For what little it's worth, a lot of my commentary on HN for quite a while has been centered around the effects of things on real people -- whether it's UI, buggy software, or poverty.
And those conversations have generally not gone very well.
So I've recently started giving up. HN is just not the place for that sort of thing. It's a place where the audience-participants want analysis, they want technical details, they prize expertise, and they can't discuss value unless there's a hard real-world number involved.
That's not altogether bad, but I do hope that somewhere there is a group of smart people who actually think about the real-life problems that other people have, and try to do something about it. If there is, I don't know of it yet.
I can't speak for others on HN but I come here seeking knowledge, to understand. Not as forum for activation. This knowledge is then to be used to take action in the real world.
That may not be through pushing a cause or donating to a charity, but by getting myself into a position of greater power and authority to make a real impact when I can make an impact.
I see articles like this as cards at my disposal, that I will refer back to when the time is right and the chance is there, to make a dent.
Thanks for your insight and for your past championing of a more "ground level" approach to improving some crucial systems.
The sort of community of which you speak does certainly sound like an exciting and powerful one. I hope that it exists, and I hope that it finds you - and maybe me.
And those conversations have generally not gone very well.
So I've recently started giving up. HN is just not the place for that sort of thing. It's a place where the audience-participants want analysis, they want technical details, they prize expertise, and they can't discuss value unless there's a hard real-world number involved.
That's not altogether bad, but I do hope that somewhere there is a group of smart people who actually think about the real-life problems that other people have, and try to do something about it. If there is, I don't know of it yet.