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Comment by farnsworth | Hacker News Reader

It's not a research tool... you're missing the point.

You're missing my point. That information is uninteresting to me no matter what the purpose of this site is

The point isn't that it's uninteresting to you, the point is that it may very well be interesting to stalkers, bosses, insurance companies, thieves, exes, "lost" relatives, arsonists, mother stabbers, father rapers, litterbugs, jaywalkers, identity thieves, nosy neighbors, and other undesirables.

It's a thought experiment. Along the lines of YOU DOLTS, YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE PUTTING ALL THIS STUFF OUT HERE!

Yes, I understand that. The fact is that people drink and do drugs. Smart people, stupid people. That's reality.

This is a "thought experiment" that teaches cowardice, IMO

On a purely ideal level I agree with you (the fact that at any time someone has been fired from their job for expressing personal opinions on non-company time does not sit well with me..), but the reality of it is, how many of these people do you think know that their info is on this site and/or accessible to quite literally anyone in the world? Of the people that know that, how many of them do you think understand the implications of that openness?

This is why you lock down your privacy settings.

Yes, I understand the intention of that site and conventional thinking on the subject. Thank you for assisting in my description of an alternative

I've got a fantastic idea: Why don't you make a list of all the pages on the internet that don't interest you, and then tell HN about it. Then I can use that as the starting point for my list.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com