Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by semi-extrinsic on Sunday September 02, 2018 @04:43PM
(#17898544)
I posted a joke a couple of days ago about "the Xzibit pattern" which ended up at 10 points, but it fluctuated a lot so it probably got something like 40 up 30 down. Would be interesting to see the breakdown of votes on HN.
Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by komali2 on Sunday September 02, 2018 @09:00PM
(#17899537)
I'm just glad you can't see the # of votes here for other comments. Helps prevent bandwagonning, though that still happens for downvotes once the css kicks in.
Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by noonespecial on Sunday September 02, 2018 @04:34PM
(#17898512)
Well said. That's about as succinct a sum-up as I've heard. This might actually belong in the FAQ as it might save some folks a bit of confusing cultural acclimation upon arriving at HN from parts distant such as reddit or slashdot (is that still a thing?).
At any rate, way better than "harumph! HN hates fun!"
Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by sandworm101 on Sunday September 02, 2018 @08:20PM
(#17899406)
But if you note my "joke" actually illustrated a point of physics about which at least one person was confused: the expected g-forces. So it wasnt insubstantive, certainly not as insubstantive as the parent comment about elevator music.
Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by tambourine_man on Sunday September 02, 2018 @07:56PM
(#17899322)
Can I ask why you retired your previous handle?
Re:Japan starts space elevator experiments
by DoreenMichele on Sunday September 02, 2018 @08:14PM
(#17899383)
The short version is that I made the leaderboard and it looks like a feminist handle. There's more factors involved, but that's the crux of it.
It is possible to crack a joke here and get it upvoted, but it's hard to pull it off. I even once had a joke upvoted by quite a lot,* like 50 points or something, but most jokes are downvoted not because humor is forbidden, but because insubstantive comments are discouraged.
Some humor is downvoted for being uncivil because a lot of humor is basically poking fun at people or mocking them. A lot of humor is not nice at all. HN tries to meet a very high bar for civility.
* Under my old handle and it hit 59 points:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14996229