launder their reputations, I'll continue to be the annoying commenter who points them out. I'm sorry if you think that's inappropriate.