8 ms·

I got way too annoyed at this before realising it was an optional game and I could just close the tab

by dwedge 7d ago

alex_c 7d ago
Surprising how much of life this applies to when you really think about it!
- vips7L 7d ago
  Just like using LLMs. Completely optional.
- btown 7d ago
  Hacker News is the epitome of this! If you find yourself not enjoying your daily dose of "someone is wrong on the internet" (via the immortal https://xkcd.com/386/ https://xkcd.com/386/) as you find yourself crafting the perfect response, you can always close the tab!
  - SoftTalker 7d ago
    I actually don't end up clicking the "reply" button on a good portion of the replies I start to write.
    - jodrellblank 7d ago
      Don't worry, Reddit/Facebook/Gmail et al. still transmit that draft reply to their servers, store it against your profile, and train on it. Probably.
      - iririririr 7d ago
        and ironically, most of them don't even offer the draft feature! Facebook, tiktok, etc... they send your typed message, but if the app crashes or you close it, there's no draft anywhere you can find ;)
    - econ 7d ago
      As Ze Frank put it: I have a theory about this but it's a little bit to deep for the audience.
    - shmeeed 7d ago
      This is the way.
    - barbazoo 7d ago
      I was gonna respond to you but actually decided not to.
  - jodrellblank 7d ago
    You can, but this is public and maybe you should post. If "you are what you repeatedly do" then we all collectively are what we all do. If we each stop arguing with racists because we're each tired of it, then what we are is a society that lets racism go unopposed, a site with racist comments proliferating, a site where racists gather because they are able to be themselves, a site where future readers and AI training is learning that racism is popular, common, normal, and acceptable because everyone is accepting it. It's a bit like democratic voting, your vote doesn't matter and cannot change things, but it's important that you vote because all of our votes do matter and can change things. It's a bit like the quote "Dear Board, I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member. Sincerely yours, Groucho Marx.", I am upset and offended every time someone calls out my dumbass comments, but horrified at all the countless times nobody does. Why would I want to waste my time on a site with such low standards that it lets me comment? I'm exhalted and encouraged everytime someone upvotes or engages with my low effort quips[1] but thrown into a chasm of despair that HN users let that pass unopposed. When nobody engages with comments I spent literal hours on[2] I curl up into a ball and die, but also dream of it being a feather in my cap with dang that I'm posting a substantial comment and that will be its own reward. I identify with nobody more closely than Colonel Cathcart, and I will be delighted if someone engages with my Catch 22 reference, but aghast that such a nontechnical reference gets engagment; distraught if nobody engages but delighted that perhaps HN standards are being held higher. If not you, whom? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478355 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49586378 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49586378 or https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49491182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49491182
    - btown 7d ago
      A few things: (1) I admire your energy, but sir/ma'am this is a Wendy's. (2) I am very confused that you thought I was talking about tolerance-of-intolerance types of conversations, when I was more intending to say "I don't need to write an essay responding to technical comments even if I think I have a different angle of technical insight than the commenter, and not worrying about that can be freeing." (3) For posts like the ones you mention that do trigger the "tolerance of intolerance" paradox, sometimes the very "feeding" of a troll is what makes them feel part of a community, and refusing to engage can indeed be the right way to handle those messages, and the morally correct thing to do. (4) Not to mention that there are many ways to effect change that are higher-leverage, and less wearing on one's limited stamina, than replying to every disagreeable comment on the internet. (5) I'm not proud that I've written a five-point answer here. It has not sparked joy, but I've written one anyways. Do what sparks joy, and consider my reply here a cautionary tale.
- cm11 7d ago
  Avoiding disagreement is more ominous with people though.
  - dhosek 7d ago
    You’re absolutely right, but I need to go to the bathroom/get some coffee/take a smoke break/get back to this task now so we’ll have to discuss this further later.
fallingbananna 7d ago
That's exactly how I treat reviewing AI generated PRs at work. Except... the next day they are still there and I have to push myself a bit further through the wall of changes before closing the tab again.
- RobKohr 7d ago
  If it takes more than 20 min to review a pr, ask the dev to come on a call and explain what the code does.
  - pc86 7d ago
    It must be nice to work on such small-scale systems that you can reasonably expect PRs to be this quick.
    - zamadatix 7d ago
      I don't know it has as much to do with scale of the system vs the general architecture. E.g. the system I primarily work with these days has millions of lines but most PRs are for a small changes which are well contained in scope by the overall architecture.
    - gedy 7d ago
      It's a cultural thing, but you can do incremental PRs towards a large goal. Giant PRs that are expected to be reviewed never really seemed worth it imho.
      - pc86 6d ago
        I don't think a PR needs to be tens of thousands of lines for a review to take more than 20 minutes. I've worked on projects where you can't reasonably get a branch set up and running somewhere to test it within 20 minutes if you need to set up dependencies, peripherals, external systems, etc.
    - 8note 7d ago
      reasonably you should already know what the code and project is supposed to do before they even start writing code, so you can get directional feedback in. then you are maybe reviewing 1 out of 7 PRs that implement the agreed upon change

I got way too annoyed at this before realising it was an optional game and I could just close the tab

by dwedge 7d ago

I got way too annoyed at this before realising it was an optional game and I could just close the tab

alex_c 7d ago

Surprising how much of life this applies to when you really think about it!

vips7L 7d ago
Just like using LLMs. Completely optional.
btown 7d ago
Hacker News is the epitome of this! If you find yourself not enjoying your daily dose of "someone is wrong on the internet" (via the immortal https://xkcd.com/386/ https://xkcd.com/386/) as you find yourself crafting the perfect response, you can always close the tab!
- SoftTalker 7d ago
  I actually don't end up clicking the "reply" button on a good portion of the replies I start to write.
  - jodrellblank 7d ago
    Don't worry, Reddit/Facebook/Gmail et al. still transmit that draft reply to their servers, store it against your profile, and train on it. Probably.
    - iririririr 7d ago
      and ironically, most of them don't even offer the draft feature! Facebook, tiktok, etc... they send your typed message, but if the app crashes or you close it, there's no draft anywhere you can find ;)
  - econ 7d ago
    As Ze Frank put it: I have a theory about this but it's a little bit to deep for the audience.
  - shmeeed 7d ago
    This is the way.
  - barbazoo 7d ago
    I was gonna respond to you but actually decided not to.
- jodrellblank 7d ago
  You can, but this is public and maybe you should post. If "you are what you repeatedly do" then we all collectively are what we all do. If we each stop arguing with racists because we're each tired of it, then what we are is a society that lets racism go unopposed, a site with racist comments proliferating, a site where racists gather because they are able to be themselves, a site where future readers and AI training is learning that racism is popular, common, normal, and acceptable because everyone is accepting it. It's a bit like democratic voting, your vote doesn't matter and cannot change things, but it's important that you vote because all of our votes do matter and can change things. It's a bit like the quote "Dear Board, I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member. Sincerely yours, Groucho Marx.", I am upset and offended every time someone calls out my dumbass comments, but horrified at all the countless times nobody does. Why would I want to waste my time on a site with such low standards that it lets me comment? I'm exhalted and encouraged everytime someone upvotes or engages with my low effort quips[1] but thrown into a chasm of despair that HN users let that pass unopposed. When nobody engages with comments I spent literal hours on[2] I curl up into a ball and die, but also dream of it being a feather in my cap with dang that I'm posting a substantial comment and that will be its own reward. I identify with nobody more closely than Colonel Cathcart, and I will be delighted if someone engages with my Catch 22 reference, but aghast that such a nontechnical reference gets engagment; distraught if nobody engages but delighted that perhaps HN standards are being held higher. If not you, whom? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478355 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49586378 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49586378 or https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49491182 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49491182
  - btown 7d ago
    A few things: (1) I admire your energy, but sir/ma'am this is a Wendy's. (2) I am very confused that you thought I was talking about tolerance-of-intolerance types of conversations, when I was more intending to say "I don't need to write an essay responding to technical comments even if I think I have a different angle of technical insight than the commenter, and not worrying about that can be freeing." (3) For posts like the ones you mention that do trigger the "tolerance of intolerance" paradox, sometimes the very "feeding" of a troll is what makes them feel part of a community, and refusing to engage can indeed be the right way to handle those messages, and the morally correct thing to do. (4) Not to mention that there are many ways to effect change that are higher-leverage, and less wearing on one's limited stamina, than replying to every disagreeable comment on the internet. (5) I'm not proud that I've written a five-point answer here. It has not sparked joy, but I've written one anyways. Do what sparks joy, and consider my reply here a cautionary tale.
cm11 7d ago
Avoiding disagreement is more ominous with people though.
- dhosek 7d ago
  You’re absolutely right, but I need to go to the bathroom/get some coffee/take a smoke break/get back to this task now so we’ll have to discuss this further later.

fallingbananna 7d ago

That's exactly how I treat reviewing AI generated PRs at work. Except... the next day they are still there and I have to push myself a bit further through the wall of changes before closing the tab again.

RobKohr 7d ago
If it takes more than 20 min to review a pr, ask the dev to come on a call and explain what the code does.
- pc86 7d ago
  It must be nice to work on such small-scale systems that you can reasonably expect PRs to be this quick.
  - zamadatix 7d ago
    I don't know it has as much to do with scale of the system vs the general architecture. E.g. the system I primarily work with these days has millions of lines but most PRs are for a small changes which are well contained in scope by the overall architecture.
  - gedy 7d ago
    It's a cultural thing, but you can do incremental PRs towards a large goal. Giant PRs that are expected to be reviewed never really seemed worth it imho.
    - pc86 6d ago
      I don't think a PR needs to be tens of thousands of lines for a review to take more than 20 minutes. I've worked on projects where you can't reasonably get a branch set up and running somewhere to test it within 20 minutes if you need to set up dependencies, peripherals, external systems, etc.
  - 8note 7d ago
    reasonably you should already know what the code and project is supposed to do before they even start writing code, so you can get directional feedback in. then you are maybe reviewing 1 out of 7 PRs that implement the agreed upon change