We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11228607 and marked it off-topic.

>The point I wanted you to make is that some company is developing a great new technology while running a profitable business. If robotics, self-driving cars, clean energy, etc could do the same, we'd all benefit.

That's a perfectly nice point, but it's also obvious. Were you stating such an obvious thing "because we're all a bunch of fucking idiots"?

Your original post's wording really seems to be wishing other startups could get away with that kind of waste as long as their core product is good, not wishing they were trying to massively eliminate waste.

Nope, everyone knows that landing the first stage is an incredibly difficult problem to solve, right? I was simply saying that they have a lot of time and money to solve it because they have a profitable business that doesn't depend on them solving it. Lots of startups are VC backed long shots. Most startups fail because they run out of money. It seems to be the way the market is played these days. SpaceX is kept private, for example, so it doesn't have to be held hostage by public markets. That's rare for most companies.

Are you really trying to blame me for an argument you got yourself into with someone else? Way to go indeed.

You're the person with the "friendly" reminder stating the obvious. Try to remember me and avoid adding pointless comments.

If a friendly reminder of the obvious causes you to go nuts and start an argument with a stranger, that's a problem with you, not me.

Just trying to correct a problem. The level of discussion will never rise if people don't make more of an effort. Placing the words "friendly reminder" doesn't change the fact it was a stupid comment. As a friendly reminder, try not to restate the obvious and help raise the level beyond noise. Most threads read on this site add little value and nothing is to be learned from them. Can't we do better?

By the way, here's our discussion where you thought you needed to explain why SpaceX is landing on a barge:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9384297

Do you think I don't understand why SpaceX is using a barge in the ocean? I'm trying to dig deeper and you seem to be stuck in the mundane.

All I see there is a very poor understanding of SpaceX's approach. The moment you mention hovering, you've shown you don't know what they're doing. And this is supposed to be an argument against stating the "obvious"??

I was providing you with another example of you adding zero value. I wasn't trying to limit the conversation to SpaceX's current approach. I was attempting to have a broader discussion of possibilities.

You seem to enjoy the more mundane, which is fine. However, I'm really trying to drive home the point that some people want more. Perhaps you can take notice and not insert drivel into conversations?

Even if stating the obvious is a sin (and I'm not convinced), it seems way less of a sin than starting gigantic unproductive arguments, or asking questions without doing the most basic of research first.

If you want to raise the level of discussion, look at the beam in your own eye first.

Certainly I'm not helping by continuing to grow this gigantic pointless argument, so I think this will be my last post here.