> gives dumb people access to each other
replyWas this a serious comment? It made me realise that prior to the Internet, information flow was controlled by journalists or through peer reviewed papers and academic forums. People without advanced education would, generally, be limited to people in their local area.
I feel like it is generally a flippant but serious comment. A lot of social problems right now are caused by the fact that rather than having to travel to some large city for a meetup with people that have your particular neuroses, against the friction of well-adjusted people in the real world, now there is a fan club one click away that will ratify whatever fake illness/condition/problem that you have with no serious pushback. A LOT of personal, social, and political problems right now basically boil down to this.
replyThis makes so much sense, this is why I like Hacker News, you get smart people from different political views all having interesting and healthy discussions.
replyThat just points out that another real problem with the internet is that everyone's voice carries the same weight in ways it didn't used to. Every city has a few folks who believe aliens walk among us or otherwise wear tinfoil hats, but their message was limited to AM radio and cable access, and it was clear their content was not of the same journalistic level as the three major networks used to be - used to, because they've also changed. For example, there is conclusive, repeatable and verifiable evidence that the world is not flat, and it shouldn't be so easy to make convincing content that seems like it is.
reply> shouldn't be so easy to make convincing content that seems like it is.
replyI agree with some of your points, but, who on Earth is getting convinced that the world is flat?