[williamcotton]

without a whit of evidence wouldn't pass freshman comp

that he's accorded greater privilege demonstrates just how high the shit must have been piled at The New Republic's stables.

This narrative is, frankly, bullshit.

Hey buddy, if you wanna have chilled out conversation you might want to take a look at how your own approach might affect how things progress.

[dang]

You're both breaking the HN guidelines by being personally abrasive. Please don't.

[williamcotton]

Really, saying that "maybe you might be ignorant" is breaking the HN guidelines? I think the more likely explanation is that I'm breaking the HN party line and quite clearly pointing out that the ethos that the author was referring to is quite rampant here in Silicon Valley. If we're both engaging in unethical behavior, where are his downvotes?

This place is a circle jerk of anti-intellectualism and smug arrogance. Juvenile phrases about how anyone suffering these days deserves their fate. "Why didn't they just learn JavaScript!?".

Oh, but if it's the poor and blue collar there will be some pity for their fate, barely masked contempt for the unwashed masses. But the middle class? Eviscerated and this forum spits on their grave. The story goes that they squandered their privileged position in the world.

No one can write a proper response. No one can address the content in the author's essay because there is no respect nor understanding for what has been written. Like frothing lobotomized acolytes of McLuhan the only mantra is that the "median is the only message".

Human subjectivity is reduced to a cold bowl of porridge. Everyone's opinions are equally dismissible. The only thing that matters is what can be quantified. The size of one's paycheck takes precedence. Further irony is that everyone thinks they are "creatives" and better than those mongrels in finance or law. This is just our generations version of the Wolf of Wall Street but in the lambs clothes of the globally cultured. "We teach people to code so they can better their economic stature and increase their quantifiable measurements and therefor become a better and happier person!".

Downvotes and upvotes... those ARE part of the problem! They destroy dialog. It turns what could be healthy discussion in an American Idol like popularity contest. "Vote next week for your favorite asshole!". You think it is an ethical device? Have you ever noticed that tptacek, the holder of the most "karma" on HN is basically a troll? My language is in no way more inflammatory than his. He's just got the foot soldiers to put people in their place.

All that these things do is turn forums in to an echo chamber. The other approach is to use active moderation to get rid of the trolls. But that's not the agenda. That's not the belief. The church of quantification must attempt to remove all subjective and therefor inefficient human biases.

Label them "gatekeepers" and convince the world you're doing it a service when you instead shift the power to secretive algorithms that are controlled by a small cabal of wealthy elites.

DOWNVOTE THIS!

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[tptacek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8zQHO40Cys

The funny thing is, personal attacks aside, I actually agree with a lot of what you have to say, especially about karma and about the impact of the Internet on artists. And on that latter point, you & I do in fact disagree sharply with the majority of the site. You pick weird enemies.

[williamcotton]

I will get hella defensive about people getting bullied, those down on their luck or otherwise marginalized. To a fault.

I have no inherent respect for the powerful although I will sometimes shamefully choose not to bite the hand that feeds me.

I tend to agree with most of the points you make as well. I should stop ragging on you. I'm sorry. You're not a troll. You're just terse. The Hemingway of commenters. I hope you don't drink as much as he did.

[tptacek]

I'm not sure you're wrong about me and didn't take offense. I think you should rethink whether HN is rigged against your point of view. I think HN's moderators are just as irritated by groupthink as you are. I also think you should ask yourself whether you're commenting to persuade, or (like me) because you like debate, or (in your case, this time) just to vent. It's fine to vent, but I don't think you can legitimately get irritated at the mods for tamping that down, because venting gets disruptive and unproductive fast.

[williamcotton]

I deserve to get downvoted for venting. Nothing else to say really.