There's a lot of sub-text hiding under the phrase, "You [HN] are toxic." It is strongly implied that this is a problem that needs to be solved and the only way to solve it is for HN to change to become less toxic.
I dispute that. The problem is not that HN is toxic. It may well be, but that is not what matters. If you think it's toxic, the solution is not to complain about it in the hopes that HN will change to better fit your model of non-toxicity, the solution is to stop spending multiple hours of your life every single day using it.
The world is full of toxicity. That will never change. It's part and parcel of being alive, of having to compete for resources in a Darwinian world, a direct and necessary consequence of the laws of physics. The way to avoid toxicity is not to try to get rid of it because you will fail. It is to simply choose not to spend multiple hours every day wallowing in it.
> If you think it's toxic, the solution is not to complain about it in the hopes that HN will change to better fit your model of non-toxicity, the solution is to stop spending multiple hours of your life every single day using it.
It might still be helpful to complain if it causes some people to rethink how much time they spend on, what they're getting out of it, and possibly reduce that time (if they come to the same conclusion as the author).
Complaining about HN's toxicity when you're spending multiple hours on it every day is like an alcoholic complaining about the fact that it's easy to buy liquor. It's not an entirely invalid complaint, but the problem is that it's not actionable because prohibition doesn't work. The only viable solution for the addict is to find a way to stop drinking.
There's a lot of sub-text hiding under the phrase, "You [HN] are toxic." It is strongly implied that this is a problem that needs to be solved and the only way to solve it is for HN to change to become less toxic.
I dispute that. The problem is not that HN is toxic. It may well be, but that is not what matters. If you think it's toxic, the solution is not to complain about it in the hopes that HN will change to better fit your model of non-toxicity, the solution is to stop spending multiple hours of your life every single day using it.
The world is full of toxicity. That will never change. It's part and parcel of being alive, of having to compete for resources in a Darwinian world, a direct and necessary consequence of the laws of physics. The way to avoid toxicity is not to try to get rid of it because you will fail. It is to simply choose not to spend multiple hours every day wallowing in it.