Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–47 of 47 posts

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#41

Post by mquander »

a-priori wrote: post #25
mquander wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most of the content is insultingly inane. I don't need some single guy with no kids telling me about how Love is not eternal. It is a simple state of endorphin chemistry. It serves a single evolutionary purpose. It lasts about three years. Fathers being suspicious of their young daughters' boyfriends and dates is really just sexual jealousy. Parents care less about their children than they do about their care…

1. Just because a mental state like love has a known chemical or evolutionary basis doesn't make it any less real. 2. I say the father is concerned about his daughter's mate selection because she carries his genes. She is a proxy for his reproductive success. He wants her to choose a good mate (e.g. someone who's more likely to stick around to care for the children) so his genes are more likely to survive. 3. No comm…

1. My primary target of ridicule on this one was the apparently arbitrary cutoff of "three years."

2. I'm not a parent, but what you just described is not at all what normal people would mean when using the words "sexual jealousy."

3. I personally think it speaks to a pretty unbelievable sense of privilege; there are a hell of a lot of jobs that don't support a reasonable standard of living for a family of four on one income.

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#42

Post by trimski »

iamwil wrote: post #11
CWuestefeld wrote: post #6

They must something that teenagers can spot as true. Indeed. Many of these are sophomoric "truths" that a teenager might believe, but someone with more understanding would spot as falsehoods.

Which ones are false? The only one I vaguely reacted to was about how women are less adept at symbol manipulation. I think there might be other sides of the coins and exceptions in exceptional situations to some of these, but overall, I didn't think they were falsehoods. Perhaps I'm too easily agreeable. But defn, I didn't find them surprising.

> Biology is destiny, no matter what your dreams are. Short people will never play in the NBA no matter how hard they practice. Dumb people will never get smarter by studying. Ugly ducklings grow up into freaky-looking ducks, not swans.

You'd have to make quite a stretch to say "never" for all of these. Short people do play in the NBA: Nate Robinson, Muggsy Bogues, and Ty Lawson come to mind. Try proving that "dumbness" is determined at birth by biology. And ugly ducklings growing up into freaky-looking ducks is a generalization, not a rule. Sure, there are some features people inherit that make them beautiful, but as one grows up there is a lot one can do to even the playing field (e.g., exercise, dress better, even plastic surgery)

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#43

Post by joss82 »

83457 wrote: post #4

This topic reminds me of an ex-girlfriend who had a knack for saying what I deemed inappropriate things. I recall getting upset with her when said something like #4 (below) among others. For example driving through an apartment area I used to live at which had slipped down economically after the dot-com bubble burst she said "You know you are in a bad neighborhood when there are a lot of black people" ... talking abo…

Maybe the source of altruism is selfishness, but altruism exists anyway.

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#45

Post by a-priori »

mquander wrote: post #41
a-priori wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Just because a mental state like love has a known chemical or evolutionary basis doesn't make it any less real. 2. I say the father is concerned about his daughter's mate selection because she carries his genes. She is a proxy for his reproductive success. He wants her to choose a good mate (e.g. someone who's more likely to stick around to care for the children) so his genes are more likely to survive. 3. No comm…

1. My primary target of ridicule on this one was the apparently arbitrary cutoff of "three years." 2. I'm not a parent, but what you just described is not at all what normal people would mean when using the words "sexual jealousy." 3. I personally think it speaks to a pretty unbelievable sense of privilege; there are a hell of a lot of jobs that don't support a reasonable standard of living for a family of four on on…

Regarding #2, that's exactly my point: the father's behaviour can be explained completely without resorting to a sort of reverse Oedipus complex.

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#46

Post by philwelch »

I wonder--how much of what you can't say is necessarily all that cynical? I think there might be a lot of things you can't say which are actually positive and uplifting, but only incite outrage because they question the way most people live their lives or the restrictions they place upon themselves.

15, 18, 21, 22, 23, and maybe 27 are the only items on the list which will actually shock people, and 18 and 22 will only shock liberal people. I can think of a lot of claims that are more shocking.

Re: An actual attempt at a list of "What You Can't Say."

#47

Post by Semiapies »

"They must be something that society will punish you for saying...in any degree from social disapproval..."

Social disapproval? What a ridiculously low bar. We might be better off trying to come up with a short-list of plausible claims that don't cause a significant number of people, somewhere in one's society, to disapprove of anyone making them.

Post reply on HN