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Comment by krapp

1 day ago

He wasn't family. He created a product for money and you consumed it. Your relationship with Scott Adams was entirely transactional.

Caring about the man this much is like caring about Colonel Sanders or Tony the Tiger, it's weird and kind of gross.

We have personal relationships with the authors whose work we read.

Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Dostoyevsky have changed my life. Just as much as family.

You can loudly say “no” and I’m loudly saying “yes.”

  • > We have personal relationships with the authors whose work we read.

    To the extent that is arguably true (and I’d argue it mostly is not, there may be a one-way effect and/or a parasocial attachment, but “personal relationship” requires two-way interaction, and confusing a parasocial attachment for a personal relationship is the start of...lots of bad things) those relationships quite literally do not share the “you don’t choose family” aspect that applies to (a subset of) family relationships.

This has to be one of the more insane takes in the thread. Colonel Sanders and Tony the Tiger aren’t real people, Scott Adams is (was?) a real person.

I listen to an artist who I feel changed my life with her music. When I heard she had attempted suicide I was deeply saddened. I had this irrational but deep feeling like I should have done something to help her, without knowing what that possibly could have been, since I don’t actually know her at all.

Is that “weird and kind of gross” too? To care about people suffering and dying even if you don’t know them personally?

  • >Is that “weird and kind of gross” too? To care about people suffering and dying even if you don’t know them personally?

    I promise almost no one one here spent so much as a second being concerned about Scott Adam's health until this thread came along, and now people are acting like they lost a parent. But what they're really mourning isn't the death of a person, but the death of a brand.

    Meanwhile ICE is shooting people in the face, the US is sponsoring genocide in Palestine, and real suffering and death abound but as far as Hacker News is concerned all of it's just "politics" that doesn't stimulate the intellect or curious conversation.

    • Liar. I literally was worried since november when he had to stop his podcasting....You are a cruel individual who clearly has political issues and your name seems about right.....

      1 reply →

    • I don't support Israel or like Scott Adams, but man does this comment fucking piss me off.

      > But what they're really mourning isn't the death of a person, but the death of a brand.

      Translation: If you like Scott Adams in any way, you are not like me. Since I am always right, you must be wrong. People who are wrong aren't really people, and thus don't really feel things. Ergo, if you like Scott Adams your emotional distress at his death isn't real, or at least not genuine in the way my emotions are.

      > Meanwhile ICE is shooting people in the face, the US is sponsoring genocide in Palestine, and real suffering and death abound

      Translation: The only things which are important are the things I care about. I only focus on $CURRENT_THING, which means that every conversation must be about $CURRENT_THING, sometimes $CURRENT_THING2 as well. Whenever anyone mentions they are feeling any emotion about anything else, I have to raise the question, "Yeah, but did you know there's a $CURRENT_THING going on?" I do this because there's only two options: Either the person thinks exactly like I do, in which case they should feel like I do and any deviations must be corrected; or, they don't think exactly like I do, in which case they are personally culpable for $CURRENT_THING. Again, I am always right and if you're not like me, then you are wrong.

      > as far as Hacker News is concerned all of it's just "politics" that doesn't stimulate the intellect or curious conversation.

      Translation: I'm incapable of nuance and an article I liked or posted got flagged. This means that everyone else is out to get me. I take this extremely personally because, again, I am always right.

      ---

      TL;DR: You have a negative EQ and you're an asshole.