Live data from Hacker News

The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

wsj.com

41–50 of 314 posts

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#41
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment, no less. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often becoming like. I hope we can rise above this and allow discussion, even topics we don't think we need to hear.

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often like. There's also the twin concepts of tact and good taste. If someone wants to dig into a dead person's dark side, go ahead. But not immediately after his death. There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. It's not like knowing bad things about him two weeks later changes anything at all.

>>There's nothing wrong with a little restraint.

There is nothing wrong with a little truth or facts either...the guy is dead, he won't be offended.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#42
post #40
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn’t think of a better year for this advice.

How is that so? I couldn't live in quarantine without having an Internet connection. There's a limit to how many books one can read.

"Digital Detox" isn't a clearly defined term, but usually does not mean no internet use long-term. And e.g. limiting access to social media or 24/7 news is not necessarily a bad idea in the year of "doomscrolling".

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#43
post #14

Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843

The singer, Jewel who was a friend sounded an alarm in August https://people.com/music/jewel-wrote-to-tony-hsieh-before-hi... She's pretty credible.

She sounds like someone that actually cared about him.

It’s terrible that someone who seemed like a genuinely kind person ended up surrounded by sycophants taking advantage of his wealth and encouraging his drug issues.

"I am going to be blunt," she wrote in the letter, obtained by Forbes. "I need to tell you that I don’t think you are well and in your right mind. I think you are taking too many drugs that cause you to disassociate.

“Jewel reportedly told Hsieh in the note that "people you are surrounding yourself with are either ignorant or willing to be complicit in you killing yourself.

“When you look around and realize that every single person around you is on your payroll, then you are in trouble," Jewel wrote, according to Forbes.

“You are in trouble, Tony.”

She was right.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#44
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often like. There's also the twin concepts of tact and good taste. If someone wants to dig into a dead person's dark side, go ahead. But not immediately after his death. There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. It's not like knowing bad things about him two weeks later changes anything at all.

>>There's nothing wrong with a little restraint. There is nothing wrong with a little truth or facts either...the guy is dead, he won't be offended.

Family & friends, however, might appreciate less speculation and fewer character attacks if it turns out not to be true.

Even if it is true, I’m sure they’d appreciate an opportunity to mourn in peace.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#46
post #34
post #14

Some of the speculation in this thread [1], originally flagged as hearsay, seems to be confirmed by this article, namely his use of nitrous oxide. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25235843

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment, no less. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often becoming like. I hope we can rise above this and allow discussion, even topics we don't think we need to hear.

"Sharing hard truths" without credible backup should be flagged when it's personal information like that. Gossip and tawdry accusations don't have a place in a community devoted to responsible discourse, especially because lies spread faster than the truth. Having the same conversation now rather than right in the heat of things is fine.

Re: The Death of Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior

#50
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a flagged and down-voted into oblivion comment, no less. A small taste of what sharing hard truths here at HN is often becoming like. I hope we can rise above this and allow discussion, even topics we don't think we need to hear.

"Sharing hard truths" without credible backup should be flagged when it's personal information like that. Gossip and tawdry accusations don't have a place in a community devoted to responsible discourse, especially because lies spread faster than the truth. Having the same conversation now rather than right in the heat of things is fine.

What do you mean by credible? How does anyone on here present proof of credibility about knowledge of a particular event or issue? The comment in question was from someone who created a throwaway “exzappos” username and claimed to have worked closely with Hsieh and understood the problems that have now come to light.

It’s impossible for anyone on here to prove their identity or that they aren’t lying about knowledge about something. In that situation anyone can say an anonymous person on the internet is not credible.

Seems like the more appropriate response is to take a comment like that with a grain of salt, but downvoting it to the point of being flagged and deleted made no sense to me either.

Post reply on HN