A biologist who believes that trees speak a language we can learn to listen to

Re:A biologist who believes that trees speak a language we c... by tibarion on Thursday July 12, 2018 @09:38AM (#17514373)

No, it definitely is. I think you should reread the welcome page: https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

"The most important principle on HN, though, is to make thoughtful comments. Thoughtful in both senses: civil and substantial.

The test for substance is a lot like it is for links. Does your comment teach us anything? There are two ways to do that: by pointing out some consideration that hadn't previously been mentioned, and by giving more information about the topic, perhaps from personal experience. Whereas comments like "LOL!" or worse still, "That's retarded!" teach us nothing."

If that doesn't sit right with you then maybe you'll be more comfortable using Reddit or something similar.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A biologist who believes that trees speak a language we c... by sAbakumoff on Thursday July 12, 2018 @10:11AM (#17514762)

yeah at least people have fun on reddit and don't blow up scandals from innocent LoL comments.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:A biologist who believes that trees speak a language we c... by dang on Friday July 13, 2018 @12:50AM (#17520579)

The problem is more complicated and more interesting than this. You can have many innocent comments, none objectionable in its own right, that add up to a situation no one wants or enjoys. The issue isn't that the individual comments are bad; in principle they could add fun to an otherwise good and substantial site. But in practice you can't have a stable equilibrium that way: if you allow it, you end up with a snowball effect in which such comments take over and it's all downhill from there. Therefore we can't allow it. It isn't about being killjoys, but about protecting the viability of the site.

[ Parent | on HN ]