All: China-geopolitics threads on HN jumped the shark years ago; now they're jumping the ocean the shark is in. This is damaging HN, which is for curious conversation, not flamewar.
What to do? Perhaps more explicit instructions will help. I've put together the following algorithm. Bug reports and pull requests are welcome.
Before you comment on a topic like this, please follow these simple steps:
(2) If you understand that flamebait, name-calling, ideological rhetoric, nationalistic rhetoric, and flamewar are off topic on HN regardless of how right you are or feel you are, go to step 3. Otherwise go to step 1.
(3) If you understand that anything which has been repeated many times is off topic here (example: "$x is evil" for any popular or unpopular $x), go to step 4. Otherwise please see https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... and then go to step 1.
(4) If you think I might be posting this because I'm secretly a foreign agent, communist, racist, or $x-sympathizer, go to step 1.
(5) You now have enough information to know whether or not you want to use HN as intended. If you do, great! skip the remaining steps. If you don't, proceed to step 6.
(6) It's ok if you don't want to use HN as intended, but in that case please don't damage HN by posting to it. This ecosystem is fragile and needs protecting. You wouldn't drop a lit match in a dry forest, dump engine oil in a mountain lake, or litter in a city park, so please don't do the equivalent here. Plenty of other platforms are designed for engagement-above-all and will welcome your posts. Pick one of those and comment there instead.
HN isn't optimized for engagement—it's for curiosity (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...). That's a softer and more delicate feeling than the ones which drive internet flamewars, and it requires a baseline of kindness, openness, and respect in order to function. Not engaging is always an option here, and not engaging in ways that destroy the commons is a necessity. Before you hit "add comment" or "reply", ask yourself "is curiosity what I am feeling right now?" If the answer is no, please wait for that to change.
What to do? Perhaps more explicit instructions will help. I've put together the following algorithm. Bug reports and pull requests are welcome.
Before you comment on a topic like this, please follow these simple steps:
(1) Read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, which describes the intended use of HN.
(2) If you understand that flamebait, name-calling, ideological rhetoric, nationalistic rhetoric, and flamewar are off topic on HN regardless of how right you are or feel you are, go to step 3. Otherwise go to step 1.
(3) If you understand that anything which has been repeated many times is off topic here (example: "$x is evil" for any popular or unpopular $x), go to step 4. Otherwise please see https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so... and then go to step 1.
(4) If you think I might be posting this because I'm secretly a foreign agent, communist, racist, or $x-sympathizer, go to step 1.
(5) You now have enough information to know whether or not you want to use HN as intended. If you do, great! skip the remaining steps. If you don't, proceed to step 6.
(6) It's ok if you don't want to use HN as intended, but in that case please don't damage HN by posting to it. This ecosystem is fragile and needs protecting. You wouldn't drop a lit match in a dry forest, dump engine oil in a mountain lake, or litter in a city park, so please don't do the equivalent here. Plenty of other platforms are designed for engagement-above-all and will welcome your posts. Pick one of those and comment there instead.
HN isn't optimized for engagement—it's for curiosity (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...). That's a softer and more delicate feeling than the ones which drive internet flamewars, and it requires a baseline of kindness, openness, and respect in order to function. Not engaging is always an option here, and not engaging in ways that destroy the commons is a necessity. Before you hit "add comment" or "reply", ask yourself "is curiosity what I am feeling right now?" If the answer is no, please wait for that to change.