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Comment by 0x0nyandesu | Hacker News Reader

Why are people on HN so obsessed with this concept? I've always found these communities require a lose of freedom to fully integrate and typically anything "other" in these communities is quickly expelled because the community could not function otherwise.

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> Why are people on HN so obsessed with this concept?

... what?

54 upvotes. I often see posts with a 1000 upvotes. I don't see a lot of stories about communal living. "Obsessed" might not be the right word here.

It's almost the complete opposite of the average programmer's lifestyle. You work on something close and concrete, without the usual social structure nor the pressure to monetise.

It's definitely not for me, but I can see why it would attract the curosity of people on the opposite patch of grass.

We like hackers and free thinkers. Communities like these are hacking modern society. Even if they don't work or aren't appealing to me, they're all interesting experiments that can teach us something about societies, group dynamics, governments, property rights, etc.

> Why are people on HN so obsessed with this concept?

I think HN users have a strong sense of curiosity. Some may aspire to live in these communities, others are just curious to hear their story. It's the first time I have seen a topic like this on HN.

Should leaf blowers be banned? Freedom is important but if the result is miserable living you want to escape then perhaps a some kind of rules are viable alternative. Live alone free or join community with rules.

I like the idea of eco village but these projects are often ran by religious cults, I would prefer atheistic and science friendly eco village.

I just mean that typically these communities require you to do some form of manual labor to "take care of" the housing or making food. Nevermind that you might be able to do the same thing on your own land in your own time and come away doing less work on average then if you're forceably conscripted to do these tasks for the community. It's not at all about what type of technology you'd use to do the task but rather having to do it at all.

Gas blowers should be banned -- too much pollution for the little value they bring to society.

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