Only on HN can a light-hearted librarian appreciation post still be treated with heavy cynicism, geez lol
Why is criticism bucketed with cynicism? I led with my appreciation of the good things in the post.
When the day comes that I post something of mine on HN, I will be tremendously disappointed if all of the comments are the textual equivalent of a participation trophy.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by jasonlotito on Saturday April 19, 2025 @07:34PM
(#43740310)
> I led with my appreciation of the good things in the post.
Maybe you like frosting on shit, but it's still frosting on shit.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by almostgotcaught on Saturday April 19, 2025 @12:43PM
(#43737549)
do enough PR reviews and you start think everything is one. alternatively, with the causality reversed, explains why most people are pricks in PR reviews.
If I reviewed PRs like I comment on HN I'd get fired. Know your audience!
Seems like you think PRs are the only place where criticism happens.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by almostgotcaught on Saturday April 19, 2025 @02:46PM
(#43738498)
Seems like you think everyone is just dying to consume your brilliant critique.
I guess they want a 500 page manual done with LaTeX or gtfo :)
It's like one long Reddit post. Very cringe.
I was thinking it reminded me of a LinkedIn inspir-tizement post, but yea, also feels like a Reddit lecture. It reads like it is trying desperately to hold the reader’s attention while they are simultaneously driving a car and in another browser window scrolling through brainrot TikTok videos.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by jasonlotito on Saturday April 19, 2025 @07:36PM
(#43740319)
> Very cringe.
The irony.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by enthdegree on Saturday April 19, 2025 @12:49PM
(#43737591)
Reminds me of the old The Oatmeal infographics. Very epic mustache
It’s millennial speak
Agreed. This kind of writing is skimmable but not readable to me.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by glacier5674 on Saturday April 19, 2025 @12:36PM
(#43737490)
"Write a critique of the following article, using the style of the article:"
If you get anything as succinct and focused as what I (genuinely) wrote myself, I'll gladly take the criticism!
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by adammarples on Saturday April 19, 2025 @03:50PM
(#43738962)
to be fair i pasted your prompt into chatgpt and it was genuinely funnier and more readable than the article, it even had jokes.
They are EVERYWHERE. Behind desks. In alcoves. Possibly in your very home...if you've recently borrowed War and Peace and failed to return it on time.
lol
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by bongodongobob on Saturday April 19, 2025 @01:13PM
(#43737763)
Go touch grass dude. Seriously.
Aren't you the guy saying we need to extralegally hang the people in charge of the federal government? Wish I had advice to offer you in turn but holy cow man idk
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by hackable_sand on Saturday April 19, 2025 @02:59PM
(#43738598)
Agree with the other comment. You should go touch some grass.
Wish I had a balanced life like you two, then I'd feel more comfortable judging strangers with childish gamer taunts.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by bongodongobob on Saturday April 19, 2025 @01:22PM
(#43737844)
Yes, historically it's been the way to defeat fascism. I'm not the one mad about a light hearted article about libraries lol. More pissed about the end of the US and illegal deportations, the president scamming people with shitcoins, ignoring the judicial branch, shit like that.
If you take a minute to think about it, you might agree we are ultimately mad about similar things
You’re mad about writing styles. The other person is mad about a dictator-wannabe tearing down our system of government.
How are those “similar”?
I guess you didn't think about it
Anyone that uses this phrase unironically needs to get off his computer and read a book or talk to some real people. You are telling someone to be less online in the most terminally online way possible.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by fknorangesite on Saturday April 19, 2025 @01:25PM
(#43737863)
No one asked.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by JasserInicide on Saturday April 19, 2025 @03:29PM
(#43738791)
Yeah I see this kind of paternalistic condescending style of writing in many left-leaning circles. It sounds like it's geared for children but no they're actually writing for adults. They see themselves as moral beacons and they need to proselytize the stupid unwashed masses because they just don't know any better.
I despise it.
The style of this blog post probably owes a lot more to the author's career as an author of kids' books rather than to his political tendencies.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by jasonlotito on Saturday April 19, 2025 @07:33PM
(#43740303)
Unfortunately, the comment. Witless. Pointless. Worthless. Less.
It’s written in the style of a children’s book but with a millennial accent. Not a good fit for this audience but it’s not that bad
A writing style like this indicates that the author does not have the taste to write well. This is a signal that the content will not be good.
Re:Librarians Are Dangerous
by cadamsdotcom on Sunday April 20, 2025 @05:00AM
(#43742556)
In my opinion the stiltedness served a purpose to take you on a journey and faded away since the most important devices used were imagery.
The writing warmed my heart, which is more than most - by that measure I considered it good!
Unfortunately, the writing.
It's...stilted.
It's presented as a letter/email, but it reads as though the author wants you to hear someone with good comedic timing... DELIVERING IT LIKE STANDUP!
But ellipses...do not translate to funnier text. The text just has to be funny! "Pauses" only enhance what's already there!
> write a quippy, funny letter from a "concerned citizen" to their community highlighting the "danger" posed by librarians. said "danger" is their vendetta against ignorance, illiteracy. style should involve SUDDEN CAPS FOR EMPHASIS, ellipses...for...artificial comedic timing. But there's something more important to the style. Something being demonstrated in this very sentence. Yes - it's *short, narration-like rhythms". These shorter sentences should occupy their own paragraph.
If you can replicate a blog post with a single LLM prompt, you start to wonder whether the author had the same thought.