If I made code contributions to LW, reading this would make me associate sad thoughts with that work, and I would be less likely to do it as much. Maybe we could be more encouraging to the nice people who provide us with this free service? I mean, still point out things that could work better, but without the emotionally charged hyperbole.
Are you a programmer? I and most of the programmers I’ve been in contact with (at least from the hacker subculture, not the corporate software engineering types) seem to prefer the blunt and hyperbolic criticism so long as it’s informative.
Yes, I am a programmer, of the professional software engineering type.
I and most of the programmers I’ve been in contact with (at least from the hacker subculture, not the corporate software engineering types) seem to prefer the blunt and hyperbolic criticism so long as it’s informative.
Have you considered how much this aspect of hacker culture excludes programmers who otherwise might make valuable contributions? Programmers who don’t prefer hyperbolic criticism (or at least can’t rationalize self-reporting that they prefer it) won’t stick around in an environment where that is the norm.
Also, the sentence I objected to, “I hate this feature with an abiding hatred”, adds no useful information. (Maybe you think it reflects the importance of the issue, but I don’t think prioritizing by expressiveness of the users is an effective strategy.)
For some indication of how this issue affects actual LW developers, see this post.
The impression I get is that hackers consider the information benefit of allowing it to be worth the collateral damage to potential developers, for more or less the same reasons that people use Crocker’s Rules. That is only an impression; I am near to, but not part of, said culture, and cannot speak for it.
Upvoted for the concrete example.
(something about the echo in your first line makes me feel like my phrasing offended you. For purposes of debugging my social module, I would appreciate it if you confirm or deny that.)
Responses such as yours may well discourage people from thinking about how the site could be better at all, for fear that they might not be doing it politely enough and might draw a belittling response.
It seems to me far more likely that they would think about it a tiny amount less, and express their thoughts more constructively, which would be better overall. We will still have far more people pointing out work that needs to be done than people willing to actually do the work.
I cannot fathom how this comment can be so downvoted. Snarky remarks do hurt, and pointing that out is necessary. Placing the duty to be charitable on the receiver is one of the primary failure modes of communication. I do understand that both LW and programmers draw an above average amount of their demographics from non-NT people, but rejecting the reality of emotions in the majority (even in the programmers group) will not improve anyone’s experiences.
I might be more careful in my phrasing in the future, though I’ll note that your opinion is pretty hypothetical. Most of my take is that I keep getting told that there are no resources for site development, so it doesn’t seem as though what I say (and what I said was not especially nasty) is likely to make much difference.
If I made code contributions to LW, reading this would make me associate sad thoughts with that work, and I would be less likely to do it as much. Maybe we could be more encouraging to the nice people who provide us with this free service? I mean, still point out things that could work better, but without the emotionally charged hyperbole.
Are you a programmer? I and most of the programmers I’ve been in contact with (at least from the hacker subculture, not the corporate software engineering types) seem to prefer the blunt and hyperbolic criticism so long as it’s informative.
Yes, I am a programmer, of the professional software engineering type.
Have you considered how much this aspect of hacker culture excludes programmers who otherwise might make valuable contributions? Programmers who don’t prefer hyperbolic criticism (or at least can’t rationalize self-reporting that they prefer it) won’t stick around in an environment where that is the norm.
Also, the sentence I objected to, “I hate this feature with an abiding hatred”, adds no useful information. (Maybe you think it reflects the importance of the issue, but I don’t think prioritizing by expressiveness of the users is an effective strategy.)
For some indication of how this issue affects actual LW developers, see this post.
The impression I get is that hackers consider the information benefit of allowing it to be worth the collateral damage to potential developers, for more or less the same reasons that people use Crocker’s Rules. That is only an impression; I am near to, but not part of, said culture, and cannot speak for it.
Upvoted for the concrete example.
(something about the echo in your first line makes me feel like my phrasing offended you. For purposes of debugging my social module, I would appreciate it if you confirm or deny that.)
Responses such as yours may well discourage people from thinking about how the site could be better at all, for fear that they might not be doing it politely enough and might draw a belittling response.
It seems to me far more likely that they would think about it a tiny amount less, and express their thoughts more constructively, which would be better overall. We will still have far more people pointing out work that needs to be done than people willing to actually do the work.
I cannot fathom how this comment can be so downvoted. Snarky remarks do hurt, and pointing that out is necessary. Placing the duty to be charitable on the receiver is one of the primary failure modes of communication. I do understand that both LW and programmers draw an above average amount of their demographics from non-NT people, but rejecting the reality of emotions in the majority (even in the programmers group) will not improve anyone’s experiences.
I might be more careful in my phrasing in the future, though I’ll note that your opinion is pretty hypothetical. Most of my take is that I keep getting told that there are no resources for site development, so it doesn’t seem as though what I say (and what I said was not especially nasty) is likely to make much difference.