<story><title>New Hacker News Guideline: Avoid Gratuitous Negativity</title><url>http://blog.ycombinator.com/new-hacker-news-guideline</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Udo</author><text>One of the most negative habits is in my opinion the failure to read a comment charitably (to make an effort to interpret it in the best possible light). Instead, people often tend to misread or miserunderstand what&amp;#x27;s being said, only to use the opportunity to write a &amp;quot;correction&amp;quot; based on that false impression. A worse flavor of the same problem is a misunderstanding that is then used to justify outrage or personal annoyance.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s what I find worthy of being changed, and I will certainly make an effort to read comments more charitably as well.&lt;p&gt;Overall though, and I realize this is quite anecdotal, rampant negativity - especially about things other members of the community have created - seems to have gotten less common recently.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>wamatt</author><text>This comment brings to mind the concept of the the steel man &lt;i&gt;[1][2]&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;p&gt;Steelmanning an argument means to go one step further. In addition to selecting the most charitable parts of another person&amp;#x27;s argument, one seeks to improve on it, by making it the best possible representation of the other persons position.&lt;p&gt;From there, one can offer their own counterpoint, to this improved version.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;themerelyreal.wordpress.com&amp;#x2F;2012&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;steelmanning&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;themerelyreal.wordpress.com&amp;#x2F;2012&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;steelmanning&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lesswrong.com&amp;#x2F;lw&amp;#x2F;85h&amp;#x2F;better_disagreement&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lesswrong.com&amp;#x2F;lw&amp;#x2F;85h&amp;#x2F;better_disagreement&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/i&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>New Hacker News Guideline: Avoid Gratuitous Negativity</title><url>http://blog.ycombinator.com/new-hacker-news-guideline</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Udo</author><text>One of the most negative habits is in my opinion the failure to read a comment charitably (to make an effort to interpret it in the best possible light). Instead, people often tend to misread or miserunderstand what&amp;#x27;s being said, only to use the opportunity to write a &amp;quot;correction&amp;quot; based on that false impression. A worse flavor of the same problem is a misunderstanding that is then used to justify outrage or personal annoyance.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s what I find worthy of being changed, and I will certainly make an effort to read comments more charitably as well.&lt;p&gt;Overall though, and I realize this is quite anecdotal, rampant negativity - especially about things other members of the community have created - seems to have gotten less common recently.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>staunch</author><text>I think you nailed the real problem, which is that people have become so quick to write off anyone who ruffles their feathers at all.&lt;p&gt;Drew Houston describes the HN feedback he received for Dropbox as all the motivation he needed to keep going. He also explained that he knew it was a hit because of how many people were saying negative things.&lt;p&gt;Today though, any truly critical comment means you&amp;#x27;re either a hater or a troll. Every person is either a friend or an enemy. Inside the club or outside the club. You can&amp;#x27;t sincerely like something, and also be very critical about aspects of it, without instantly transforming into a jealous hater.&lt;p&gt;Assuming the worst about other people is probably the most negative thing you can do. Everyone is a mixed bag.</text></comment>