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I Am Deleting the Blog

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Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#511

Post by zozbot234 »

entropyneur wrote: post #495
gringoDan wrote: post #394

Reading this made me think of two essays I've recently revisited. 1. The Sound of Silence, by Jessica Livingston Three years ago she argued that the smartest people are silencing themselves because the downside risk of being attacked for (misinterpretations of) their opinions are too high. People are wary of sharing useful information outside of trusted circles, which serves to consolidate power with insiders – those…

I love "What You Can't Say" and have incorporated the conformist test into my moral compass. But I think the shift to use of shame for society regulation is a positive development. I'd much rather be downvoted on HN or called names on Twitter than beaten up or deprived of freedom. But maybe that's just me.

> But I think the shift to use of shame for society regulation is a positive development. I'd much rather be downvoted on HN or called names on Twitter than beaten up or deprived of freedom.

It's easy to require due process prior to anyone being deprived of freedom, and we generally see this as a positive development, compared to the alternative. Using "shame" (aka witch hunts, cyber bullying and the like) to punish unwelcome views is the opposite of due process.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#512

Post by rswskg »

saagarjha wrote: post #408
rswskg wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dated a journalist who would ask me to explain tech things. Aghast, I asked if this was how she wrote about everything. It was. She's now a management consultant which explains alot.

Isn't it better that she's asking you rather than making up things?

It was the barest of understandings. When I realised there is a class of people who make decisions on what journalists write, I realised how misaligned the 'tech zeitgeist' can be

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#513

Post by DuskStar »

entropyneur wrote: post #495
gringoDan wrote: post #394

Reading this made me think of two essays I've recently revisited. 1. The Sound of Silence, by Jessica Livingston Three years ago she argued that the smartest people are silencing themselves because the downside risk of being attacked for (misinterpretations of) their opinions are too high. People are wary of sharing useful information outside of trusted circles, which serves to consolidate power with insiders – those…

I love "What You Can't Say" and have incorporated the conformist test into my moral compass. But I think the shift to use of shame for society regulation is a positive development. I'd much rather be downvoted on HN or called names on Twitter than beaten up or deprived of freedom. But maybe that's just me.

> I'd much rather be downvoted on HN or called names on Twitter than beaten up or deprived of freedom.

This blog post is literally about someone fearing that it'll escalate to "beaten up" or "fired" if their name is published.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#514

Post by pps43 »

> he had discovered my real name and would reveal it in the article

So it's an OPSEC failure. Why not learn from it and start a new blog under a different, better pseudonym, then avoid giving details that can get you doxxed.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#515

Post by tosers4 »

_wldu wrote: post #431
gringoDan wrote: post #394

Reading this made me think of two essays I've recently revisited. 1. The Sound of Silence, by Jessica Livingston Three years ago she argued that the smartest people are silencing themselves because the downside risk of being attacked for (misinterpretations of) their opinions are too high. People are wary of sharing useful information outside of trusted circles, which serves to consolidate power with insiders – those…

Great post. I wish more people would genuinely listen to those they disagree with. When we shut people down or make them feel uncomfortable/threatened to the point that they won't speak, what have we gained?

this forum literally hides opinions people disagree with.

The up and down arrow are really bad icons for UX.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#516

Post by hackissimo123 »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #374
Uhrheber wrote: post #75

I stopped trusting reporters about 35 years ago, when I personally witnessed an occurrence, where a reporter was at the scene, and later read what he had written about it in the newspaper. It had practically nothing to do with what really happened, but was written in a way that most of their readers would most likely expect and endorse. I was still very young then, but it opened my eyes, and from then on, I mostly st…

The father of one of my neighbours recently died in a house fire. It was a tragic accident, nothing sinister. The whole family could be described as boringly average with nothing of note about them. The family refused all requests for interviews from the media. That didn't stop the Irish Independent (big national paper here) from publishing gory headlines about the families pain. They also managed to source family ph…

My favourite example of all time of journalistic shamelessness is ABC reporting that Robin Williams's were "respectfully asking for privacy" following his death, while a banner at the top of the same page advertised live aerial footage of Robin Williams's home:

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=abc_classy

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#517

Post by mmm_grayons »

Wow, screw the new york times. I was recently directed to this site by an HN commenter, and found that there was quite a nice community of smart people who wanted to discuss different ideas and potentially even change their minds. A piece by the new york times covering that would destroy it. And it's irresponsible for a reporter to insist on publishing a name in a situation like this "becAUsE PolIcY".

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#518

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #419
wolfgke wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Similar effect when reading the news on a topic that one is an expert in - they usually get it incredibly wrong. This is the argument behind the Gell-Mann amnesia effect: https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/

We really need to retire "Gell-Mann amnesia effect" and relegate it to a /glossary on HN along with the various philosophical razors, "Dunning-Kruger effect", "X fallacy", "gaslighting", and other intellectual placeholders like that. As soon as I read the grandparent comment, I knew there was going to be a flood of people arriving to supply us with some wiki link. This way we can just cut to the chase with "Ah, I sme…

Why should it be retired? Is it untrue? Is there a valid reason to doubt it? It is hard to accept a removal of useful mental shortcut for no reason.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#519

Post by Nextgrid »

_wldu wrote: post #431
gringoDan wrote: post #394

Reading this made me think of two essays I've recently revisited. 1. The Sound of Silence, by Jessica Livingston Three years ago she argued that the smartest people are silencing themselves because the downside risk of being attacked for (misinterpretations of) their opinions are too high. People are wary of sharing useful information outside of trusted circles, which serves to consolidate power with insiders – those…

Great post. I wish more people would genuinely listen to those they disagree with. When we shut people down or make them feel uncomfortable/threatened to the point that they won't speak, what have we gained?

The problem is that it's a vicious circle. You can't attempt to understand/reason with someone going against societal norms otherwise you will be seen by your peers as agreeing with that person and thus ostracized because they themselves do not want to be seen as understanding/reasoning with someone (you) that now appears to be going against societal norms.

Re: I Am Deleting the Blog

#520

Post by globular-toast »

gringoDan wrote: post #394

Reading this made me think of two essays I've recently revisited. 1. The Sound of Silence, by Jessica Livingston Three years ago she argued that the smartest people are silencing themselves because the downside risk of being attacked for (misinterpretations of) their opinions are too high. People are wary of sharing useful information outside of trusted circles, which serves to consolidate power with insiders – those…

That Paul Graham essay is fantastic. It really helps me to put into place things that I've been realising over time. For a long time I've had showdead enabled and I always go looking for the buried comments to see what I'm not allowed to say. I suggest everyone does.
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