Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lapcat 1210 days ago
> I bet you don't watch Newsmax, but you probably know some things about people who watch Newsmax.

I don't, and I don't.

> I wanted to make a joke about it being exactly the kind of reasoning a Jacobin reader would use, but I'm refraining.

I'm not a regular Jacobin reader, "only in passing" as you say.

In any case, you're just spouting stereotypes invented in your own mind.
1 comments
CrazyStat 1210 days ago
No, I've had enough Jacobin readers misinterpret Adam Smith to me to form an informed opinion.
link
lapcat 1210 days ago
Have you? How many, exactly?

In any case, it's not clear why interpreting Adam Smith (1723-1790) is an appropriate criterion here. Of course, I don't grant without evidence that you possess a correction interpretation of Adam Smith. FWIW (not much) I read The Wealth of Nations many years ago, though I don't claim to be a Smith scholar, and I have no wish to debate the matter with you. I just find it strange that you feel the need to drag him into this discussion.

link
CrazyStat 1210 days ago
> Have you?

Yes.

> In any case, it's not clear why interpreting Adam Smith (1723-1790) is an appropriate criterion here.

Because it speaks to both their reading comprehension and grasp of economics.

link
lapcat 1210 days ago
>> Have you?

> Yes.

You didn't answer my crucial follow-up question: "How many, exactly?"

> Because it speaks to both their reading comprehension and grasp of economics.

Not really. There's actually been quite a bit of work on that subject since the 18th century, if you hadn't heard.

link
CrazyStat 1210 days ago
What makes that follow-up question crucial?
link
lapcat 1210 days ago
The claim was "I've had enough Jacobin readers misinterpret Adam Smith to me to form an informed opinion." So the question is, how many do you believe is enough to justify the claim that your opinion is informed? Otherwise it would appear to be an unjustified overgeneralization based on extremely limited anecdotes.

"The print magazine is released quarterly and reaches 75,000 subscribers, in addition to a web audience of over 3,000,000 a month." https://jacobin.com/about

I would guess that the number you've had Adam Smith specific conversations with is one, possibly even zero, but unlikely more than two. After all, since you're an "Only in passing" reader, it's unclear how you would get into large numbers of conversations of any kind with large numbers of Jacobin readers, much less specific conversations about Adam Smith interpretation.

link