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Americans don't trust each other anymore

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Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#41

Post by SkyMarshal »

hendzen wrote: post #23
SkyMarshal wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because bitcoin is an algorithmic solution to exactly that problem - trust in a distributed system, casually known as the Byzantine Generals Problem, or Two Generals problem [1]. The innovators and early adopters were motivated by their understanding of the utility in finally achieving a solution to that problem in the context of digital currency (not historically possible for digital currencies till the invention of…

Just to nitpick a bit, the Two Generals problem is actually different than the Byzantine Generals Problem. 2GP deals with the (simpler) case of achieving consensus in a distributed system with unreliable communications. That is, messages can be reordered, lost or arbitrarily delayed, but end hosts are assumed to be trustworthy. BGP deals with the aforementioned scenario where nodes can be malicious as well.

Yes, good distinction. I should have linked the Byzantine Fault Tolerance page [1] since it describes that distinction better. Not sure why I went with Two Generals since I looked at both.

[1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Generals%27_Problem

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#42

Post by Amadou »

[deleted] wrote: post #37

[deleted]

The clearest finding was that the more diverse the area, the less people trusted each other.

I grew up in Hawaii, arguably one of the most racially and culturally diverse populations in the world. As an adult I've lived in 10-15 cities on the mainland and none of them had as much warmth and acceptance in the culture as Hawaii does. If I had to pick one reason for that, I'd say it is because Hawaii has less correlation between race and wealth than most places in the US. Still not completely egalitarian, but closer.

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#44

Post by bilbo0s »

GregBuchholz wrote: post #40
hacknat wrote: post #10

Americans also live in a much more diverse and accepting society than they did 40 years ago. Let's give it some time, hmmm? Articles like this make me peevish. I really dislike articles that glorify the 1950s-1990s, in anyway, without acknowledging what a strange time it was. Post-war America deserves far more criticism than it ever receives; I often think this is because boomers have a hard time criticizing the era…

Yes, it seems weirdly PC to leave the changing demographic situation out of the picture. The Extraordinary 30-Year Growth of the U.S. Hispanic Population http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/08/extra... US ethnic minorities make up 49.9 per cent of under-fives http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1...

It's strange...

because traditional minorities, ie - slave descended blacks and native americans, make up a smaller portion of the population today than they did in 1960. But the explosive growth in the non-traditional minorities MORE than makes up for the decline. Add in the fact that many of the new arrivals speak english only as a second language... and you would think some degree of mistrust would not be a surprise considering our history.

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#45

Post by brosco45 »

tokenadult wrote: post #12

I'll note for other readers of Hacker News who don't know (and thus don't trust) the domain of this submitted article that it is actually a syndicated news story from the Associated Press, and I would have to say that I think the article is well reported. (In other words, I trust the statistics behind the article, which come from the federal government's National Social Survey.) The article includes some dire warning…

http://www.dhs.gov/if-you-see-something-say-something%E2%84%...

Evil has taken over America.

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#46

Post by dwaltrip »

hacknat wrote: post #10

Americans also live in a much more diverse and accepting society than they did 40 years ago. Let's give it some time, hmmm? Articles like this make me peevish. I really dislike articles that glorify the 1950s-1990s, in anyway, without acknowledging what a strange time it was. Post-war America deserves far more criticism than it ever receives; I often think this is because boomers have a hard time criticizing the era…

Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

Yeah, because being inquisitive and asking questions is bad!

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#47

Post by notdrunkatall »

alayne wrote: post #28
huragok wrote: post #3

And who could blame them. As an outsider who didn't grow up in the U.S. but has spent the past year living here, people are generally amiable and friendly but will take advantage of you for a mile if you give an inch. Rabid consumerism, shows of status, workaholism and an overwhelming feeling of fuck you got mine seems to pervade the collective psyche because you can't really lean on others (save for a few nonconform…

You can't generalize across 300 million people based on one year of personal experiences.

Sure you can. You may not be entirely correct, but there is nothing wrong with stating an opinion based on personal experience.

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#48

Post by notdrunkatall »

Amadou wrote: post #42
[deleted] wrote: post #37

[deleted]

The clearest finding was that the more diverse the area, the less people trusted each other. I grew up in Hawaii, arguably one of the most racially and culturally diverse populations in the world. As an adult I've lived in 10-15 cities on the mainland and none of them had as much warmth and acceptance in the culture as Hawaii does. If I had to pick one reason for that, I'd say it is because Hawaii has less correlatio…

If I had to pick one reason for that, I'd say it was because Hawaii is an island. Island cultures are notoriously laid back and friendly around the world.

Re: Americans don't trust each other anymore

#50

Post by twister »

hacknat wrote: post #10

Americans also live in a much more diverse and accepting society than they did 40 years ago. Let's give it some time, hmmm? Articles like this make me peevish. I really dislike articles that glorify the 1950s-1990s, in anyway, without acknowledging what a strange time it was. Post-war America deserves far more criticism than it ever receives; I often think this is because boomers have a hard time criticizing the era…

The article is hardly glorifying the period. It's simply making an observation of the difference between the two polls. Neither the author, nor the researchers, nor the interviewee are baby boomers so I'm not sure where that criticism comes from.
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