I've had group projects where I couldn't communicate effectively with half of my team.

I think it's great that colleges are preparing our young people for the challenges they'll be facing in the workforce.

That's the problem, colleges aren't supposed to be workforce preparation. They're supposed to be a place of higher learning. If students/TAs/professors can't communicate, learning and intellectual discussion (the entire point of a university) isn't occurring.

I agree with you 100%, but my comment was a joke.

That's the problem, HackerNews comments aren't supposed to be humorous. They're supposed to be a place of higher discussion. If users/mods/OPs can't be serious, learning and intellectual discussion (the entire point of HackerNews) isn't occurring.

There's a big difference between humor-as-end (reddit) and humor-as-means (HN, ideally). I'm the first to complain when HN feels like reddit, but I found the comment insightful and incisive.

Their use of irony to make their point wasn't at all antithetical to the serious, intellectual discussions you're asking for.

Pedantry, on the other hand, is much more likely to prohibit meaningful discussion.

> Pedantry, on the other hand, is much more likely to prohibit meaningful discussion

So are accusations of pedantry when you don't get the humour of a joke ;-)

Your parent was clearly not being serious.

This whole thread has devolved into a Poe's law fugue.

Your comment made me spit all over my laptop. I'm just letting you know because I think I'd appreciate knowing if something I wrote caused such a reaction.

I actually worry a lot about whether or not a comment I make or want to make is "HN enough" or "too much like a reddit comment", what with the emphasis on comments contributing to the conversation. Maybe "a lot" is too strong for what I feel. It feels like a lot for internet comments.

I hope expressing this anxiety somehow contributes. :P

Thanks, and hopefully it wasn't sugary. Keyboards that stick suck. ;)

I used to feel that way, then I settled on a simple set of rules. My comment should be serious and make sense to the parent (and if it is I don't really care how on-topic it is, some of the best conversations are tangents), or if it's not that serious, it needs to attempt to be a little insightful (humor is great for bypassing people's preconceptions). If I have something that's neither of those, I'll only submit it if I can contribute something additionally along with it that follows the prior guidelines. Every few days I'll erase the comment I've typed into the box (sometimes multiple paragraphs worth) after reflecting because it's either not relevant enough, too inflammatory, or will likely start a conversation I really don't feel like participating in. Different people have different criteria, but this helps me feel like I'm contributing, which matters to me, since I get so much pleasure out of HN.

I also want to thank you. For making me bust out some google-fu to figure out what "Poe's law" and a "fugue" are. And for the lulz of course. That goes with out saying.

>That's the problem, HackerNews comments aren't supposed to be humorous.

I don't know where you got this impression but it's not true

Is this a joke? I can't tell...

Reread both comments again. He or she is joking.

So was I. b^)

The humor was pretty obvious to me.

Humor vs. HN. Humor loses.

I've had projects where I was the only fluent English speaker, AND the rest of the team all spoke another language (the same one) and decided to communicate almost exclusively in that language.

The same happended to me. It was for an Accounting class in Australia. They switched to mandarin to make it easier on everyone else.

On the other hand, what a great opportunity to learn another language!

A couple of weeks of duolinguo while using the language for daily talks will do the trick

And also to the students they TA.

it's also a disservice to domestic students- when your TA/lecturer barely speaks english- they can explain important concepts very easily to chinese students directly in chinese in office hours- but try talking to them in english? You'd have a hard time communicating.

English speaking students can actually be at a disadvantage in this sort of environment.

Actually I recall an Asian math teacher who used basic English but did so to great effect. Her way of breaking problems down really helped me grasp them more effectively. Of course other non-native instructors were not as good, so I'd guess it depends.