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Comment by coderdude | Hacker News Reader

It's believable though. The most powerful military force on the planet chooses something your company makes to become the standard issue. It's hard to believe that wouldn't feel humbling. What a sense of pride that must give them. Do those two feelings cancel each other out? It's important to not try to frame everything you read based on whatever article was recently up-voted here.

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>* It's hard to believe that wouldn't feel humbling.*

The parent's point is that it wouldn't feel humbling in any original meaning of the word. You wouldn't feel "lowered in stature" etc for being chosen, but the opposite.

But of course this ignores that the word has shifted in use.

Yeah you're right when you mention the shift in use. Reminds me of people who use "begs the question" incorrectly (basically everyone and all the time) but how most people think of it now. Very pedantic though. (Pedantic is the HN norm though, so, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.)

agreed. Everyone in that company knows the responsibility of quality as the product leaves their hands. They know that they are building for the United States military and that those weapons are now apart of history. So it is in fact bigger than they are as individuals. It's also a polite way of speaking of appreciation when you know that others companies that also produce things of great quality weren't chosen and you were. It means you feel a bigger responsiblity to take on. And that's humbling.

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