HACKER Q&A
📣 dabockster

Let's talk about empathy towards others


So I just read yet another article about HN users using their own views on science and logic to rip into someone else because of something they didn't agree with. I won't link or mention the article here, but this is a repeating pattern. You have to remember that there are other people in tech who do not necessarily have the same opinions or conclusions on data that you do. And that is okay.

What isn't okay is showing up and attempting to coerce someone to believe the same things you do, in the same ways that you do. I stopped going to HN regularly for this reason a long time ago. But with your lack of empathy and obvious lack of respect for original human thought and emotion, I decided to come back and post this. What you are doing is hurting people and is holding this industry back. You contribute NOTHING by arguing with someone like that. Being online behind a username does not give you a pass to treat someone less than human.

I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to look at themselves in the mirror and try to understand genuine human empathy. Stop thinking of things in strict fact and logic (like, eg, Spock), and learn to be sympathetic to other individuals’ feelings and emotions. Remember that you don’t have to agree with them, but you still need to understand their perspective at the very least. Learn empathy. Be a human being.

One final thing: I say all tof his as a person with a diagnosed autism disorder. If I, of all people, can be empathetic then so can you. There are ZERO excuses for this sort of behavior. Fix it ASAP.


  👤 bartvk Accepted Answer ✓
I actually like coming here, because whenever I see comments that aren’t nice towards others, I can simply say so. Sometimes you get downvoted, but usually not.

👤 diogenesjunior
I've learned a lot about myself, programming and life from HN. I rarely see the petty slap fights you're talking about.

Edit: I see that the submission is flagged + dead. It seems relevant to HN though.


👤 warent
I've been on HN for a few years and have no idea what you're referring to, unless you are talking about things marked as [flagged], [dead], or downvoted to oblivion. Those I just ignore.

Are there any specific examples?