Calling the NSA: "I accidentally deleted an e-mail, can you help me recover it?" • Hacker News Board

Re: Calling the NSA: "I accidentally deleted an e-mail, can you help me recover it?"

#101

Post by chrischen » Sun, Sep 01, 2013, 6:12 AM UTC

smtddr wrote: post #58

rdl wrote: post #51

I was kind of surprised by the operator saying "Are you the NSA?" "uh huh" rather than something more professional like "Yes sir, this is NSA." And then even more surprised that the operator was actually giving him helpful advice ("you should probably contact your email provider.") That was more helpful than most actual tech support employees I've interacted with, let alone PBX operators. And, being a dick to low-lev…

>rdl said: >I like gay people a lot Sure you do, just like how Donald Trump said "I have a great relationship with the blacks"[1] 1. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/14/trump-says-h...

There is in fact a subtle difference between

"I have a great relationship with the blacks"

and "I like gay people a lot"

The difference is that Trump said "the blacks" whereas rdl said "gay people."

There is nothing inherently wrong with the statement "I have great relationships with black people," had Trump said that, and this is because it could be a factual statement. If Trump had 10 black friends, and he had a great relationship with 9/10 of them, then Trump could legitimately state that fact in the form of that sentence. Or who knows, maybe Trump has an ebony fetish that predisposes him to great relationships with the majority of black people he meets.

However, because he said "I have a great relationship with the blacks," Trump is stating that he treats black people as a single entity. He dehumanizes black people, because relationships aren't formed with "a people." They are formed with "a person." Forming many relationships with manual people qualifies you to make the statement "I have great relationships (plural) with blacks (plural)," which is perfectly legitimate. Forming a single relationship with many people is unnatural, so he is doing something wrong there.

The OP's statement is basically the same as the last example I gave ("I have great relationships with black people"). He was simply stating a fact of his overall (generalized, but subjective) opinion of his many experiences with many different gay people. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

EDIT: To whomever downvoted me: feel free to let me know how what I said was wrong

Re: Calling the NSA: "I accidentally deleted an e-mail, can you help me recover it?"

#102

Post by chrischen » Sun, Sep 01, 2013, 6:20 AM UTC

anu_gupta wrote: post #92

rdl wrote: post #51

I was kind of surprised by the operator saying "Are you the NSA?" "uh huh" rather than something more professional like "Yes sir, this is NSA." And then even more surprised that the operator was actually giving him helpful advice ("you should probably contact your email provider.") That was more helpful than most actual tech support employees I've interacted with, let alone PBX operators. And, being a dick to low-lev…

I like white people a lot, and i'm glad most of them aren't like you.

Thought experiment: The OP's statement could be naive white-straight-male ignorance, and hint at background bigotry. But what still be just a hint, not proof. However, the OP could also be gay himself, and be able to legitimately say he likes gay people a lot (and prob not in the way a straight man likes another man).

Would you still say what you just said if the latter is true?

Re: Calling the NSA: "I accidentally deleted an e-mail, can you help me recover it?"

#103

Post by chrischen » Sun, Sep 01, 2013, 6:32 AM UTC

leokun wrote: post #83

rdl wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think a member of a visible group acting badly doesn't hurt the overall image of that group? I agree individuals have every right to act as they please, but if you are the only e.g. Sikh in a Midwestern town, and no one there has ever met a Sikh, and you are a good person, people will generalize and believe Sikhs are good people. (This is why I as a white American in the Middle East would tip really wel…

There is something very important that you do not understand about people. I don't know why some people can't understand this easily. Maybe someday you'll have that moment when it clicks, and when you do, I think you may find yourself with lots of regret for your past ignorance. In the meantime maybe learn to see things from other people's perspectives instead of thinking what individuals who are different from you s…

Did you not look at the Chik-fil-a video?

Do you think that guy looked at things from the drive-through employee's perspective? Perhaps it was the only paying job she could get...