

Ask HN: What can't you say today? - mcartyem


======
tokenadult
I've found it remarkably difficult to nudge people to say anything
appreciative about Hacker News here on Hacker News. It's easy for people to
whine here about negative responses to their "Show HN" posts, or to complain
about being downvoted. But it's difficult for people to speak up about what's
done right here by the site management and by the community as a whole. One
little anecdote I have to support this statement is the more than order of
magnitude difference in replies and upvotes for a positive submission, "Ask
HN: What do you like about the Hacker News community?"

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4399678>

as contrasted with one of the gripe threads submitted just before.

In general, I can talk about any contentious social policy issue here. I can
ESPECIALLY talk absolutely any social policy issue, and about current
electoral politics, in my group of Facebook friends. I've practiced
cultivating a community of friends from all phases of my life, from first
cousins and elementary school classmates to co-workers from when I lived
abroad to fellow parents I "met" in other online networks and on and on into a
group who are mutually respectful, factual, and curious about every subject.
In my today, in my America, you can talk about anything. Just be polite and
thoughtful, that's all I ask.

For actual hard information on some of the more controversial topics some
people discuss in some places online, I recommend

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Intellige...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/IntelligenceCitations)

and

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/Anthropol...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WeijiBaikeBianji/AnthropologyHumanBiologyRaceCitations)

for reliable sources with good information on the subjects.

AFTER EDIT: It's possible to talk about controversial topics here on HN:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4524856>

It is worth bearing in mind, however, that HN has a defined topic scope, and
the site guidelines

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

say, "Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have
something genuinely new to say about them."

So most of the veteran users here with the highest karma relentlessly downvote
and flag stories and posts that refer to electoral politics or other
especially heated issues. I discuss those on Facebook, in my carefully curated
circle of friends accumulated over decades, but I don't go out of my way to
bring them up here.

------
Humjob
My opinion of topics you can't talk about in descending order of controversy
in 2012 America:

\- Racial phenotype/genotype differences

\- Differences between the sexes

\- Using foreign policy sticks (rather than solely carrots) with Israel

\- The Drug War's legitimacy

\- IQ and its correlates, causes and effects on both an individual and
societal level

\- Islamofascism

\- Single payer healthcare

\- US Gov't crackdowns on secrecy and information

\- The many fallacies in organized religion (this one is highly regional)

There are probably lots of others but those examples immediately spring to
mind for me.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Well I suppose you could add android / ios comparisons for the Bay area. Also
wealth distribution, taxation, and societal impact of technology.

~~~
001sky
_> The many fallacies in organized religion (this one is highly regional)_

\-- Subheading a) android / ios comparisons for the Bay area

------
diminium
Anything which results in making the world an exponentially better place ;)

People seem to like hearing how awesome they are and what they are doing even
if it isn't.

