41–50 of 93 posts
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Why not start your comment, "Hello. I agree with your points. I'd also like to add ..."?
Hello. I agree with your points. I'd also like to add that it would quickly become meangingless if everyone started to do this.
Sorry but some negative comments are necessary and very good for society. People constantly try to peddle lies in the media and on the internet for their own benefit. The sooner those lies are shot down the better. I have been reading a lot of financial articles lately, and i have to say at least half of the financial editorials i see peddle some idea that is false and/or extremely harmful to anyone that believes it.…
This is pretty subjective, but I honestly enjoy a certain amount of negative comments. When I click a link on hacker news and end up on a project page, it’s generally all positive. You go to some new kickstarter and you don’t see “This product I want to build is alright .” You see “This new thing I’ve got is AMAZING!”. Every startup landing page tells you, at length, why it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Most g…
Again, this isn't an endorsement for pointless or mean-spirited criticism.
Sorry but some negative comments are necessary and very good for society. People constantly try to peddle lies in the media and on the internet for their own benefit. The sooner those lies are shot down the better. I have been reading a lot of financial articles lately, and i have to say at least half of the financial editorials i see peddle some idea that is false and/or extremely harmful to anyone that believes it.…
I don't really buy the theory of this all being due to the education systems of Western culture. In my 20 years of education there was very little emphasis on challenging ideas or proving them wrong. I'm almost tempted to say that there was absolutely none. But as you can see from this very message, I'm totally happy to write a knee-jerk negative reply. What I believe is really happening is that it's hard for a yes-m…
In your 20 years of education you were never asked to write an essay? Or invited to partake in a class debate about this or that thing in a piece of literature?
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I wish you kids would use "summary:" instead of "tl;dr" though kudos for putting it at the beginning rather than the end. I mean this in a friendly constructive way, and realize you may not be a kid. But while there's lots of positive innovation happening in culture and esp related to the Internet, I feel strongly that "tl;dr" is not one of them, its a step backward. It's typically placed in the worst possible locati…
I actually find tl;dr to be more immediately dismissive in tone (and therefore occasionally negative, whether it is intended to be or not). A summary implies you actually read something and are trying to boil it down.
>So next time you read something, try this: Instead of looking for the parts you can prove are false, try to find pieces you can learn from.
Who says the two are mutually exclusive? If you seek the truth of something, then as a reader you should do both, and as the writer you should welcome constructive criticism. If I were to write something that had inconsistencies, false assumptions, or driven by an agenda other than seeking the truth, no one would be doing me any favours by not pointing it out.
I suggest that the problem is not criticism, but what drives it, and that there are two different motives for criticism (although both can exist simultaneously in an individual): One is the pure search for truth. What drives this is a strong sense of wonder and curiosity at everything. The other is ego, whose trademark is that it usually ruins everything it touches and turns everything into a fight/competition instead of learning and cooperation.
The blend of ego vs. integrity behind criticism is usually evident in the ratios of information vs. demagoguery that are used.
I'd therefore change the suggestion to "next time you read something, check whether it's you ego or your curiosity speaking before you reply, and if it's more of the former, double check that you really have something to contribute before hitting 'send'".
And of course, I welcome any criticism regarding the above opinion :)
Sorry but some negative comments are necessary and very good for society. People constantly try to peddle lies in the media and on the internet for their own benefit. The sooner those lies are shot down the better. I have been reading a lot of financial articles lately, and i have to say at least half of the financial editorials i see peddle some idea that is false and/or extremely harmful to anyone that believes it.…