I've been to Longyearbyen and besides a trip to the seed vault, drinking, worrying about the polar bears, thinking the obnoxiously cute Svalbard reindeer are polar bears, getting to Pyramiden, and kicking ice into the bay, there is very little to do. Definitely the closest thing you can get to living in an output on an alien planet that I know about (on this planet, anyways).
The World’s Northernmost Town
11–20 of 34 posts
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I considered that, but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places, especially in publications like SciAm and NatGeo, so I think we can safely take it as presupposed. It's not part of the diff: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... .
> but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places It's not a cliché when it's true. I lived in the Yukon for 4 years, and the old timers there tell stories of an entirely different climate. 100F days in Alaska and Yukon are a heck of a thing!
Certainly a cliché can be true. Repeating true things doesn't mean you're not repeating them.
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#13Woah, 4 degrees Celsius temperature rise since 1970. 7 degrees warmer in winter. That's a lot, no wonder it's changing.
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#14Should really include the full title: “The World’s Northernmost Town Is Changing Dramatically”
I considered that, but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places, especially in publications like SciAm and NatGeo, so I think we can safely take it as presupposed. It's not part of the diff: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... .
I was about to respond with something like "please don't edit titles" or something of the sort when I realized to whom I was responding.
Seems like a weird position; it's repeated so much because it's a massive problem that needs all of the attention it can get. I don't see why "repeating" anything is a reason to edit titles.
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#15Season 2 of the Extremities podcast [1] talks in some detail about this in 6 episodes.
I absolutely love the presentation, and it gets delightfully better with each season. Strong recommend!
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places It's not a cliché when it's true. I lived in the Yukon for 4 years, and the old timers there tell stories of an entirely different climate. 100F days in Alaska and Yukon are a heck of a thing!
Certainly a cliché can be true. Repeating true things doesn't mean you're not repeating them.
And in the case of severe climate change it's imperative that we DO repeat it. Forever if necessary.
Next you're going to say that telling people to wear masks in a pandemic is cliché, or that professionals should stop telling companies to focus on cybersecurity, because that's a cliché. Repeating things that are true and extremely important is critical. You can't just hand wave it away with "it's a cliché so it's not important".
You need to be more careful what you editorialize to suit your own beliefs. The author who wrote the article chose the headline they did for a reason, and you're changing it to what you want and taking away the entire purpose of the linked article.
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I considered that, but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places, especially in publications like SciAm and NatGeo, so I think we can safely take it as presupposed. It's not part of the diff: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... .
I was about to respond with something like "please don't edit titles" or something of the sort when I realized to whom I was responding. Seems like a weird position; it's repeated so much because it's a massive problem that needs all of the attention it can get. I don't see why "repeating" anything is a reason to edit titles.
It doesn't matter who you are replying to - if they're doing something wrong it's very important they are told as much, especially when that person is in an immense position of power.
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#18Some pretty interesting past HN comments at https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... .
Funny to see how many comments come up warning "You need a snowmobile and good rifle skills to do anything useful and be safe from the polar bears." From what I can gather, there's nothing out of the ordinary with that, because it's remote and there really are polar bears roaming around everywhere. There's something very cartoonish and charming about that. I've liked the little time I've spent in the Arctic Circle so…
Hello from Phoenix, AZ! Could you describe some of these surreal experiences?
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#19Should really include the full title: “The World’s Northernmost Town Is Changing Dramatically”
I considered that, but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places, especially in publications like SciAm and NatGeo, so I think we can safely take it as presupposed. It's not part of the diff: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... .
All the content in the article is about how it this northern place is changing. If the contention is that the title is cliché for noting that things are changing, then the article is cliché for all the same reasons. So wouldn't we want a post title that reflects that (and also matches the article's title) so that readers can judge for themselves whether they want to click?
This is about accurate labeling. If we want cliché articles to have less prominence on this site, it is a matter of moderation, not editing.
[Edited because I got a little off-topic.]
Re: The World’s Northernmost Town
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I considered that, but actually that's the cliché angle of nearly every story about northern places, especially in publications like SciAm and NatGeo, so I think we can safely take it as presupposed. It's not part of the diff: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... .
All the content in the article is about how it this northern place is changing. If the contention is that the title is cliché for noting that things are changing, then the article is cliché for all the same reasons. So wouldn't we want a post title that reflects that (and also matches the article's title) so that readers can judge for themselves whether they want to click? This is about accurate labeling. If we want…
I expect it is bad form to reply to yourself but I've changed my opinion and no longer object to the post title. I think this reply better reflects that than a mere edit...
Not to put words into anyone's mouth but if I imagine what dang or someone else with a similar position might think in response to my post above:
The goal with the title of a post isn't only to accurately convey what the linked content is, but also why it is interesting and belongs on Hacker News and do both of those concisely. And while both the title and content of the article might wander into cliché, framing everything in the context of change, some things that are just plain interesting are included and those are the main reason for it being posted here. I think it is easier for me to recognize that when the post title adds to or modifies the original, pointing at what makes it interesting rather than removing something. But I can see how in this case removing from the article title achieves the same goal so it seems in keeping with the goals of this site.
Oh, and finally I misunderstood the comment about "not part of the diff". I thought dang was pointing at a history of edits to the post title showing he merely chose not to alter the original post title which already differed from the article. I should have followed the link which I appreciate. Though it also makes me concerned about how we can fight the novelty bias it introduces which I think our society and the tech industry in particular suffers from.