Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#71

Post by havkd » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:08 AM UTC

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

javajosh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

It’s like you’re saying that someone who makes rape jokes is more likely to be a rapist.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#72

Post by content_sesh » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:09 AM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #65

extortionist wrote: post #12

He leaves behind a complicated legacy. It's important to note that credible allegations of domestic abuse lead him to sell SA in the past year, and this can't be set aside. At the same time, SA's influence on the modern internet can't be understated. The 'image macro' of early SA (maybe created by Lowtax himself, from what Fragmaster says in his video in the link) is the direct ancestor of today's common meme image--…

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

What the hell are you talking about? It was multiple women, independently, over decades, that all gave similar allegations of abuse. At one point, one of the unpaid site administrators flew across the country so she could take one of these women to a shelter. How far would you have had the people who used his site and paid for his lifestyle go to cover their eyes and ignore his behavior?

Also buried in that massive thread is a post by one of the women he abused. An actual court of law, not just a web 1.0 forum, found him guilty of squandering marital assets and domestic abuse. By all accounts, he killed himself to avoid taking responsibility.

Lowtax's was a relentless downward story, where he squandered everything he had with no redemption arc. It's very sad, but it's not the bizarre strawman scenario you've concocted.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#73

Post by jokethrowaway » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:10 AM UTC

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

javajosh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

I make the worst joke and I hope you wouldn't consider me a domestic abuser.

Given how our judicial system works, if I had an public known history for jokes about rape, it would be even easier to mount a case of domestic abuse on me.

If a divorce will grant me unique custody of my children or money and get rid of my ex, I would be ready to lie my way out.

Unless there is proof, these are just allegations. And if I were to lose my children due to the court system being biased, I'd be pretty devastated as well.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#74

Post by IanCal » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:10 AM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #65

extortionist wrote: post #12

He leaves behind a complicated legacy. It's important to note that credible allegations of domestic abuse lead him to sell SA in the past year, and this can't be set aside. At the same time, SA's influence on the modern internet can't be understated. The 'image macro' of early SA (maybe created by Lowtax himself, from what Fragmaster says in his video in the link) is the direct ancestor of today's common meme image--…

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This is an odd take.

> I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public.

If someone steals my phone at the bar and everyone at the table sees them do it, then tells you exactly what happened with the same story - would you say "no, this is _not credible_. It is not something I am able to believe could happen and it is not plausible". Surely not. It would be a credible allegation.

> This isn't against women. How many of us, given such an arbitrary and powerful weapon, would have the character not to use it, especially against someone we hate for personal reasons?

Given the ability to you would falsely accuse someone and ruin their lives? Have you considered that you may be projecting that onto others?

> Accusation is not guilt,

Which is why we have different words to help explain the differences.

> and we need to stop assuming that every accusation is credible.

We don't. That's why it is reasonable to mark some of them as credible.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#75

Post by dash2 » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:12 AM UTC

loriverkutya wrote: post #59

serf wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He was also a terrible person who serially abused his wives and girlfriends. >His site was very influential (in good and bad ways), but that doesn't mean he is someone we should canonize or mourn. "You know what they say, speak ill of the dead!" - Norm MacDonald. A person need not be wholesome or kind to warrant mourning their death. Even if you despise the person, their death has caused real human suffering and pai…

>Even if you despise the person, their death has caused real human suffering and pain among those around and associated to them. Generally the victims of a serial abuser are usually experienced the suffering and the pain while the abuser was alive and their death is a relief. (firsthand experience) I really don't understand of this speak ill if the dead thing, where is the limit, am I allowed to speak ill of Stalin o…

Most humans are imperfect. Some guy once said something about casting the first stone. A more recent guy pointed out that analogies with Stalin and Hitler are usually not illuminating.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#76

Post by Jensson » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:12 AM UTC

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

javajosh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

> Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny

Autists often don't pick up on that and continues to make unfunny or cringe jokes year after year. That makes them prime targets for false accusations, since the world is full of people like you who will assume they are guilty just because they are socially unaware.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#77

Post by prvc » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:14 AM UTC

harles wrote: post #14

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the domestic abuse allegations. The Something Awful forums almost completely melted down because of that, and it’s certainly left me with a very negative final impression of the man who’s sense of humor I once idolized.

Allegations need not be true...

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#78

Post by content_sesh » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:22 AM UTC

jokethrowaway wrote: post #73

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

I make the worst joke and I hope you wouldn't consider me a domestic abuser. Given how our judicial system works, if I had an public known history for jokes about rape, it would be even easier to mount a case of domestic abuse on me. If a divorce will grant me unique custody of my children or money and get rid of my ex, I would be ready to lie my way out. Unless there is proof, these are just allegations. And if I we…

Every one of my ex-wives is a crazy bitch.

Every judge has it out for me.

It's not my fault my kids don't like me; their mom keeps poisoning them against me with lies and my visitation schedule makes it impossible for me to be in their lives.

No one ever believes me, they all just want to think I'm the bad guy.

You don't need to construct hypotheticals here because we're talking about a specific person. He pretty much sounded like what I just wrote. How many years can you listen to someone give the same excuses over and over - it's never their fault, it's because X, Y or Z - before you figure out that they're not the unluckiest person in the world but just an asshole?

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#79

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:23 AM UTC

I used to visit SA regularly. A lot of the humor was tasteless, but nowhere near the level of the chans. I avoided the forums, and only read the front page stuff.

What kept me coming, was that they were amazing writers (it wasn’t just him -or he wrote under several nom de plumes).

His essays, done in the style of famous writers, and deadpan humor, where a story seemed serious, up until the point that you suddenly realize you’re being punked, were masterful.

But it sounds like his personal life was a disaster. I have known a number of folks like that. In most cases, I always hoped that, one day, they would “come out of the cesspool,” and start to realize their potential (I have also known a number of folks that did that, too). In my experience, these people were absolutely miserable, and difficult to be around. I only ever saw his creative output, so had no other stake in his personal life.

I wish his exes and children the best. It sounds like they may need it.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#80

Post by kortilla » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 10:26 AM UTC

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

javajosh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

> This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up.

Indeed, reading allegations and treating that as research does come off as naive.

> Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation.

It’s cool that your sense of humor about that changed during adolescence. That’s not true for many people around the world, especially people who are now in their 40s+. Mainstream standup comedians were joking about domestic abuse in the 2000s still. People joke about dark and inappropriate shit all of the time. Real life isn’t like the workplace or campuses where everything is politically correct.