The 5% Rule • Hacker News Board

Re: The 5% Rule

#11

Post by ronyeh » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

flashgordon wrote: post #7

I wonder if you turn this around, could every body have a tendency to be nasty 5% of the time?

I think it's possible. I feel like even the most normal people can have an off day when they just want to be assholes to people for whatever reason. (I've personally done this, and later regretted.) So maybe the sales folks or bartenders are seeing those people on their off days.

Re: The 5% Rule

#12

Post by frellus » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 6:59 PM UTC

I've found that a lot of people in our industry (higher than 5%, probably much higher the smarter they are) have BPD or are on the spectrum which causes anger issues when things don't fit the pattern or outcome they're expecting.

I'm not saying that to disparage these people, but I've learned to be careful in how I interact with certain people, especially as that top tier of brilliant engineer are the ones I want to learn from and respect, technically. They literally don't know they're being awful, but in realizing the deficits here -- even they do not -- it helps in not dismissing certain people or just throwing them into the 'crappy' bucket.

Re: The 5% Rule

#13

Post by frellus » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:01 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #10

It's perhaps worth noting that in excess of 5% of the populace have one form of mental disability or another. ADHD alone is estimated to be a disorder present in 5% of the adult population (2% are currently diagnosed; the 5% is based off childhood diagnosis rates and the fact it usually doesn't go away when becoming an adult). And while those with ADHD are unlikely to populate the OP's 5%, those with pathological nar…

Spot on. It's a shame that we haven't prioritized (and de-stigmatized) mental health, especially at a young age, so horrible children don't grow up to be horrible ego-centric adults.

Re: The 5% Rule

#14

Post by the-anarchist » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:03 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: The 5% Rule

#15

Post by someweirdperson » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:06 PM UTC

ajaimk wrote: post #3

Only 5%? That gives me hope for humanity.

Depends on how much those 5% procreate compared to others.

Re: The 5% Rule

#16

Post by plugin-baby » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:18 PM UTC

> As an example: one time a lady threw a huge fit about a 2-3 inch smooth brown hair being in her meal when her server was a blond girl and the entire kitchen staff were 35+ year-old Mexicans/ African Americans with completely shaved heads. Now I'm not saying this woman brought the hair into the restaurant and planted it in her meal... but I know for a fact it couldn't have been from any of our staff in the restaurant, so you can make your own decision.

Check the author’s photo!

Re: The 5% Rule

#17

Post by shahbaby » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

Always wished I had a name for this. There is a certain "type" of person that thrives on being mean spirited.

Re: The 5% Rule

#18

Post by eCa » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:23 PM UTC

ajaimk wrote: post #3

Only 5%? That gives me hope for humanity.

> That gives me hope for humanity.

As long as there are less than nineteen people in the pool...

Re: The 5% Rule

#19

Post by PuppyTailWags » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:24 PM UTC

frellus wrote: post #13

falcolas wrote: post #10

It's perhaps worth noting that in excess of 5% of the populace have one form of mental disability or another. ADHD alone is estimated to be a disorder present in 5% of the adult population (2% are currently diagnosed; the 5% is based off childhood diagnosis rates and the fact it usually doesn't go away when becoming an adult). And while those with ADHD are unlikely to populate the OP's 5%, those with pathological nar…

Spot on. It's a shame that we haven't prioritized (and de-stigmatized) mental health, especially at a young age, so horrible children don't grow up to be horrible ego-centric adults.

This probably also raises if you incorporate people who were traumatized as children. Someone having a trauma response can definitely look like horrible ego-centric behavior, when actually they're having an internal meltdown where they're emotionally re-experiencing their trauma with no coping mechanisms because we basically never teach adults to recognize when this is happening.

A lot of hyper-toxic fiddly freakouts over small things actually turn out to be deeply rooted in some sort of horrible trauma.

Re: The 5% Rule

#20

Post by ipaddr » Sat, Dec 31, 2022, 7:24 PM UTC

plugin-baby wrote: post #16

> As an example: one time a lady threw a huge fit about a 2-3 inch smooth brown hair being in her meal when her server was a blond girl and the entire kitchen staff were 35+ year-old Mexicans/ African Americans with completely shaved heads. Now I'm not saying this woman brought the hair into the restaurant and planted it in her meal... but I know for a fact it couldn't have been from any of our staff in the restauran…

It could easily be from another customer. Smoking guns are rare.