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Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

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Re: Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

#101

Post by doesitwork »

RageKit wrote: post #100
doesitwork wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of people find it comforting. Internet forums admittedly attract bullies in the form of trolls, astroturfers and people who are just plain mean. I agree in principle with a moderation system, but to have a secret moderation system, with no transparency and no recourse is susceptible to corruption and abuse, like any secret system is. At any rate, those who find it comforting that 'big brother' is keepin…

You could think it might be different in a community promoting startups and out of the box thinking ...

I don't think the HN community ever intended to promote out-of-the-box thinking. When I read Paul Graham's essays (and I've read most of them), I get the sense that HN is an attempt to create a community of 'bright lights' i.e. smart people, and provide a supportive environment of other 'smart people' without all the dog-eat-dog, macho,take-no-prisoners, slash and burn nonsense that makes up a good deal of human behavior.

And that's a fine and noble pursuit, however, the market place is not delicate academic utopia, and so one has to wonder how these very bright, but often impractical people, whose genius has been nurtured, pampered and flattered are going to deal with the realities of the market place and the end consumers of their 'product'.

Enter the Y-combinator business model, where for a mere 51% of your company, the harsh realities of business will be taken care of by our team of take-no-prisoners business warriors, leaving you, delicate genius, to be nurtured and cultivated to your fullest potential.

And again, I have no problem with that, I just have a problem with undemocratic secret societies that wield power from the shadows. They are prone to corruption and calcification.

Re: Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

#102

Post by doesitwork »

RageKit wrote: post #92
doesitwork wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had 3 accounts hell banned. Each time was slightly mysterious to me, but let me relate the context and maybe someone can enlighten me. - The first ban was after I posted a comment that suggested that some venture capitalists that fund start ups may be exploiting young naive technologists. My guess was that saying anything bad about VCs or the startup culture merits a ban. - The second ban was after a post wher…

Hum, i'd like to know more about all these bans. Is the ban system automatic ? Or did someone (admin/moderator) actually banned you on purpose ?

I went back and found the post where the person informed me what was happening: " Something caused your account to autokill your messages, so no one can reply to you anymore, and no one will see your posts if they don't have showdead on.

I'm replying here because it's the only place I can contact you. And I don't see any spam in your account."

I went through all of my messages and can only find one post with 0 points, and several with 9 points, the account was karma positive. No spam, no abuse. It just got killed with no reason and no explanation.

Re: Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

#103

Post by politician »

RageKit wrote: post #91
politician wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This person's username is green, their comment is graying, and they are the only green name on the thread. RageKit has simply asked a question asking for clarification. Given this post is already a meta discussion, what factors influenced the downvote? From what I see, it could be that the general nature of the comment is tangential to the tack that the general nature of all of the other comments took, that the user…

I've used this sentence construction because english isn't my first language and it was the easiest/fastest way to say what i wanted to say. The downvote system is automatic ? I thought user could downvote each other threads I'm still asking for clarification on why games are compared to crack. I'm a gamedesigner you see, and i went a little bit crossed-eyed on this sentence. Edit : i don't see my comment grayed.

World of Warcraft is widely considered to be a highly refined Skinner box. If you're unfamiliar with the experiment, I strongly recommend that you look it up on Wikipedia and then google "wow detox". Also, you may want to research Asian governments' restrictions on XP/hour.

I'm sure you'll come to the right conclusions.

Re: Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

#104

Post by RageKit »

politician wrote: post #103
RageKit wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used this sentence construction because english isn't my first language and it was the easiest/fastest way to say what i wanted to say. The downvote system is automatic ? I thought user could downvote each other threads I'm still asking for clarification on why games are compared to crack. I'm a gamedesigner you see, and i went a little bit crossed-eyed on this sentence. Edit : i don't see my comment grayed.

World of Warcraft is widely considered to be a highly refined Skinner box. If you're unfamiliar with the experiment, I strongly recommend that you look it up on Wikipedia and then google "wow detox". Also, you may want to research Asian governments' restrictions on XP/hour. I'm sure you'll come to the right conclusions.

Yes, i'm aware of all this, but internet can also be considered like that, and also, many entertainment. And wow is just a game among many, i don't quite agree with this generalization. You can't judge a medium for what is done with it, but for what you CAN do with it.

Edit : Besides, i don't really like wow :)

Re: Ask PG: Any chance of an update on "What I've learned from Hacker News"?

#105

Post by breckinloggins »

politician wrote: post #81
breckinloggins wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compromise: how about showing points on comments but only after you yourself have accumulated a significant number of points?

Up-voted with a challenge: of what value is seeing comment points except stroking your own ego when your or your friends or people-you-always-agree-with comments' are voted up?

Of none whatsoever; but ego can be a great motivator.

The problem isn't being motivated by ego, it's being motivated by ego before you've proven to others that you can handle the responsibility. :)

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