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Comment by encoderer | Hacker News Reader

You’re being downvoted for poor critical thinking in this case, which led you to write a comment that doesn’t add to the conversation.

Of course the father is “heavily invested” in his son. That comes from decades of raising him, diapers, dinners, driving and him around, and probably also sharing 50% of his genes.

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It's less a lack of critical thinking and more an overabundance of cautious wording to avoid unnecessary offense.

I'm suggesting that this father may have engaged in nepotism once before, which makes me question his integrity. Not every father does that, so it's more relevant than just "of course, it's the dad".

I phrased it cautiously because I don't know the full story, but the pieces are there and I think it's worth pointing them out.

I think people are also reacting to presumption that [hiring ones son[ is a [negative] mark on integrity or honestly. Many (most?) people don't draw that as a logical conclusion.

What does `this` refer to in your comment? If "hiring his son," I don't think anybody is indicating that it is a mark of integrity or honesty.

Thanks, I edited to clear that up. Yes, I meant hiring his son. I think loliander was explicitly claiming that it impacts their honesty and credibility.

>I'm suggesting that this father may have engaged in nepotism once before, which makes me question his integrity.

Oh, then I misunderstood that too, yes. I read "mark of integrity" as being a strictly positive thing. Your edit looks good though.

Helping your own son in life is not nepotism, nor does it indicate a possible lack of integrity.

It's absolutely a mistake and a lack of critical thinking to believe that any given father would go out of his way and put his own reputation at risk for his son. Some would. I don't know if it's even a majority. But plenty of fathers would not, even if they're present in their son's life.

Edited for clarity.

Not in western culture.

Sure, there are no absolutes, but as a rule you can count on parents being partial to their children. It’s definitely a majority — not even close.

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