Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Keep your identity small (2009)

paulgraham.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 160 posts

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#2

Post by angersock »

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums?

Um, Graham is more than a little off here.

Like, by a country mile.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#3

Post by dylz »

angersock wrote: post #2

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums? Um, Graham is more than a little off here. Like, by a country mile.

Let's discuss text editors. Anyone?

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#4

Post by groby_b »

angersock wrote: post #2

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums? Um, Graham is more than a little off here. Like, by a country mile.

Yep. I don't think we need to even talk about JS, and I'm happy to point him to a few baking forum flame wars that are epic.

And his comment about the problem being a threshold for expertise is equally laughable. People feel perfectly happy to comment on anything catching their fancy, expertise or not. (Add to that Dunning Kruger...)

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#5

Post by jdquey »

angersock wrote: post #2

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums? Um, Graham is more than a little off here. Like, by a country mile.

Agreed. I find it depends on how people go about talking about the subjects.

I think it has to do more with the potential impact it has on us and others. Not to mention how much broad appeal there is.

I don't know much about Javascript, but debates about how to properly use it aren't going to change a nation. Or the implication of someone's life, both now and after death.

People have a lot of opinions on baking. You don't need to be an expert to blog about it (e.g. probably 1/2 the mommy blogs out there). But again, who cares if you add organic cheese to your chili or sour cream? Very few. And most would remove it if not important.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#6

Post by jdquey »

groby_b wrote: post #4
angersock wrote: post #2

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums? Um, Graham is more than a little off here. Like, by a country mile.

Yep. I don't think we need to even talk about JS, and I'm happy to point him to a few baking forum flame wars that are epic. And his comment about the problem being a threshold for expertise is equally laughable. People feel perfectly happy to comment on anything catching their fancy, expertise or not. (Add to that Dunning Kruger...)

To be fair, he's not saying other topics don't have their major disputes. Just that they don't happen as often.

Re: Keep your identity small (2009)

#7

Post by [deleted] »

groby_b wrote: post #4
angersock wrote: post #2

As a rule, any mention of religion on an online forum degenerates into a religious argument. Why? Why does this happen with religion and not with Javascript or baking or other topics people talk about on forums? Um, Graham is more than a little off here. Like, by a country mile.

Yep. I don't think we need to even talk about JS, and I'm happy to point him to a few baking forum flame wars that are epic. And his comment about the problem being a threshold for expertise is equally laughable. People feel perfectly happy to comment on anything catching their fancy, expertise or not. (Add to that Dunning Kruger...)

[deleted]
Post reply on HN