
Ask HN: How Many of You Are Like Me? - seanMeverett
I've ready every HN post for the past few years, but have only commented on less than 10.  This is also my first submission.  I've learned more from the community than I did during my $100,000 MBA from the University of Chicago.<p>So the question is?  How many of you soak up all this knowledge like it's nicotine but don't comment much or post at all?<p>I suppose if you're really like me, you actually won't comment on this thread at all, LOL. It's a paradoxical enigma, or something like that...
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charleso
Active reader here, but I avoid commenting.

Whenever I do, I seem to find myself caring too much about the responses. This
leads me to returning again and again to a thread I've already learned from
and replying to responses in an attempt to clarify my position. Before I know
it, a half-hour has passed to no benefit.

Since arrows tend to be clicked to reflect a worldview which conforms to a
reader's own and not to promote posts of substance, I find the result is more
poking a hive-mind than learning through discussion. That agitates me far more
than it should and, for myself, it's best by far to simply lurk.

~~~
markkat
I agree about getting too involved in the responses. We are strange creatures.
:)

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frevd
lol - you're not alone ;]. see, i'm here for 800 days now but stopped
commenting on most of the threads long ago when I realized that my views are
somewhat diametrically different and would not be accepted easily by those so
more wise and better connected than my dumb self. they installed a nice
feedback mechanism that effectively limits my input - whenever I post
something I must fear ridiculous downvoting by those higher priviledged clergy
folks. I guess that keeps the platform at a common standard, unfortunately I
have not much to say at that point.. and I know some more people that do not
post a single response, people much brighter than me. Not everybody
communicates at the same rate, though.

~~~
SamReidHughes
You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by
capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with "lol"
and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he is
about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the reader in
an organized manner. In your comment history, other posts have it worse, and
your writing style and mannerisms make you seem like a nut-case. If your
comments were written using normal sentences, that would not be the case.
However, if you're talking about "higher privileged clergy folks" downvoting
you, writing style won't help much on that front.

~~~
geoffw8
> You'd have better success if you showed some respect for your readers by
> capitalizing and writing your posts in a normal style. Starting off with
> "lol" and an emoticon marks you as somebody who hasn't thought about what he
> is about to write, and who doesn't care to present his thoughts to the
> reader in an organized manner.

That is the biggest pile of bs I have ever read. Just because he starts his
posts with a lol, and a smiley mean NOTHING. It angers and disgusts me to
think that 17 other people happen to agree with you.

You guys (and I mean the HN "elite") try to avoid group thinking like its the
plague, you believe you operate like the intelligent guys of the web but your
reaction to that comment was disgusting and evident that your guilty of the
same underlying thread that fuels racism and prejudice - difference.

What you've done is no different to this scenario - your at school, your one
of the popular guys - and a kid reluctantly comes up to you one day, and says
"Hey, I'm pretty shy around here because I feel I don't fit in." Your response
was "well, of course you don't kid, look at you, you dress like an idiot and
you stink" - then you and your cronies all laugh.

I used to really like HN, I used to enjoy the comments more than I did the
articles at one point. But this has just become a place where people can split
hairs, argue semantics, stroke their own ego's and do their best to feel self-
important. Your comment is the epitome of my point.

I can't believe you just grilled that dude because of how he types. I've met
plenty of very, very wealthy and successful individuals to know that how you
type has absolutely no connection to how much respect you give readers, and
how much they think about their responses.

The barrier to entry of participating on HN is not how you word, or begin your
point - but the value you add.

~~~
gnaritas
> What you've done is no different to this scenario - your at school, your one
> of the popular guys

But this is exactly the kind of thing he's referring to, sloppy writing and
sloppy grammar generally mean sloppy thinking.

If _you're_ going to take the time to write something, you must want it to be
read; have respect for _your_ reader and use proper capitalization,
punctuation, and correct contractions. There are a lot of people who won't
even read what you have to say if the writing is lazy and disrespectful to the
reader.

~~~
rdouble
fred wilson never capitalizes or uses periods on hacker news

~~~
mcantor
The rest of us are not Fred Wilson.

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pasbesoin
I try to comment when I have something of value to add, that has not already
been contributed. Mostly information. To a self-imposed limited extend, a bit
of anecdote and/or humor. [1] The latter usually only in accompaniment to
information.

I support the original attitude that pervaded HN, that karma is about
surfacing interesting information. It's not personal, nor should it be.

Personal relationships do develop here, but not as a direct function of karma
(I'm sure karma plays some role, inevitably, due to visibility and so
discovery.)

In short, what would the other person want to know? (That's "want", not
"should", the latter being a slippery slope.) Keeping in mind the composition
and goals of the community, this makes participating pretty straight forward.

\--

1 Maybe I've been veering too far in this direction, lately.

~~~
mikecarlucci
I agree. If I feel I can add something of value to the discussion, including
occasional humor, I'll chime in.

I call it the Mr. Ed principle.

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ireadzalot
Sometimes I don't comment because the other comments seems so well-thought-out
and expertly laid out. Level of knowledge of some HN commenters is almost
intimidating sometimes.

~~~
orls
Same -- it's taken me almost two years of reading HN before actually signing
up, because everything I feel like saying has normaly already been said much
better than I could.

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ww520
I used to comment but found that I got dragged into heated "discussions" that
were big time sink. I then tried short responses/comments, attempting to leave
the investigation part as homework for the interested readers, but I was
called as troll and asked to clarify things in long posts again. Also similar
to frevd's case, my points of view don't usually align with the mainstream
trends in HN. I just rather get my stuff done than spending time arguing with
people online.

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kaeluka
Its my first post here - still I am a very active reader.

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tomrod
I comment more than I should, and soak up an enormous amount of intellectual
capital I now employ.

Thanks, great minds!

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david_p
Same here. I almost never comment or post. I learn/read a lot here and mostly
don't think of a contribution worth posting.

I actually think that most comments add more noise than information, and
therefore decrease the value of a thread as a whole. This get worse as
commenting gets easier, because easier posting means more comments, but most
people don't actually have something interesting to say/write. Information
gets diluted and less accessible/visible.

In fact, this applies to the whole Internet and I sometimes wonder how much
time it would have taken to learn the same things I learned while browsing
through tech-related blogs by, for example, reading books (which are, often,
denser in terms of information).

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us
I've been on here for the past few years as well but more recently started
this account and in the past three days (literally speaking) have been trying
to make an effort to comment and help out as much as possible to the HN
community. I haven't posted anything yet but may soon sometime in the near
future when I have something of value to provide. I know a few others that
don't even have accounts that just come on here to read. It's not uncommon.

~~~
Mz
Last figure I heard was 80K unique visitors a day. I doubt there are anywhere
near that many accounts and certainly not anywhere near that many accounts
routinely posting. So 'not uncommon' is probably a vast understatement.

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wallflower
I lurked for about a year before I posted. Don't do it :) It's very addictive
once you start amassing bits of attention.

Chicago has an excellent reputation!

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lhnz
I consider myself technical but I can't comment here about that kind of thing
since I will not be knowledgeable enough to hold my own... I feel like I'm
just about intelligent enough for other non-technical discussions.

I actually agree, I find it a lot easier to learn here than I did at
University. I think it's because I'm mixing with people that care about
knowledge.

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IsaacL
I only comment occasionally. I comment even less on other sites I frequent,
like reddit (before I quit), lesswrong and ribbonfarm. I normally only comment
when I have a point I really want to make, and no-one else has made that point
already.

I'd guess there's a lot of people like you - most online communities have a
very disproportionate amount of lurkers.

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pschlump
I almost never comment - it takes time and I am busy. I am doing another
startup after having been on vacation for 8 years. How the world has changed!
8 years since I sold my last business and I am learning all over. HN is a
faucet of knowledge on turned on full boar. I have been reading and learning
like crazy!

~~~
naithemilkman
Would be interesting to know what your last business was about. Must have had
a happy ending for you to have spent the last 8 years vacationing?

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koichirose
I'm like you: I've been an active reader for the past couple years, but I
rarely comment.

Sometimes I have stuff to say, but I'm afraid I'll spend the rest of the day
coming back to HN and hope for acknowledgment and responses. This could be
selfish, I know, especially when I really know something about a topic, but I
can't help it.

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cfaubell
> How many of you soak up all this knowledge like it's nicotine but don't
> comment much or post at all?

That perfectly describes my relationship with Hacker News.

As another first time commentor but long time lurker, I'd like to thank those
of you who do comment. You've created a truly great resource.

~~~
jfields
My relationship with Hacker News is also much like this.

I have made exactly three comments before this one, and they were almost a
year ago. If not for those, I might not have even created an account here. I
just have the type of personality that enjoys taking in knowledge more than
discussing it.

My account at Less Wrong is similarly neglected. I often wonder how many
others (on both sites) do what I do.

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abest
I am in the exact same boat. I visit HN 10 times a day, but this is my very
first comment here.

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b3n
I've been on HN for years and read it daily, but I comment very rarely. I
can't answer your question but I suspect there are a lot of others like us.
Perhaps some traffic stats would shed light on the number of lurkers vs
contributors.

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omni5ci
I know exactly how you feel, I'm sort of embarrassed by the fact that I only
(somewhat) recently signed up because of it. I'm trying to change and start
commenting more, so here I am.

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citricsquid
I comment, but add no value, does that count? We're all leeches! :p

~~~
EwanG
Guess the questions is, what determines if you've "added value". Certainly
there is value in adding to information (said article talks about Y, but you
might also want to consider Z depending on your application), but there is
also value in adding entertainment (at least the RIAA and MPAA think so), and
even a well executed troll or Meme addition can be of some value to some
people.

So I wouldn't presume that you are not adding value unless you just enjoy
putting yourself down (in which case you are still adding value to some folks
I am sure). :-)

~~~
frevd
Given the topic of this discussion any type of answer counts, right?

But by the way, interesting concept of anti-value. I'm sure Information Theory
has got something to say about creation ex nihilo.

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theprodigy
I think there is a lot of people who just lurk around and read everything,
that is ok, but if you participate in discussion I think you will definitely
learn a lot more.

Google cone of learning.

~~~
notyourwork
"Google cone of learning." I am not familiar with this phrase. Can someone
explain?

~~~
EwanG
On the off chance you're serious (and I know folks sometimes have a hard time
differentiating between very subtle sarcasm and true newbiehood):

You are being directed to go to Google (or other search engine of choice) and
enter the phrase "Cone of Learning".

You should get a result similar to the following:
[http://www.google.com/search?q=cone+of+learning&ie=utf-8...](http://www.google.com/search?q=cone+of+learning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-
US:official&client=firefox-a)

~~~
JonnieCache
To be fair it is possible to parse google as a noun in that sentence. It reads
a bit like an item in an RPG.

Google Cone of Haste +3

~~~
mryall
> Google Cone of Haste +3

Parsing it as a verb, I followed your instructions and this comment is already
the top hit for "Cone of Haste" on Google.

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noig3
Hey Sean. Are you in San Francisco? Do you want to start a company? I will be
moving to San Jose in a couple of weeks. Maybe we could just hang out. I could
use some friends.

~~~
seanMeverett
Hi there and thanks for the shout out! Unfortunately, I'm knee deep in my own
startup these days but would love to chat offline anytime and throw ideas
around. You can link through to my profile, feel free to shoot me an email.

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nwp
I have only recently discovered HN, and it has quickly become the most useful
site I frequent. Up to now, however, I have not yet commented.

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positr0n
I rarely comment because I'm just a student, and I'm not even going to go in
to start ups. I don't feel like I can add much useful here.

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scottw
Your first submission has garnered nearly as many karma points than I've
accumulated since I joined HN 3 years (and 1 day) ago.

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chanux
OK, I read HN a lot, comment and post a bit more than 'some'.

But lately I was thinking about this quote.

Information is not knowledge. ~Einstein

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jparicka
i won't comment

~~~
tomrod
"One of us tells the truth, and one of us always lies."

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Joshim5
One of the first posts I've commented on even though I read too many posts
here. :)

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xilun0
I haven't be scammed of $100,000 yet so I guess I'm not completely like you :p

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raphael_lee
first comment. What I like about this place is the various constructive points
of view from the community on top of the conversation, information and URL
provided. The votes/points help in my digestion too.

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faitswulff
I thought this was a parody of /r/DoesAnybodyElse at first.

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peteypao
Is an MBA really that raw of a deal??

~~~
havoc2005
If you don't put it to good use. I just graduated college myself and put off
any thoughts of going back for a year or two to see what I can make of my free
time. 4 months later and I'm almost a CISSP in the security field. Now I feel
as though I need to get back in touch with the HN community and maybe start
networking better.

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mohdismail
sorry. but I just registered myself here. so, I kinda like yourself

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mvid
i have shattered the paradox

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zackattack
Are you _serious_?

"I've learned more from the community than I did during my $100,000 MBA from
the University of Chicago."

You weren't out meeting people and making awesome connections?

You didn't build relationships with the brilliant professors?

I am _shocked_ by the content of your post.

What have you learned on Hacker News? And then what did you learn at Booth?

I would pay to read that write-up.

~~~
PaulHoule
Not everybody gets the most out of being at an Elite university.

My family comes from an ethnically Catholic background, you know, Italian,
Polish, French-Canadian, many of the people who came to the U.S. fleeing the
aftermath of WWII, members of the surplus humanity whose livelihood was
destroyed by the mechanization of agriculture in the early half of the
twentieth century.

In the 1960's and 1970's, in a time when it became unfashionable to attack
blacks and indigenous persons, academics such as Mark Granovetter and Edward
C. Banfield were writing treatises about the inferiority of traditionally
Catholic ethnic groups. And I'll just say that in graduate school, people from
these backgrounds find there is no organization for their "national
advancement" or "anti-defamation" and they'll be left to their own devices to
understand why certain doors just aren't quite open to them.

[Disclaimer: the author of this post has no relationship to the Catholic
Church other than having many family and friends who are members, and in fact,
is a pagan]

~~~
brianmckenzie
I don't know if this is still the case, but Catholics were the single largest
religious group at the University of Chicago when I was there in the late
90's.

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profitbaron
I've started using HN on an increasing basis recently, having been lurking for
a while having, eventually got round to joining and starting to participate in
the discussions.

Although, I do have to agree that there is a great amount of information on
here, especially in the Ask HN type threads.

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zwadia
I feel I add value. But gravity here loves me much. Happy V-day HN.

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mkramlich
info sponge here too. plus agree think you can acquire edu approx equiv to an
MBA via all the free and cheap info and resources avail on the web and in
libraries.

key is to put it all to use!

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shareme
seanMeverette..

What Chicago startup did you end founding or joining?

~~~
seanMeverett
I've founded a few, would be happy to chat more about it and what you're
working on offline :)

