40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived • Hacker News Board

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#11

Post by blinkingled » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 8:55 PM UTC

pinaceae wrote: post #10

interesting as this again was done by a deeply disturbed individual, a paranoid schizophrenic. society since then has not gotten better at identifying threats coming from sick people. down to sandy hook, the completely insane individual is left alone until he/she commits an atrocity.

>society since then has not gotten better at identifying threats

The other end of it is society starting to aggressively label and segregate people as "threats". Everyone would have to fit this set of behavior somebody else defined or else they get labeled as threats.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#12

Post by eshvk » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:02 PM UTC

d0vs wrote: post #4

What does this have to do with Hacker News?

First off, to the person who submitted this article, thank you!

Next. Sometimes people work in technology are interested in how the world works, about beautiful things, about life and how it interacts with the rest of the world. Yes, sometimes we also have this feeling that things that strike and inspire us and stimulate our intellect might be of interest to others. I come here not for the technical articles. I work in this field and those will inevitably float through to me. I come here because I wish to read and savor the thoughts of incredibly amazing people. It is discourteous to decide explicitly how this community will evolve. If you or anyone really feels that there is no place here for humanity, art and articles on culture, you can very well flag the article. If it looks like that is happening enough. Those of us who enjoy such things will find another home to continue this journey.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#13

Post by praptak » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:11 PM UTC

AlexMuir wrote: post #2

A brilliant story, well written. There have been a few horrific stories of cultural backwards attacking women with acid in the UK press. It's made me far more cautious when handling automotive batteries. I won't move a car battery ever again without wearing safety goggles.

Acids are dangerous indeed. In case of hydrochloric acid you don't even need to splash yourself to get hurt. The fumes are enough to damage your eyes or respiratory tract - gaseous hydrogen chloride dissolves in the moisture covering eyes and mucous membranes, producing hydrochloric acid.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#14

Post by gnosis » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:12 PM UTC

dschobel wrote: post #9

d0vs wrote: post #4

What does this have to do with Hacker News?

How hard would it be for HN to filter posts like this? There are only so many permutations of "Why is this here? / What does this have to do with HN?" possible...

To my knowledge, HN hasn't added any new features in years. I think the people who run this site are pretty happy with it the way it is and don't want to change it, despite many suggestions for improvements. So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to do anything about it.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#15

Post by pg » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:14 PM UTC

gnosis wrote: post #14

dschobel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How hard would it be for HN to filter posts like this? There are only so many permutations of "Why is this here? / What does this have to do with HN?" possible...

To my knowledge, HN hasn't added any new features in years. I think the people who run this site are pretty happy with it the way it is and don't want to change it, despite many suggestions for improvements. So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to do anything about it.

Actually I added one about an hour ago.

This is an interesting suggestion but it would not be on our top 100 things to fix.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#16

Post by seatac » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:19 PM UTC

no offense but he looks like a certain Star Trek character I forget his name.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#17

Post by k-mcgrady » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:21 PM UTC

pinaceae wrote: post #10

interesting as this again was done by a deeply disturbed individual, a paranoid schizophrenic. society since then has not gotten better at identifying threats coming from sick people. down to sandy hook, the completely insane individual is left alone until he/she commits an atrocity.

I have no specific evidence but I believe society has gotten better and identifying mental health issues and treating them.

>> "down to sandy hook, the completely insane individual is left alone until he/she commits an atrocity"

It's up to family and friends to help identify problems someone they know might be having and it's up to the government to provide adequate support and facilities to treat ill people. People being left alone with their problems until they crack is not just due to people not identifying the problems, it's due to inadequate care options.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#18

Post by k-mcgrady » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:24 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #15

gnosis wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my knowledge, HN hasn't added any new features in years. I think the people who run this site are pretty happy with it the way it is and don't want to change it, despite many suggestions for improvements. So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to do anything about it.

Actually I added one about an hour ago. This is an interesting suggestion but it would not be on our top 100 things to fix.

As accounts cannot be deleted (and I understand why), I would love to see the ability to change my username to something less identifiable to me.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#19

Post by gnosis » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:25 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #15

gnosis wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To my knowledge, HN hasn't added any new features in years. I think the people who run this site are pretty happy with it the way it is and don't want to change it, despite many suggestions for improvements. So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to do anything about it.

Actually I added one about an hour ago. This is an interesting suggestion but it would not be on our top 100 things to fix.

Very glad to hear that improvements to HN are still being made. I stand corrected.

Re: 40 Years After an Acid Attack, a Life Well Lived

#20

Post by ljf » Sun, Mar 03, 2013, 9:32 PM UTC

pinaceae wrote: post #10

interesting as this again was done by a deeply disturbed individual, a paranoid schizophrenic. society since then has not gotten better at identifying threats coming from sick people. down to sandy hook, the completely insane individual is left alone until he/she commits an atrocity.

The problem is figuring out who will harm. I know paranoid schizophrenics who have lived a whole life harming no one, some taking treatment, some who manage without it.

We can't condemn these people to a life in jail, just because sometimes bad people do bad things. I agree people should talk about their concerns, and talk with and help people that seem to be going off the rails. But as with everything in human life, there are a million shades of grey.