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Comment by nodata | Hacker News Reader

Americans are some of the most friendly, optimistic and outgoing people in the known universe.

I'm going to get downvoted to hell, but I have to say this: I agree completely.

The reason why Americans believe that they are hating elsewhere is people transferring their strong dislike of American politics ("let's invade/interfere (with) countries and call it freedom") onto the American _people_. It's an emotional and intellectual shortcut.

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Not to be a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious. Why did you feel the need to preface your comment with "I'm going to get downvoted to hell"? I can't see a reason why this comment would get downvoted.

Edit: I see you've been downvoted. I wonder if it's BECAUSE of your preface, rather than IN SPITE of it.

Yes, "I'm going to get downvoted to hell" belongs on reddit, where people actually downvote people out of spite. I've not seen the same behavior here on HN (might just be that I haven't posted too much here). A better and more constructive preface would be "You are welcome to disagree with me here" or something like that, something that would be used in ordinary conversation.

I've seen that behavior here. But then, I have some beliefs that sorely challenge many HNers world views.

" I have some beliefs that sorely challenge many HNers world views."

Many people come to HN precisely for that.

True, but many also can't stand to have their ideas challenged.

I never, ever upvote anything that says "I'm going to get downvoted for saying this..." If you're expecting downvotes, who am I to disagree with you?

You're someone who immediately disregards the content of the post of a user who recognizes the possible controversy of a statement.

HN's downvoting system enables cowards to drown you out with impunity, without providing a rebuttal or alternative view. This is one area where Slashdot's system is so much better. (Note, one area. HN brings things to the table that Slashdot doesn't. So no, I'm not just "going to go to slashdot and leave HN" like some people just thought about saying).

When I upvoted him, he was in the negatives. So maybe it was necessary.

I sort of agree, but a lot of us really are douchebags.

Could it be that the optimism mentioned by dazzawazza and nodata is admired when it is directed inward but not when directed externally? Nobody likes it when an ignorant person tries to solve all of their problems and it just so happens that the USA has a ton of optimism and wealth.

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