I guess that's where we disagree then: I didn't see that comment as being dismissive, but rather as raising a legitimate question.
I serve as an alumni representative on a number of committees at my alma mater, and it's very rare that a proposal comes to us and does not meet with any criticism. This isn't because we have lots of horrible proposals coming to us or because we're grouchy old academics; it's because even if we like the general idea behind something, the precise details are rarely perfect. It's very rare for us to actually vote against something, and even proposals being withdrawn are rare; but there are a great many ideas which are changed -- and hopefully improved -- as a result of the criticisms they receive.
If jug6ernaut had written "a Hacker News t-shirt? What a dumb idea... I get lots of free t-shirts and if I donate $13 directly then Watsi ends up with far more money" then I would have said that he was being dismissive and the comment was not useful. But he didn't; instead, he asked a question about the detail -- is this the best design for a HN t-shirt? Is it too minimalist? -- and implicitly suggested a potential improvement.
It's natural, having spent time working on something, to view any criticism as an attack to be defended against; but the more we can deny that impulse and give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their motives in raising questions, the more useful I think our discussions can be.
At the end of the day, this t-shirt design was selected because someone thought Hackernews people would like it, buy it, and in turn support a good cause. If Hackernews doesn't like it, then the effort has failed on all three counts, and the fact that anyone would reject this reality with a condescending wave of the hand leads me to believe that this project was never about contributing to the hacker community or helping humanity; It seems more like an exercise in ego inflation.
Congratulations! We have a winner.
You have just won first place in the crowd sourced competition for the front of V2.0 of the official Hacker News Tshirt.
Honorable mention:
Wear something people want.
Correlation != clothesation.
Fuck. That. Shirt.
Take off this shirt and get back to work.
Shirt early. Shirt often.
Made from 100% down (votes).
I clicked "threads" and got this shirt.
RSS (Real Soft Shirt)
Y Combed Cotton Unknown or expired link.Inside enough that you need to know about YC to recognize that slogan, but general enough that just about any HN regular should get it. (To anyone else, it would simply seem like an intentionally abstract or unintentionally opaque statement, almost like Engrish.)
Plus, that sequence of 4 words is very Google-able, for anyone curious enough to want to know more...
*Y Cottonator
This made me email myself a new password.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Who Would Pay Money For That?I think, however, that this was a genuine question, and one I'd like answered since I have the same question myself. Which is why I upvoted it. Maybe there's a meaning I don't get, maybe there's a clever trick I'm not seeing. If there is I'd love to know so I can appreciate it.
Edit: This might work best for voting ability in general, not just downvoting ability.
2- Why users with karma will have a better understanding of downvote than the passives old-regular-readers? Peoples who read HN every days love the high level of the comments here, let them have produce some feed back. Note that I just defend my interest: I'm not good at creating comment with value (so I do not comment a lot), but I feel confident to reconise good comments from bad comments.
This thread is an example of why the delay is implemented, and this comment is an example of low value comments.
They really should scrap the reply link entirely and move it next to the "flag" button e.g. | reply
Please continue to foster an environment that is positive and provide a good example, but if people feel like they are being manipulated, they are going to get pissed off. I used to get more pissed off than I do now, but I still get upset. I wish I didn't. I wish that everyone could live in peace and work together.
Maybe if HN we're self-policing via ability to flag comments and posts where enough flags means that it shows as username only with no post title/comment show unless "show" is clicked, no downvoting (a flagged and hidden post or comment could rank at the top), and without the user banning/ghosting stuff...
It's precisely because I want HN to be a site where people engage in meaningful discussion that I try to discourage people from upvoting the first dismissive comment they come across. Even discourage is probably too strong a word though. I feel like someone standing in the surf, trying to hold back a breaking wave with his hand.
(I didn't answer his question because other users already had: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5363492)