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Comment by mtinkerhess | Hacker News Reader

Great story. Can someone explain why this belongs on HN?

I think because we do a lot of "sky is falling", "everyone in charge is hopelessly clueless" etc. around here, sometimes we just need some good news about things going right once in a while. Even if its a bit off topic.

Is this the only location where you receive all of your information about the world?

This site is for technical and business discussion. There are other sites serving chicken soup for your soul.

This site is for technical and business discussion.

Where did you get that from? This site is for things that are interesting. This story is so unusual that it's interesting.

Meta subthreads are not interesting.

I would have thought the word "Hacker" in the title would give away the fact that yes, it is in fact a site for technical discussions.

Read the FAQ. HN is specifically not just a place for technical/business discussion.

The guidelines say otherwise.

Well I stand corrected then. Continue on with your heart string party.

This site may be for "technical and business" discussion, but ultimately, it comes down to popular opinion, I for one think the story was great but there seems to be a fairly even split going on here, that is, half of us think it's heart warming, and the other half think that it's heart warming and irrelevant.

There is no simple answer here, it's irrelevant, to the point where all you overzealous stack overflow members would vote to have it removed, but on the other hand, I'm glad it's here, sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our little bubble that we forgot that things happen outside of it.

Consider the Aaron Swartz debacle, that flooded HN for weeks, some days the top posts were filled with it, but they were, for the large part, noise against a background, like how someone met him in a subway one time (real example, but no link, so consider it allegory for my plot, if you will), but still we kept it here, because his case both wrenched our hearts and made us angry and want to change something, these stories are what reminds us of how good (and often stupid) humans can be - I think this falls squarely within that realm, irrelevant noise, but enthralling and well worth featuring none the less.

Very well. Given the recent and tragic case of one Aaron Swartz, are we to conclude that the justice system is irredeemably corrupt and cruel, forever serving the most special of special interests, devoid of all humanity? Why no, here's a counterpoint.

Because some stories transcend classification and we have hearts as well as heads.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that you shouldn't read this story. I wouldn't expect a story about the latest release of Twitter Bootstrap to show up in the Wall Street Journal, though, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that the Sports section front page doesn't include stories about a recent fire, heroic as the firefighters might be.

It's strange to me that you are comparing HN to traditional media. Mostly* the editors of Hacker News are readers. The readers choose what they want to read. The readers have spoken. It's too bad you disagree with the people who voted it up, but there's no point in quarreling with the format of HN itself.

* there's quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that moderators killfile individual articles, and we all know certain sites are fully blocked

I feel the article has no business here as well, but as it is this format is fairly democratic and majority rules. If a mod were to kill it many would be upset and claim overreach, especially since it's popular. Knowing that if it's both irrelevant AND unpopular it will get downvoted to oblivion is about as good as it gets. People will always have their gripes, have to compromise somewhere

I don't disagree with you. Please look at what I was replying to.

Saying, "because it's a good story," doesn't address the question that this thread started with.

And the format of HN is very, very clear. Don't try to pretend that it is meant to be one's sole source of news.

You beat me to it.

Because, as of this writing, 54 members of HN think it does?

At our best, we as the hacking + doing and building community are both inextricably part of and trying to change society.

This story manages to cut across a swath of different social issues: race, gender (I falsely assumed that it was a woman writing when the first instance of 'husband' was mentioned) gay marriage, the extraordinary power given to the family court system and even the urban versus rural divide.

I don't think this article is going to kick off a bunch of startups that are "like Instragram but for abandoned babies in a subway", but I do think we are in a unique position to potentially effect the lives of millions of people with the output of our work and being more mindful of stories in the larger society can only help that.

They used eMail to get back in touch with the judge to get married. eMail is way technological.

So by that logic we should start linking to every story about celebrities embarrassing themselves on Twitter.

Because it's a good example of how ready some people are for disruption. What seems disrupting in a negative way to some people can make others' lives simpler. Removing the obstacles to gay marriage (or legalizing, but that sort of implies that it wasn't already a constitutional right) is one such case.

It doesn't belong on HN. But I read it, and... well... I just could not help upvoting it. Sometimes a judge can abuse her powers, and we hear those stories from time to time. This time a judge used her powers to transform the world in a wonderful way.

This is a perfect example of a well-played pivot.

Cause feel good fluff helps the masses avoid their fears and self doubt/loathing/etc. HN stories are selected by the masses (or some increasing LCD subset of same).

Would you have stumbled on it if it weren't? I know I wouldn't have.

The internet can be too focused sometimes and we lose out on a lot of serendipity as a result.

A friend of mine, whom I know does not read HN, linked to this on Facebook before I saw it here. I would be willing to bet that most HN readers who have Facebook accounts will see it pop up in their news feed soon, if they haven't already.

I think this story resonates with the HN community because it hinges on a very large leap of faith. The same kind of bold, against all the odds move that starting your own business takes.

It's encouraging to read such actions, even if in this case it's not a technical or business move, can end successfully and happily.

While I agree with this sentiment... I also enjoyed and upvoted the article. :)

This might be one of those "just let go and either ignore or enjoy it" things. People complain a lot about non-tech/business articles on HN, but they're not going away... and really, does it matter?

I can't think of a better parable for opportunity than this story.

Poe's law... can't tell if this is sarcastic or not

Not sarcastic. The story has some key elements:

1. Right place at the right time (found abandoned baby in subway).

2. Unexpected (wasn't 'in the market' for a baby or considering purchasing/obtaining one in the near future)

3. It's who you know (in person, the judge offered the option to adopt)

4. Narrow window of time for decision making (had to commit to a yes or no at moment of offer or it would become less likely)

5. Total commitment, against all odds (sceptical partner, unreliable system, health of infant unknown, same-sex parenting unorthodox and not universally supported, etc.)

6. Happy ending (stories of wasted opportunities are a dime a dozen and impossible to substantiate, "What if...?")

I would think any startup could easily relate to these aspects of the story. That's why I think it works so well as a parable.

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