> The former is about trying to change our society to make it more just, the latter is aimless introspection.
On the contrary, the former is something we probably won't change [1], while the latter is almost certainly something we can change.
> The comment was a bit of a troll and not insightful so I trolled back. If this were not pg's website, I am certain you wouldn't be defending the statement because it lacks substance.
I seriously doubt he was trolling, and you shouldn't be so certain. This being pg's site is completely irrelevant in this case [2]; I'm simply ... actually, disgusted is about the best adjective I can think of to describe how I feel about the nonsense arguments on HN lately. People seem to be in some kind of a hurry to disagree, because they aren't actually reading and comprehending what other people are writing, they aren't stopping for a moment to consider that perhaps the person they're responding to isn't an idiot or a troll, they aren't maintaining basic principles of civility, they're commenting on (and arguing about!) subjects that are way outside their expertise, and they seem to be nearly drooling at the chance to engage in a witch hunt.
For example, nothing in my reply was a defense of pg's statement. Nothing. Not a single word. The entirety of my reply was a tutorial on high school level reading comprehension and a snide remark about HN (well, and a question about you). So, how is it that you interpreted that as a defense of his statement?
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[1]: I may yet be pleasantly surprised. I certainly wouldn't've guessed at how much press the Aaron Swartz case would end up getting, and there is some small chance now that it might end up causing some kind of change somewhere. That would be great. As of yet though, it has changed absolutely nothing.
[2]: Assuming of course that you don't find it significant that the founder of one of the programming communities on the internet is indicting the community's behavior -- although it's not clear if he's referring to the HN community or the broader programming or technical community.
> The entirety of my reply was a tutorial on high school level reading comprehension and a snide remark about HN (well, and a question about you)
Maybe before you spend a lot of time complaining about how other people comment, you should start by focusing on making a positive contribution yourself.
On the contrary, the former is something we probably won't change [1], while the latter is almost certainly something we can change.
> The comment was a bit of a troll and not insightful so I trolled back. If this were not pg's website, I am certain you wouldn't be defending the statement because it lacks substance.
I seriously doubt he was trolling, and you shouldn't be so certain. This being pg's site is completely irrelevant in this case [2]; I'm simply ... actually, disgusted is about the best adjective I can think of to describe how I feel about the nonsense arguments on HN lately. People seem to be in some kind of a hurry to disagree, because they aren't actually reading and comprehending what other people are writing, they aren't stopping for a moment to consider that perhaps the person they're responding to isn't an idiot or a troll, they aren't maintaining basic principles of civility, they're commenting on (and arguing about!) subjects that are way outside their expertise, and they seem to be nearly drooling at the chance to engage in a witch hunt.
For example, nothing in my reply was a defense of pg's statement. Nothing. Not a single word. The entirety of my reply was a tutorial on high school level reading comprehension and a snide remark about HN (well, and a question about you). So, how is it that you interpreted that as a defense of his statement?
--
[1]: I may yet be pleasantly surprised. I certainly wouldn't've guessed at how much press the Aaron Swartz case would end up getting, and there is some small chance now that it might end up causing some kind of change somewhere. That would be great. As of yet though, it has changed absolutely nothing.
[2]: Assuming of course that you don't find it significant that the founder of one of the programming communities on the internet is indicting the community's behavior -- although it's not clear if he's referring to the HN community or the broader programming or technical community.