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Comment by user-the-name | Hacker News Reader

> Generally, HN people are more educated and better trained in logical thinking

The main effect this has is that HN people have an overinflated sense of their own competence, and are more blind to their own ignorance.

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I do not disagree, and I hoped it was already visible from my initial comment. But, on average, you probably still get better results from HN crowd than from other crowds, in matters that require knowledge and logical thinking. Do you disagree?

Absolutely disagree. I think HN is massively blind to its own biases, and makes the wrong calls very often as a result.

Ok, I can accept that as a possibility.

But here's a curiosity: why are you here, then? What do you derive from reading all the comments from people that are by default wrong? Isn't it a massive waste of your time to read large number of comments, just to occasionally find one that you agree with as being correct?

I am here to get thoughts on tech, tech news, and tech related things. I am outside of that world, and want to get an insider's perspective on my own views.

When it comes to education (my field), HN is generally very, very similar to any other large online group such as facebook or reddit - the biases and areas of ignorance are the same.

So, in other words, I come here to read and learn about the things this site should know about - technology and related fields. Whereas comment sections such as this one, I consume much the same as 'opinion articles'.

Not who you were originally replying to, but I find myself in a similar boat. I don't necessary add any more weight to a comment simply because its on HN.

But I do find HN useful in terms of randomly coming across topics that may be of tangential use in my work. Also, it tends to have more discussions that I'm interested in if I just want to blow off some steam on a forum and tends to have less vitriol than, say, a sub-Reddit

I am here for similar reasons, and I don't spend much time anywhere else, again for reasons similar to yours. On average, I found HN to be good, and that I believe is due to the people who contribute here. And I am rather surprised to see that some people have such a bad impression of the overall quality of the contributors.

Maybe it's due to my approach to HN comments: if I find something interesting, I read, upvote and dive further into the thread; sometimes I comment. Otherwise, I move on.

The problem is that “other crowds” is an amorphous and meaningless concept. In one context “other crowds” means the US/EU population as a whole, in which case sure, HN readers are on average probably more educated and better-informed. But in another context “other crowds” might mean “experts in the humanities and social sciences,” compared to which the average HN reader is hopelessly ignorant unless the question is specifically about programming. And indeed it is the humanities and social sciences where HN’s blindness and ignorance is most obvious, and its arrogance most undeserved.

For esoteric topics, HN can’t be beat. For specific topics, like medical issues, Reddit or Facebook are often amazing.

Have condition X. Doctors say Y, which doesn’t actually help.

Support groups will have a long list of things to try. Questions to ask doctors lifestyle changes. Up to date info on diagnosis/ treatment.

What tests should be run, how to interpret tests.

Medications side effects doctors don’t know about.

I always assumed a Facebook medical support group would be all nonsense. Instead it’s got tons of people who have spent years researching and experimenting, and have amazing advise to give.

Simple example. Was going to the bathroom 10+ times a night. Years of doctors were zero help.

Someone suggested aloe Vera freeze dried pills. 3 days later I was sleeping through the night.

Medical community is both amazing and full of major gaps.

I found http://n-gate.com/ helpful.

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