Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

news.ycombinator.com

21–30 of 159 posts

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#21
post #6

Do you honestly believe we've understood this surveillance complex enough that we can keep on with our lives? Why accept that "PRISM [won't go] away" or that "Snowden's fate is grim"? Honestly? Is this cause not worth fighting for anymore?

do people still post about Bradley Manning?

how about wikileaks? Julian Assange?

all those cables?

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#22
post #6

Do you honestly believe we've understood this surveillance complex enough that we can keep on with our lives? Why accept that "PRISM [won't go] away" or that "Snowden's fate is grim"? Honestly? Is this cause not worth fighting for anymore?

Most of these stories themselves are at best tangentially related to the larger issue.

Upvoting them or reading a story about Edward Snowden's favorite brand of chicken pot pie is not doing anything to fight for civil liberties, though it will give views to garbage web sites like Business Insider and its ilk.

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#25
post #18

I agree not only with regards to Edward Snowden but generally worthless articles about people who happen to be in the tech news lately. E.g. "Kim Dotcom braids his hair!", "Julian Assange orders Cherry Coke instead of regular!", "Elon Musk buys three rare white leopards!" It's tedious. Unfortunately what makes good click bait also makes good upvote bait and most people will just fall for it unthinkingly. And looking…

Stop being a douche with crap examples of posts that would never be on Hacker News; let others have their own opinions. Click and upvote the links you find interesting?

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#26
I actually came to HN every day in the past two weeks just because I want to read more about the Snowden affaire. From the technological, political, dramaturgical points of view this is one of the most interesting stories a hacker could think of.

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#27
post #25
post #18

I agree not only with regards to Edward Snowden but generally worthless articles about people who happen to be in the tech news lately. E.g. "Kim Dotcom braids his hair!", "Julian Assange orders Cherry Coke instead of regular!", "Elon Musk buys three rare white leopards!" It's tedious. Unfortunately what makes good click bait also makes good upvote bait and most people will just fall for it unthinkingly. And looking…

Stop being a douche with crap examples of posts that would never be on Hacker News; let others have their own opinions. Click and upvote the links you find interesting?

Right because I meant those as serious examples of what has appeared here and not humorous, satirical exaggerations meant to highlight the irrelevance of the actual articles which get posted by extreme comparison.

Also, calling me a douche for expressing an opinion shows that you are clearly a very intelligent and thoughtful person so I am very interested in your well considered opinions on important matters. I'm sure you contribute a lot to not only this community but the world as a whole with that keenly honed intellect of yours.

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#28
Please post more about Snowden, PRISM, NSA, GCHQ, and all the rest. I will upvote every one of them.

For those who think that "we all know essentially how this will end", think about what the world would look like if every major change had been met with this kind of pitiful attitude. Every revolution, every change for the better, has come out of people rejecting that sentiment.

It's not too late to turn away from the abyss and go back towards sanity and a better future.

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#29
post #6

Do you honestly believe we've understood this surveillance complex enough that we can keep on with our lives? Why accept that "PRISM [won't go] away" or that "Snowden's fate is grim"? Honestly? Is this cause not worth fighting for anymore?

The problem is that Snowden has become the story. It's no longer about PRISM or the legitimate surveillance and privacy concerns it's about him.

Re: Ask HN: Can we please slow down the stories about Edward Snowden?

#30

> But we all know essentially how this will end: Prism isn't going away and Edward Snowden's fate is grim. That's a very defeatist attitude. I'm sure that there are better arguments for upvoting or not upvoting these articles than saying "this story is not worth paying attention to because we are completely helpless, let's go back to talking about app store metrics".

Well, I frequently feel very very helpless indeed. I am not a brave person.
Post reply on HN