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Comment by norir | Hacker News Reader

I only post things I believe to be true but I am not always successful at communicating my thoughts and feelings. The response lets me know if I was effective or not. I also have blindspots and recognize that I may not be seeing the whole picture at any given moment. Sure, I could hedge every statement with every possible doubt but then it becomes impossible to actually say anything.

If I had a reputation then people would consciously or not evaluate the truth of my statements at least in part based on my reputation. I often fail, but I try to write the truth as I see it and let it stand without being tied up in my identity.

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But right now I have zero knowledge of your reputation. I have zero interest in finding out the reputation of "user norir"... I am evaluating your statements one at a time, without interest in your historical activity.

I would expect the same of readers of my posts... I highly doubt anyone is digging through my old posts. Who has the time? For what purpose?

The exception is maybe a big claim you make. Perhaps a controversial claim which is hard to verify, and people may then look at your past comments. But if you're not making any big bold claims, or leaking juicy gossip, or dropping any unbelievable truth bombs....

I think your account churn is motivated by something else. It's your business, it's all good, but your HN account reputation wouldn't be used against you. Every day is a new day, and people gravitate towards good faith discussion, don't they? Your spicy post from the other day is forgiven! (to be clear, I am not aware of any spicy posts you wrote). Good luck.

The way you wrote this resonates with me. I've noticed the "pressure," internally sourced or not, that comes with building a persona in a community of peers you (for the most part) respect.

It's good in some ways because it drives behavior I would consider healthy in a community--thoughtfully reviewing a post before hitting 'reply,' respectful discourse, and thorough fact-checking.

But I also find that same pressure convincing me not to post, especially if I'm a novice in an area or need help. I understand this is egotistical in many ways, and managing it by "staying anonymous via a new stage name" is a really interesting idea.

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