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Comment by logjam | Hacker News Reader

And bang, in tptacek's comment we have everything that's wrong with Hacker News comments in a nutshell.

You just decried an article without once pointing out any errors in the article, then attempted to paint any number of submissions with the same brush. Nah, the article was just shrill and the only things the site is useful for is Caesar salad recipes.

Seriously, this kind of commenting is the reason Hacker News has become known as anything but a hangout for actual hackers - you know, the folks who use little things like reason and facts and logic in discussion.

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>You just decried an article without once pointing out any errors in the article

Note that your criticism is based on the assertion that the only valid basis for rejecting a link on HN is factual error. But that is not true. There are lots of other reasons to reject a link, ranging from being off-topic to being incoherent. The simple truth is that this list is dynamic across users, dynamic in time for a single user, and will not be applied equally by all readers at all times.

And indeed, it is this dynamic, hopefully wise filter that gives HN a great deal of it's value. When that filter starts to fail in very serious ways, then it's time to start thinking about creating a new filter. (Personally, I think HN could very usefully have a kind of "alternative HN" off shoot who's focus was explicitly and exclusively technology-in-politics.)

I would argue your comment is a better example of that kind of commenting. tptacek gave us an opinion on the topic at hand. You commented solely to attack him and whine. Which one do you think does more damage to HN?

Like your comment whining and attacking him is an even better example of that kind of commenting, just like my comment here.

We could say that we just filled up useless space on this thread or we could simply call it a discussion, two individuals exchanging opinions.

I commented last! I win!

e: And don't even think of replying.

Too late. I thought of it.

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