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“Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

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Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#101

Post by panarky »

sp332 wrote: post #23
CJefferson wrote: post #2

This is the kind of deep investigation of a super specific issue I always enjoy reading. This is what I thought the internet would be, 20 years ago.

It's a sign of a "cognitive surplus", because we have more educated people now than we have jobs for them to do. Also it's a sign of how these sites get people to work for them for free, and concentrate huge amounts of other people's work for their own benefit. This poster got nothing for all that work, but SE still gets advertising revenue driven by interest in the content.

> This poster got nothing for all that work

@sp332, you've submitted 693 items to HN, and you've made thousands of comments.

What did you get for all that work?

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#102

Post by sp332 »

piaste wrote: post #97
sp332 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a sign of a "cognitive surplus", because we have more educated people now than we have jobs for them to do. Also it's a sign of how these sites get people to work for them for free, and concentrate huge amounts of other people's work for their own benefit. This poster got nothing for all that work, but SE still gets advertising revenue driven by interest in the content.

Isn't that a bit like saying that night clubs get their cooler / more attractive patrons to work for them for free, by attracting the wider masses?

Night clubs actually pay their DJs, bartenders, bouncers, etc. And they might comp more attractive patrons, which isn't quite the same as paying them but it's not nothing.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#103

Post by sp332 »

panarky wrote: post #101
sp332 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a sign of a "cognitive surplus", because we have more educated people now than we have jobs for them to do. Also it's a sign of how these sites get people to work for them for free, and concentrate huge amounts of other people's work for their own benefit. This poster got nothing for all that work, but SE still gets advertising revenue driven by interest in the content.

> This poster got nothing for all that work @sp332, you've submitted 693 items to HN, and you've made thousands of comments. What did you get for all that work?

Well they're not paying me. Why?

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#104

Post by sp332 »

beaconstudios wrote: post #91
sp332 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, that's pretty much my whole point. Money gets concentrated. Employment is low.

yeah - people who provide services become successful. It's a pretty good system as long as we can keep the less successful people out of poverty. Equality of outcome is possibly the worst idea in history.

But we're not keeping them out of poverty. Facebook has a homeless encampment directly across the street. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/31/facebook-cam... Are you in favor of any kind of equality?

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#105

Post by steve_adams_86 »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #39
sp332 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a sign of a "cognitive surplus", because we have more educated people now than we have jobs for them to do. Also it's a sign of how these sites get people to work for them for free, and concentrate huge amounts of other people's work for their own benefit. This poster got nothing for all that work, but SE still gets advertising revenue driven by interest in the content.

Oh please. It's just someone enjoying a challenge and hunting down something for gratification. Let's not make it out to be more than it is. There have always been people that go above and beyond for intellectual gratification and out of nothing more than curiosity. There have always been people willing to do things like this for "no good reason" and for nothing in return since time immemorial. I don't want to live i…

I agree. The stack exchange is a place I whitelist in my adblocker. They seem to take ads and ad quality seriously, they provided very useful and interesting content, and they employ a pretty excellent team. I don't see the problem. It seems like what you'd hope for from the situation.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#107

Post by beaconstudios »

sp332 wrote: post #104
beaconstudios wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah - people who provide services become successful. It's a pretty good system as long as we can keep the less successful people out of poverty. Equality of outcome is possibly the worst idea in history.

But we're not keeping them out of poverty. Facebook has a homeless encampment directly across the street. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/31/facebook-cam... Are you in favor of any kind of equality?

of course - equality under the law. People like to act like equality of outcome is a natural extension from legal equality but it simply isn't.

I know we don't keep people out of poverty right now, and that's something that needs to be fixed. But if you think equality of outcome (i.e. eliminating economic disparity) is the solution to that then you may want to read up on the USSR and Maoist China. Capitalism is pretty good at raising the living standard of the whole population, even if it does end up creating billionaires at the same time.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#108

Post by sp332 »

jcarreiro wrote: post #45
sp332 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not arguing from first principles here. Workforce participation is down. This is just a symptom. I'm not against having free time, but against companies who ask you to work for them for free. If people had the ability to make money with their time and effort, that guy would be more likely to be paid for his post.

So if HN added advertising to support the site, you would totally stop posting here, right?

Not unless I could find a place that would pay better for my posts.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#109

Post by Luc »

dahart wrote: post #93
Luc wrote: post #34

The top answer is a picture of the use of Yxa in a Swedish alphabet learning book, yet there's still people here clinging to the yellow paint tube theory. Incredible. Not sure what cognitive bias is at play here (or more charitably: perhaps they didn't scroll down). EDIT: Some say these are pictures of a paint tube and some yellow paint: https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/my-carving... The fact that an…

There's no proof yet, so your judgement is speculative and presumptuous, even if the right answer turns out to be Yxa. The top answer is awesome, and probably right, but who knows for sure? Do you? It's top because of popularity and not because he solved it. Since all answers including the top answer suppose this was a mistake, it's easy to imagine it being the result of a stupid mistake as opposed to one that feels…

Presumptuous, huh? There is no absolute proof of anything, but the Swedish axe image is substantial proof to me.

I suppose that when the designer comes forward and explains the way the image was chosen, there will be people who argue the designer is lying, or misremembering, or trying to hide the fact that their drawing was interpreted the wrong way.

This way UFOs, 9-11 Truthers, and homeopathy lies.

Re: “Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?”

#110

Post by nomgal »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #87
nomgal wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25 English, 1 Swedish. I see no harm in overthinking things considering the subject is rather amusing. I see an axe.

U-Boat instead of submarine makes that 24 to 2, rather. No one this side of WWII uses the term U-Boat in America. U is much more commonly associated with Umbrella in kids' books here.

Agreed. I actually considered pointing out that in my original comment.

As an American with a fascination in documentaries I have heard the term a lot but most consider it to be very specific to military submarines operated by Germany in the first and second world wars only. I suppose the term Unterseeboot still sees usage outside of the States these days.

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