[coldtea]

>This sounds like justification for having no rules. I don't know if that's a good idea.

Does it seem like some general anarchy has erruped on HN, and literary all kinds of posts have been voted on top?

I don't think so: it's just some rule-bending when HN voters feel like it.

[BlackDeath3]

I haven't suggested that general anarchy has erupted. I've suggested that "breaking the rules is part of being human" is a crappy justification for breaking rules.

[coldtea]

Perhaps you need a better justification on a break-by-break basis, but as a general philosophical/stance-on-life justification, it holds up.

I mean, if we were to really discuss this on a substancial level you'd also have to justify what is so great about following rules in the first place. After all, people have been following stupid rules (including laws) for ages.

[BlackDeath3]

But if I were to do that, I'd have to go deeper. I'd have to start justifying everything that I do. And I mean everything. I'd have to justify my justifications, and justify those meta-justifications. I'd have to justify the need to justify things at all. Soon, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed because it would take me all day (perhaps longer!) to justify doing so.

I'd certainly also have to justify having this conversation with you. I can't do that, so thanks anyway.