however you'd agree that calling people names, injecting malice is not ok. a comment like this, would add value to the argument, as i'd happily go ahead and say "i hear what you say, however ..." just like i did here.
but if you call me retarded, my idea stupid, there's no room left neither for me nor anybody else to take it any further. (thanks for kudos btw :))
You see, sometimes debates can get a little heated. I'm sure you've experienced such debates yourself. Are you also talking about these debates, when people say something is 'stupid' but are still capable of having a rational discussion, or are you mostly annoyed by plain old hating?
The reason I'm asking is that I'm relatively new to HN, and thus can't really comment on any changes. However, I also think that in the time I've been here, I've seen some hatin', but definitely not a lot of it. Again, this could simply be because I'm used to communities where this is much more common, and haven't been able to see changes in HN itself.
- if paul graham says it's stupid it's different than somebody who calls everything stupid.
- calling the owner of the idea stupid.
- plain old hating.
- saying 'stupid' can also be a part of the debate, that's natural.
this is a hard problem to solve, that's why i brought it up. there is definitely not an easy way of saying this is right or wrong, but if community sets its tone, i think participants will try to be a part of that commonality.
and hopfully HN stays 'objective' and within 'reason' with polite, kind, constructive comments. when there are no rules, haters win.