Comment by sametmax | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sametmax | Hacker News Reader

Why do people mock hippies ?

Why do people mock geeks ?

Why do people mock iron pumpers ?

Part of it is because it reflects something you know you could be doing.

Part of it is because anything that is not on the center of the Gauss curve tingles our brain.

Part of it is because they do weird sh* and it's good sport to make fun of that.

As a veggie geek meditator that spends time in the gym, I certainly understand how goofy this stuff is. Better laugh at it.

I mean, come on...

This morning I ate spirulina, watched a Paul Stamets conf on psylo, took a Wim Hof style cold shower, stored away my vibrams five fingers and took 20 minutes of Vipassana meditation on a red dedicated cushion.

You could write a TV show episode with less material.

I have the feeling, people don't like others to have the moral higher ground.

I don't know if it's especially threatening when they think it's undeserved or if they just try to frame it as undeserved so they can keep to their morally suspicious ways.

You know when you cross a beggar on the street, and you don't give money ? Then sometime, you feel irritation toward the poor guy ?

It's the same thing. You are not a bad person for not giving, but your brain notices a problem, and you do not act on it. Whether it makes sense or not makes no difference: it makes you feel bad, and your mind associates this unpleasant sensation with the person you crossed path with at that moment. Then you react: mocking, irritation, etc.

We all do it all the time. It's not about being veggie, or giving money. The topic has no importance at all. In fact, morality has no importance at all. It's the same thing when you don't take the garbage out or have a huge pile of emails, except you got a person to blame other than yourself.

I agree with your argument.

I don't like the moral policing of any group. But there is always a choice to politely say no and go on with your live. Everyone has there own values.

I don't agree on the moral witch hunt that followed either. Take his private email, reframe it in the media. It destroys a person and I think that is very wrong.

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