[jsprinkles]

I'm beyond disappointed that the article is about the most important ruling regarding patent law in recent memory, and the overwhelming majority of this thread is arguing about the geometry cited in the judge's order. Rational people understood what he meant, even if maybe it's not 100% mathematically sound.

This pedantry really frustrates me, and it extends beyond Hacker News. It's pervasive in conversations I've been having recently as well, as if we're all looking for the slightest thing wrong with what someone has said so that we can achieve some kind of acclaim by pointing it out. I made a point recently about how people need to work together and cited a Star Trek film as a joke, and some jackass in the group decided to go to the mat with me on the fact that I had cited the wrong Star Trek film (my quote was in III, not II).

There is nothing more frustrating than a pedant. It seems like it's tech people that do it most, too, which makes sense, but still.

[ars]

> and the overwhelming majority of this thread is arguing about the geometry cited in the judge's order. Rational people understood what he meant, even if maybe it's not 100% mathematically sound.

> This pedantry really frustrates me

People are well aware that they are nit picking, but they enjoy the resulting discussion! Intellectually inclined people enjoy discussing minutia with other like minded people. They are perfectly aware that it makes no difference, and they don't care - it's just something interesting to talk about. It's no longer nit picking about the original (i.e. the practical use is settled), at that point it becomes a discussion for its own sake.

Do you never learn or do anything just for the sake of doing it, rather than in order to accomplish something useful?

> and some jackass in the group decided to go to the mat with me on the fact that I had cited the wrong Star Trek film

He was showing off. If you don't wish to participate in the Star Trek memorization culture just ignore him - his comment was geared to other members of his group who do like doing that. Or simply acknowledge that he was right and move on. Clearly you don't care about that topic, so that acknowledgement shouldn't cost you too much ego.

That's also the point of threads: You can ignore an entire thread that is off topic - but it also gives people who found something interesting a place to talk about it without disturbing the rest of the conversation.

[Produce]

>People are well aware that they are nit picking, but they enjoy the resulting discussion! Intellectually inclined people enjoy discussing minutia with other like minded people. They are perfectly aware that it makes no difference, and they don't care - it's just something interesting to talk about. It's no longer nit picking about the original (i.e. the practical use is settled), at that point it becomes a discussion for its own sake.

Pedantry like that indicates that the person may be suffering from OCD, not that they have a high IQ. There is a correlation between intelligence and anxiety-spectrum disorders but there are, ofcourse, many anxious people who have low IQ's too.

[jsprinkles]

Your entire comment would be wise were it not for, both in the case of my anecdote and this original comment, the observation that someone is incorrect. It's one thing to enjoy intellectual pursuits, it's another to put down others, belittle them, or critique their opinions because of a perceived mistake they made (such as the geometry). It's doubly worse if the mistake has no bearing whatsoever on the actual opinion, like the finding and the opinion I was sharing in my anecdote.

Also, I like to think of myself as intellectually inclined, and I simply hate discussing and arguing minutia like this. It just doesn't matter, and my time is limited. I don't want to argue with you on what Dickens meant by a certain character's dialogue in David Copperfield, I'd just like to enjoy it as a great novel. (That is fairly specific, and there are instances where it's fun to think about, but in general it isn't.)

> Clearly you don't care about that topic, so that acknowledgement shouldn't cost you too much ego.

Not about my ego, oddly (most everything else is, but this isn't). It undermines the opinion or discussion at hand from everybody else's perspective, however subtly. It's an annoying opportunity to show off, as you say, like those people that get up at conferences and ask a question that shows off at the expense of everyone listening. Both are distractions from the topic and are a detriment to the conversation, regardless of their original purpose.

[ars]

> the observation that someone is incorrect ... to put down others, belittle them, or critique their opinions

I really don't think they are doing that. They understand that for the normal purpose he's right, they are just talking about mathematics, or general cases. At this point it's removed from the original, they are no longer talking about him (the Judge) they are talking about the concept in general.

> I like to think of myself as intellectually inclined

and

> and there are instances where it's fun to think about

There you go. There is no rule that says you have to enjoy talking about the same things as someone else. Each person likes their own stuff.

[larrys]

"it's another to put down others, belittle them, or critique their opinions because of a perceived mistake they made (such as the geometry)"

I would guess that people who are in certain professions which require precision would be more likely to act this way. Because lack of precision would cause the plane to crash or the bridge to fail or the code to croak. Medicine (drugs) for example is not really super precise when you think about it. Dosing isn't so critical that if you take a little more or a little less you end up dead or sick. You have latitude. (Of course someone who knows more than I about this would point out that coumadin (Warfarin) dosing is quite critical and correct me.)

Have you found that to be the case in your IRL conversations?

[jsprinkles]

No. Most of my conversations revolve around my career, and I'm a system administrator. Bike shedding I had already identified to be a problem. Pedantry like this I'm starting to notice as well.

[larrys]

"It's pervasive in conversations I've been having recently as well"

It's so much easier to do this as a result of information so readily available at your finger tip. So any statement anyone makes can be quickly verified and corrected with pretty good precision. Wondering if the people who corrected you in conversations looked up the fact on their iphone (or whatever) while you weren't looking.