4Chan Is Turning 15–And Remains the Internet's Teenager

Post by verylittlemeat » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 12:50 AM UTC

krapp wrote: post #137

rarec wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are things called containment boards on 4chan for a reason. Seems that they also contain any outside perspective on the site as well. /b/ and /pol/ are particularly egregious, but they're worth suffering to live if it means I can keep /g/ and /tg/. The open format of the site also, while it does contain a lot of posting, does have a curious cross contamination effect. You may learn about an entirely unrelated t…

>There are things called containment boards on 4chan for a reason. I don't think there actually are, in practice. How do you have any sort of "containment" on an anonymous forum? There's nothing at all stopping /b/ and /pol/ from stepping into any other board and either playing along or not. The only containment there is a state of mind.

They do work though. Typically a board like /g/ is on topic and containment boards are used to shame offtopic users. That might sound unconvincing and "a state of mind" but social dynamics do work. If there is 1 /pol// shitposter in a thread they will be called out as bait or told to go back to their containment board. It's a useful rhetorical tool on 4chan and it works better than any literal rule because it comes organically from the board's culture.

Post by matheusmoreira » Sun, Jun 03, 2018, 2:40 AM UTC

kadenshep wrote: post #139

dang wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably got flagged because ideological battle is off topic here. Regardless of how right you are, it's not what this site is for, and (worse) destroys what it is for. The comment you replied to wasn't good, but taking HN even further from its intended use just makes the thread worse, which is why the site guidelines ask you not to do: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

We dont discuss the merits fuedalism. Why are you condoning the discussion and apology of Nazi talking points in a disingenuous manner on this forum? The purpose of HN is to discuss topics from a hacker perspective is it not? Which typically has implied characteristics of rationally discussing topics in an honest and forthright manner, no? Would you consider the calling out of similar dishonest talking points in supp…

The fact a bunch of /pol/ nazis make use of free speech doesn't invalidate free speech. It doesn't make free speech a "nazi talking point", either. It was Evelyn Beatrice Hall, an English woman, who wrote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". She was describing Voltaire's beliefs.

Democracy means giving everyone a chance, even those nazis that nobody likes. You can't say you're tolerant and at the same time be intolerant towards that specific group because history condemns them. You've got to be better than that on principle. If you claim that rationality should prevail, then engage them on those terms rather than banning them outright.

I don't associate with flat Earth theorists because I've convinced myself those are false based on my current knowledge of physics. For me, that matter is pretty much settled. However, the people from /pol/ sometimes cite published scientific articles I'd never seen before in order to substantiate their claims. While I take their politicized posts with extra grains of salt, I do check their references and try to form my own opinion on the matter. Many times I end up no wiser than before, sometimes I reach different conclusions. The point is: if people had simply banned their discourse outright, I wouldn't have reached any conclusion at all.

I simply don't want anyone else drawing conclusions for me.

Re: 4Chan Is Turning 15–And Remains the Internet's Teenager

Re: 4Chan Is Turning 15–And Remains the Internet's Teenager