Live data from Hacker News

Heresy

paulgraham.com

671–680 of 1001 posts

Re: Heresy

#671

Mr. Graham writes an essay supporting free speech. Thus the comments here, ironically, attack his speech, with tons of words found no where in his essay at all. The comments here literally prove the spirit of his essay.

Freedom of speech is the freedom to disagree, including on completely irrational grounds (from someone's perspective). You seem to hold a common misconception about what it means to criticize someone.

Re: Heresy

#672

This is an essay about what is largely a social media phenomenon. You can avoid the whole thing by just not participating. Seems like a waste of energy to even discuss vs just realizing that arguing publicly on a global scale is not a good use of your limited time on Earth.

> You can avoid the whole thing by just not participating.

Except when people don't participate they get nothing out of the exchange and there's no discussion or progress

Re: Heresy

#673

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article isn’t flawed; it perfectly shows PGs evolving right leaning viewpoints. I used to understand where he came from when he originally started to argue about women in tech, but the new things he says, can’t stay with them anymore. You’re trying to divide two types of heresies because you don’t want to acknowledge the truth, there’s no two types just a sliding scale of offensiveness. You want there to be reper…

> There should be no repercussions as long as you state facts. I and I suppose many on the left would say there should be. So you're saying that there are factually correct statements that nobody should be able to utter without facing repercussions? Can you offer an example?

[deleted]

Re: Heresy

#674
Part of the problem in the US is the decline of routine democracy. Democracy works properly when you have a vote, you get a decision, and the issue is settled and done. That's rare today. It leaves us with no way to settle things and go on.

Useful question: do you belong to any democratically run organization, defined as one where the members can fire the leadership?

Re: Heresy

#675

This is an essay about what is largely a social media phenomenon. You can avoid the whole thing by just not participating. Seems like a waste of energy to even discuss vs just realizing that arguing publicly on a global scale is not a good use of your limited time on Earth.

> You can avoid the whole thing by just not participating. Except when people don't participate they get nothing out of the exchange and there's no discussion or progress

Progress happens offline.

Re: Heresy

#676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article isn’t flawed; it perfectly shows PGs evolving right leaning viewpoints. I used to understand where he came from when he originally started to argue about women in tech, but the new things he says, can’t stay with them anymore. You’re trying to divide two types of heresies because you don’t want to acknowledge the truth, there’s no two types just a sliding scale of offensiveness. You want there to be reper…

> There should be no repercussions as long as you state facts. I and I suppose many on the left would say there should be. So you're saying that there are factually correct statements that nobody should be able to utter without facing repercussions? Can you offer an example?

Saying things that are "true" isn't a guarantee that you will get the best possible reaction.

There are infinite true statements. We have to carefully pick the most useful and applicable truths to say in any given situation.

That's what wisdom and maturity are. Understanding a situation and choosing a good course of action. Including the truths we choose as the primary descriptors of the situation.

Re: Heresy

#677

In the 90s and 2000s it would be “heresy” to be a gay or transgendered person. I remember sadly how people in hushed tones would talk about coworkers. There was a bro-y norm to engineering culture that you didn’t defy very easily. I'm a bit surprised how easily people forget these things.

Yes great point. What we do is trade off "wrong-being" for "wrong-thought" or "wrong-talk."

Re: Heresy

#678

This essay was somewhat high on opinion, somewhat low on evidence. Paul Graham tweets a lot about this issue, and cancel culture is something he is apparently very sensitive too. It makes me wonder what happened - as given his lack of evidence - it appears to be an emotional reaction rather than a logical one. As an aside, most examples of people being fired for expressing opinions seem to come from academia. I’ve wo…

> This essay was somewhat high on opinion, somewhat low on evidence That's putting it mildly. It's littered with straw men and other logical fallacies. He asserts, without any proof (because it's a faulty generalization that can't be proven), 'when someone calls a statement "x-ist," they're also implicitly saying that this is the end of the discussion'. He then wastes a bunch of time explaining the implications of hi…

I do tend to read his essays when I see them circulating and I must confess that I find them fascinating. I’ve wondered if Graham himself doesn’t entirely understand why he’s been so successful or what he’s achieved in creating - and indeed whether he’s aware of the deficit. When future historians of our increasingly interesting and shocking epoch are trying to work out what happened, I feel Graham’s essays will provide useful insights into the preoccupations and delusions of billionaire think: from arguably the most powerful clique ever to have lived. In that sense I’m thankful that he writes.

Re: Heresy

#679
"Hi, I'm important and I find it's hard to be an asshole these days without someone immediately calling me an asshole"

Did I read this right?

Re: Heresy

#680
The thing that makes x-ism x-ism is not truthiness (or the lack thereof), but intent and omission and what it implies. The thing that is explicitly being said is always accompanied by a lot more that is not being said and this makes all the difference.

Let's stipulate that group A has statistically more X than group B. This is the truth, measurably.

If we state this fact on public television, but omit, overlook or belittle the (also stipulated) fact, that this is due to unfair advantage Y (which then accelerates development that furthers the unfair advantage of group A) that's X-ism.

The devil is in the cherry picking and context. The outcome might not even be intended. Or it might be. The crux is: Saying "that's not what I meant" is just as easy as saying "that's what you meant" (or "that's sexist") and neither is a sign of sincerity.

Post reply on HN