Comment by tomhow
24 days ago
It would be nice to think we could solve problems like this via comments on HN. After nearly two decades of this site's existence, it's pretty clear that's not realistic.
This site is for curious conversation, not combat or activism, and this is only a site where people want to participate because enough people make the effort to keep pushing for it to stay curious rather than combative. The only reason I saw your comments is because other users flagged them for being in breach of the guidelines.
We understand the guidelines are open to interpretation, and that it can take some time to become familiar with the culture and norms here. You can learn more about how the moderators apply the guidelines by reading the comments posted by dang and myself:
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
It is clear at least two of us have fundamentally different definitions of a lot of these terms.
For example, I don't consider activism to be expressing an opinion in conversation, but to be taking a placard out onto the street and protesting etc. I consider ideology to be a complex system, not a single statement.
There do seem to be some sacred cows on here — one of them being criticism of Wikipedia — but I don't find the guidelines as clear as you do.
We’re really just asking you to read the room. HN has existed for nearly two decades and the guidelines had been in place and stable for the most of that time. We’re asking you to learn and respect our norms in the same way you would if you were visiting someone’s home.
As for Wikipedia; it’s criticized plenty here. It’s a mistake to stereotype the HN community as being homogeneously for or against anything. It’s a large community with a bell curve of opinion about most topics.