Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#51

Post by Hizonner » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 3:54 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #7

Why do you want to share your opinions on controversial topics? What do you get out of it? No one cares about your opinions on incest except to dunk on you. You're not going to revolutionize society's opinions on incest. So stop doing that. There's a whole universe of non-politics and non-religion topics out there. Go find a cool one. Maybe explore music theory and analysis, plenty of people to talk to about that. Ma…

> Why do you want to share your opinions on controversial topics? What do you get out of it? No one cares about your opinions on incest except to dunk on you. You're not going to revolutionize society's opinions on incest.

One person won't, but echo chambers definitely do solidify people's opinions. I'm old enough to have seen popular opinions on a lot of issues move during my own lifetime, and things really start to get extreme at about the point where people feel like they can't oppose the trend. That happens pretty much regardless of whether the new or old opinion was "right" or "wrong". And if the accepted opinion started out largely "right", it very often ends up getting pushed into a more extreme version that's closer to "wrong".

It's called "groupthink". It's one reason that having persistent handles isn't necessarily as good an idea as you'd think in online discussions. Which is itself an opinion close to some danger areas right now...

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#52

Post by version_five » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 3:55 PM UTC

I think it's interesting that the example you gave (despite being very outside the mainstream) didn't lead to too much side discussion and people mostly spoke to your question. While if you'd used more common example (one of any number of topics that doesn't permit dissent these days) you'd have been flagged into the stone age and had people either feign outrage or condescendingly explain why you're wrong and ignore your question. Ironically, it was a good example.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#53

Post by Hizonner » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 3:56 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #46

theelous3 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On some level this response seems sane, but the more I think about it the more insane it is. Are we seriously questioning why someone wants to share their opinions on a topic? Are we actually clueless as to what they get out of it? Is telling them they should instead spend a great deal of time following a completely unrelated pursuit our solution? "Hey, I'm having a hard time expressing myself while feeling safe from…

"A rule of etiquette -- in business, at the dinner table, at the barbershop and elsewhere -- is 'never talk about religion or politics.' These subjects are highly contentious and usually result in heated argument instead of general agreement. 'Never discuss religion or politics with those who hold opinions opposite to yours' has been cited in print since at least 1840. 'Do not discuss politics or religion in general…

You're on Hacker News saying people shouldn't talk about politics? Either you're badly lost, or you don't recognize politics even when they hit you over the head.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#54

Post by nickthegreek » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 3:57 PM UTC

alienbeast wrote: post #29

pryelluw wrote: post #5

I mean, I don’t disagree with the general point of being privacy focused as a default. Yes, that should be everyone’s approach given that we don’t openly share in real life. However, I do find it hilarious in a rather childish way that you are surprised how people react to your opinion on incest. Of all opinions, why even use that as an example? It just shows that there simply is an issue of over sharing and not bein…

OP never said anything about pedophilia, just incest between consenting adults. I guess you proved his point.

Most incest happening in the world is not done between consenting adults. It is done through rape of children. Leaving that out may be construed as a way to shift of the overton window on incest.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#55

Post by drcongo » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:01 PM UTC

squeegee_scream wrote: post #40

Most people are saying "don't share your opinion on this". That's good advice as far as it goes. But my concern is more about shifting sensibilities. What if my opinion expressed today is generally accepted, but tomorrow is generally vilified. What then? Consider the LGBTQIA+ community. Roughly ten years ago, identifying with the community was generally harmful to your reputation or whatever. Then the supreme court,…

> Roughly ten years ago, identifying with the community was generally harmful to your reputation

Really?!

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#56

Post by nickthegreek » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:04 PM UTC

romanshrompsky wrote: post #24

People focusing on OP's example are missing his point. There is an issue about opinions, in particular on the internet, where if you do not fit in the "woke" views, you're pretty much going to be bashed.

Then the OP should use a better example if they want to be taken seriously. They say they dont care about incest and then use that as the example of them being attacked. Many people who have had incest did not have it of their own free will. Those people view incest through the lens of rape. Is it unsurprising that they would defend against the idea of incest being normalized?

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#57

Post by nickthegreek » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:08 PM UTC

ClassyJacket wrote: post #35

It's not on the same topics you mentioned, but I feel the same - I don't agree with gender ideology but can't speak about it anywhere online. I definitely get how you feel about becoming a 'bad guy' if you say anything at all that falls out of line witht the (particularly leftist) hiveminds. One 'wrong' move and you're done. I feel like there need to be somewhere online that is free speech oriented but not as uncontr…

If your hot take is so bad that you can only say it in an empty room without getting dragged, do some introspection.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#58

Post by theelous3 » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:09 PM UTC

lukebitts wrote: post #44

theelous3 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On some level this response seems sane, but the more I think about it the more insane it is. Are we seriously questioning why someone wants to share their opinions on a topic? Are we actually clueless as to what they get out of it? Is telling them they should instead spend a great deal of time following a completely unrelated pursuit our solution? "Hey, I'm having a hard time expressing myself while feeling safe from…

> Are we seriously questioning why someone wants to share their opinions on a topic? Are we actually clueless as to what they get out of it? Yes, feel free to explain why that’s insane. It seems absolutely normal to keep things to yourself

There is no way this is a good faith question. As someone delivering their opinion on the internet - surely you can explain why someone would like to deliver their opinion on the internet.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#59

Post by Eisenstein » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

version_five wrote: post #52

I think it's interesting that the example you gave (despite being very outside the mainstream) didn't lead to too much side discussion and people mostly spoke to your question. While if you'd used more common example (one of any number of topics that doesn't permit dissent these days) you'd have been flagged into the stone age and had people either feign outrage or condescendingly explain why you're wrong and ignore…

Why do you assume this? I find it amusing that people 'outrage themselves' by taking something that didn't happen and use it as evidence that the thing that didn't happen would have happened, if the context were slightly different.

Maybe instead of doing that, accept that the thing you expected to happen isn't what people want to do, regardless of if you think they do.

Re: Tell HN: I'm scared of sharing my opinion online

#60

Post by Hizonner » Wed, Jan 04, 2023, 4:24 PM UTC

nickthegreek wrote: post #54

alienbeast wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP never said anything about pedophilia, just incest between consenting adults. I guess you proved his point.

Most incest happening in the world is not done between consenting adults. It is done through rape of children. Leaving that out may be construed as a way to shift of the overton window on incest.

You can, of course, point to reliable statistics on that, collected and analyzed using defensible methods. Right?

I suspect that you are wrong, and that most incest happens between same-age adolescent or young adult siblings (and even more between cousins if you count cousins). But I don't have any actual data to back that up either, and would be amazed if any worthwhile data even exist.