A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
1–10 of 61 posts
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#2Reposts are fine after a year or so (this is in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html) and it's good to have the classics reappear from time to time as the newer cohorts of users don't know about them yet.
Related past threads... others?
Shirky.com is gone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31038660 - April 2022 (143 comments, including from clay_shirky - perhaps he'll show up in this one too!)
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy (2003) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27706413 - July 2021 (61 comments)
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy (2003) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23723205 - July 2020 (14 comments)
LambdaMOO takes a new direction (1992) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22680965 - March 2020 (29 comments)
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14634437 - June 2017 (1 comment)
The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat (1990) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8255850 - Sept 2014 (10 comments)
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4059338 - June 2012 (2 comments)
Shirky: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3003574 - Sept 2011 (15 comments)
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3003547 - Sept 2011 (8 comments)
Ask YC: forums still a viable format (group-enemy problem)? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=944662 - Nov 2009 (6 comments)
Clay Shirky: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - Social Software Design - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=460624 - Feb 2009 (13 comments)
A group is its own worst enemy... - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=122189 - Feb 2008 (1 comment)
Shirky: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24992 - May 2007 (1 comment)
A Group is its Own Worst Enemy - Social Software Design - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7354 - March 2007 (3 comments)
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#3[deleted]
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#4I saw the title and Lit up.
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#5I saw the title and Lit up.
[deleted]
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#6Reposts are fine after a year or so (this is in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html ) and it's good to have the classics reappear from time to time as the newer cohorts of users don't know about them yet. Related past threads... others? Shirky.com is gone - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31038660 - April 2022 (143 comments, including from clay_shirky - perhaps he'll show up in this one too!) A Gr…
For those familiar, today was the day after reading this essay so many times, I discovered Clay wrote books, and I ordered some.
Perennial links might make a great addition to the HN Lists page for readers new and old. I’d love to see what else I have missed out on.
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#7Possibly (non) related - Wilfred Bion's work on group dynamics.
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#8Thanks, Dan. This is a classic (as was almost everything Clay Shirky wrote).
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#9> If you were in a bookstore and you said, “I’m done,” you’d walk out. If
you were in a coffee shop and said, “This is boring,” you’d walk out.
> You’re sitting at a party, and you decide, “I don’t like this; I don’t want to be here.” And then you don’t leave.
Wait.. what?? Why would someone stick around at a party they don't like? Is this really what normally happens?
Re: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy [pdf] (2005)
#10Chat gpt et al seem to have changed the game. We dont need to get human groups to work better, if the output of a group can be outperformed by an algo.