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Thought experiment: would this essay be at the top of HN if Paul Graham wasn't its author?

Of course not. Neither would "Things You Can't Say".

I remember that "Things You Can't Say" was picked up and discussed a lot by people with no connection to hacking or technology. Several political blogs made their list of predictions for ideas today that will be considered barbaric in the future, for example. I specifically remember Andrew Sullivan linking to it (my favorite political blogger).

It may have been successful (though it also tells bloggers what they want to hear, and does so with a stamp of authority --- the fact that it came from a tech/startup person adds novelty for political bloggers, and probably subtracts nothing). That's kind of not my point.

I'm actually a lot more interested in what jimbokun really thinks of the article than what Andrew Sullivan thinks about it. What's the insight you got from it? That thinking forbidden thoughts is, in fact, like stretching your brain?

I disagree. I showed the original article to several friends of mine who are in no way hackers and had no idea who Paul was and they all felt that it was a very good, thoughtful article.

You can't say that.

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