6 ms·

I figured I might get downvoted, but when I read the headline the konami code stuck in my head and I couldn't resist. It made me laugh, and I thought it might m

by RokStdy 13y ago

I figured I might get downvoted, but when I read the headline the konami code stuck in my head and I couldn't resist. It made me laugh, and I thought it might make others laugh. Which to me has (a little) value. But now, you are pot and I am kettle (or vice versa). Your comment adds no value or, I'd argue less value, because at least I was trying to be funny. </derail>

outworlder 13y ago
You should delete you comment while you still have some karma left.
maaku 13y ago
Don't try to be funny here. Be insightful.
- asveikau 13y ago
  Your advice sounds a bit pretentious to me. Here I was under the mistaken impression that people should be themselves. (Downvoters in three, two, one...) RokStdy, don't be discouraged. You've done nothing wrong.
  - maaku 13y ago
    > Your advice sounds a bit pretentious to me. Here I was under the mistaken impression that people should be themselves. No, no they shouldn't. Not if that means "take whatever action they feel like." One should take purposeful actions which serve to help their fellow HN'er and maintain the tremendously useful tool that this website has become. They should refrain from actions which decrease the signal to noise, or otherwise decrease the utility of HN. That's not pretentious. That's the just an explicit statement of the implicit communal understanding which made this site what it is.
    - asveikau 13y ago
      I hope that one day you can grow enough as a person to realize that authenticity is an important trait. I don't think I've very often heard "no, no you shouldn't" as a direct response to a claim that one should avoid being something you are not.
      - maaku 13y ago
        Authenticity doesn't mean broadcasting every little thought that enters your head.
biot 13y ago
Instead of having a debate between the pot and kettle, perhaps you'd listen to the stove? http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html "The most dangerous form of stupid comment is not the long but mistaken argument, but the dumb joke. [...] Bad comments are like kudzu: they take over rapidly. Comments have much more effect on new comments than submissions have on new submissions. If someone submits a lame article, the other submissions don't all become lame. But if someone posts a stupid comment on a thread, that sets the tone for the region around it. People reply to dumb jokes with dumb jokes." By writing a dumb joke, you are signaling to new members that it's okay to rehash old, lame memes for nothing more than the lulz.
- asveikau 13y ago
  Right, because what constitutes a "dumb joke" can be universally agreed upon.
  - coldtea 13y ago
    No, because any joke is a "dumb joke" in the context of a HN discussion. There's no debate about the smartness of them. The "dumb" part is about it being a joke, as opposed to a serious contribution, argument or commentary. Not about the joke's quality as a joke. That is, even if you're Woody Allen, HN does not want you to write jokes in here -- and especially one liners without any other content.
    - mtdewcmu 13y ago
      >> HN does not want you to write jokes in here -- and especially one liners without any other content. But humor is insight, and brevity is the soul of wit. I saw it as commentary on the headline itself, which was ambiguous and vague. I thought it meant scientists had found an easter egg or the Enigma code hidden in DNA.
      - coldtea 13y ago
        >But humor is insight Not really. Most of the time is just the mental analogue of fart jokes. >and brevity is the soul of wit No, that's just a cliche.

by RokStdy 13y ago

outworlder 13y ago

You should delete you comment while you still have some karma left.

maaku 13y ago

Don't try to be funny here. Be insightful.

asveikau 13y ago
Your advice sounds a bit pretentious to me. Here I was under the mistaken impression that people should be themselves. (Downvoters in three, two, one...) RokStdy, don't be discouraged. You've done nothing wrong.
- maaku 13y ago
  > Your advice sounds a bit pretentious to me. Here I was under the mistaken impression that people should be themselves. No, no they shouldn't. Not if that means "take whatever action they feel like." One should take purposeful actions which serve to help their fellow HN'er and maintain the tremendously useful tool that this website has become. They should refrain from actions which decrease the signal to noise, or otherwise decrease the utility of HN. That's not pretentious. That's the just an explicit statement of the implicit communal understanding which made this site what it is.
  - asveikau 13y ago
    I hope that one day you can grow enough as a person to realize that authenticity is an important trait. I don't think I've very often heard "no, no you shouldn't" as a direct response to a claim that one should avoid being something you are not.
    - maaku 13y ago
      Authenticity doesn't mean broadcasting every little thought that enters your head.

biot 13y ago

Instead of having a debate between the pot and kettle, perhaps you'd listen to the stove? http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html "The most dangerous form of stupid comment is not the long but mistaken argument, but the dumb joke. [...] Bad comments are like kudzu: they take over rapidly. Comments have much more effect on new comments than submissions have on new submissions. If someone submits a lame article, the other submissions don't all become lame. But if someone posts a stupid comment on a thread, that sets the tone for the region around it. People reply to dumb jokes with dumb jokes." By writing a dumb joke, you are signaling to new members that it's okay to rehash old, lame memes for nothing more than the lulz.

asveikau 13y ago
Right, because what constitutes a "dumb joke" can be universally agreed upon.
- coldtea 13y ago
  No, because any joke is a "dumb joke" in the context of a HN discussion. There's no debate about the smartness of them. The "dumb" part is about it being a joke, as opposed to a serious contribution, argument or commentary. Not about the joke's quality as a joke. That is, even if you're Woody Allen, HN does not want you to write jokes in here -- and especially one liners without any other content.
  - mtdewcmu 13y ago
    >> HN does not want you to write jokes in here -- and especially one liners without any other content. But humor is insight, and brevity is the soul of wit. I saw it as commentary on the headline itself, which was ambiguous and vague. I thought it meant scientists had found an easter egg or the Enigma code hidden in DNA.
    - coldtea 13y ago
      >But humor is insight Not really. Most of the time is just the mental analogue of fart jokes. >and brevity is the soul of wit No, that's just a cliche.