I concluded the same and finally closed out my accounts and ended any subscriptions. I just can’t help feeling repulsed while using these creations. I found them cool enough to work on back in the day, but what’s the point anymore. Why does the site people use to talk to their friends have to become a tool for social control. Anybody trying to use the internet this way, please back off.
I feel the same, and TBH this site really isn't much better. It's a groupthink incubator just like Twitter and Facebook, and though I've only been here less than 12 hours I regret signing up.
If you’ve been here 12 hours you probably haven’t gotten the chance to participate much in an actual tech discussion. This weekend has been all political in nature.
During the week when more people are working, more tech focused news/projects tend to be shared and discussed.
Give it another week and then decide if it’s all groupthink.
I've browsed here before but only just registered to participate in discussions on this topic. I've seen far more nuanced discussions and sincere consideration of both sides on HN than most other platforms.
I still find it alarming that so many people perceive these actions as sincere attempts at harm-reduction. Regardless, it is a pleasant to see both sides being represented in the discussion.
I have been here for a few years, there are definitely some areas of groupthink. HN knows it's tech, but it's politics aren't generally as well thought through.
A large portion of tech audiences fall into major Dunning-Kreuger traps. Because they understand something to an expert level they feel they can apply that to other ares ignoring the experts already in that field and their current findings. Combine that with a certain segment being pre-disposed to ESR style feelings and it all eventually turns into ./, a cesspool of trolls and people too high on their own supply to even recognize they've gone off the rails.
> A large portion of tech audiences fall into major Dunning-Kreuger[sic] traps. Because they understand something to an expert level
Which is in itself the Dunning-Kruger effect. A tiny minority of people actually have expert level understanding and knowledge. The vast majority of people who think they have expert level understanding just fail to recognise how large their field actually is.
You can be considered a subject-matter expert for recruitment and employment purposes, and it still never be close to the truth. For most practical business purposes it will be true, but it still wont be the reality.
I didn't recognise that distinction until after I had 12 years experience in my field, and met someone who absolutely blew my mind with their level of knowledge and understanding (and declared themselves to be a subject-matter noob).
You really think there’s no one here who has studied law, politics, philosophy or history? Not everyone here is a big tech engineer. Not everything is black and white.
Couple this also with the Gell-Mann amnesia affect and it makes it that much more difficult to filter information as every source will need to be deeply investigated unto it's root.
The only option seems to be copious and wide reading of data yourself, and then applying that to your own life, while ensuring you provide a veneer that passes muster to those physically around you, unwilling to do the same, and at odds with your personal conclusion.
Easier said than done, when a large portion of your time is spent taking care of mundane work/family matters.
This breakage in trust of the 'common good' by 'experts' in their field - leaders, law enforcement, health, merchants, ensures that the path of least resistance is the "blind belief" in local leadership and their chosen 'expert' supporters.
You cannot judge a community after just half a day of participation, much less in times of turmoil.
From all the networks I participated in, HN is by far most quality-oriented and while the balance of political opinion is different from US average, there is neither mob rule nor cancel culture rampant.
Like any community, it grows and changes. You should give it a chance. Political discussions are not the norm, and if you’re interested in tech, this place can expose and involve you in really thought provoking discussions on myriad topics.
And that’s from someone who got fed up, left for a few years, then returned.
Edit: just don’t tell any jokes. Take that to Reddit :D
I've been here for a bit, just reading but I registered just to suggest you give the site a chance. Personally I feel political topics are often quite slanted towards one side of the argument, however one of the first posts on p1 is exactly why I do read them; a guy convinced of something beginning to doubt those beliefs and then going in discussion with people. I've found quite a lot of thoughtful discussion here and in general I'd say HN is a good broad source of interesting topics. Give it a chance.
