Hacker News Reader

Comment by fit2rule | Hacker News Reader

I was going to say something, but I'm too busy trying to work out how to get in the top 1% of HN right now, so ..

Step One: Be on HN a few years ago when karma scores were visible

Seriously, karma flowed like water for whatever reason back then. Most of the super high point accounts built themselves up back then, including myself.

damn... I don't even have 10 karma yet...

I was going to say something, but remember many valuable HN comments, worth more than the article they are commenting on. Often we see "I wrote this article" or "I work at that company" or "I'm building something that does similar", etc.

I avoid diluting those great comments with my one-liners.

(I am not saying this to slight the parent comment. My comment seemed related to his so I'm putting it here.)

I was honestly trying to contribute by stating the meta- nature of the subject. But to be honest, I've taken to loving my karma score, even though nobody else can see it, because it actually does tell me something about the point of view I posit.

I truly and utterly do not understand why its not sparkline'ed yet, and I'm sure there is a plugin for it, but I wish karma was a sparkline, by default, simply. Is it too much flair?

Once young I was in the top. Like winning the high score to some intellectual video game. Looking back then reflecting, that was a waste of my life.

that was a waste of my life

Maybe, but it probably taught you a little about civil discourse, rational thinking & reasoned argument, and gave you some practice typing. I know it did all those things for me :)

It may teach more about pandering to an audience. But that is super important too, sometimes.

To me, it teaches somewhere in between- how to coach your argument in a form that will make it through people's mental firewalls. Sometimes you have to play to people a little bit to get them to actually hear what you want to say.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com