Ask HN: Increasing Karma Implies Decreasing Variance?

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/03/do-influential-people-develop-more-conventional-opinions.html

by patrocles • 17 years ago

23 22 17 years ago

marginalrevolution.com

Using # of posts / time period as a proxy for variety (big maybe), does Robin Hanson's question withstand scrutiny using HN posting data?

swombat• 17 years ago

Anyone who's followed some of my threads here know that I don't shy away from controversial arguments (some of which got downmodded to hell), despite being in the top 15 on the leaderboard.

Let me be clear - I clearly do enjoy the game of accumulating karma points, but I enjoy the game of speaking my mind far more.

I've seen plenty of controversial arguments (some of which got downmodded to hell too) from other "high karma" people, so I don't think this is a problem here, though it may be a problem in other communities.

unalone7• 17 years ago

Some high karma people are there because they trigger controversy. mattmaroon comes to mind. And I don't know if I count as a high-karma user but I'm on the leaderboard, and I think that most of my karma comes only from controversial discussions.

So far, I've seen very few HN users who have high karma because they're gaming the system. We're too small to have high karma matter much, so a lot of people just try their damndest to contribute to the community - and in a community of thinkers and designers, that usually means speaking your mind rather than conforming.

mariorz3• 17 years ago

Most of the users in the leaderboard are there by the sheer amount of their posts rather than by being particularly insightful or controversial.

ilaksh• 17 years ago

Sorry but I don't see an arrow for downmodding. What are you talking about? I thought there was only upmodding on HN?

time_management• 17 years ago

I don't think it applies to Hacker News, because no one "games" karma, and having a high score doesn't seem to give anyone special influence over site content.

Wikipedia certainly has this problem, though. It seems to appeal to those with the petty-tyrant mentality, too.

quizbiz• 17 years ago

The simple answer is no. Case sample: Rush Limbaugh

An interesting theory.

diN0bot• 17 years ago

Rush Limbaugh is not an influential individual. He is part of what is essentially an orchestrated system for conveying (conventional) right-wing ideology. Ever wonder why different news people during the day hit upon the same topic? I kid you not.

unalone7• 17 years ago

I'd disagree with you there. It's not an orchestrated system. They all just follow the same blind ideology, and as a result their ideas stem from the same talking points.

Rush is extremely influential. But then, he's not controversial. A large part of the country wants exactly what he's peddling: black-and-white ideology.

adrianwaj2• 17 years ago

Would some please explain how the article's actual headline: Do influential people develop more conventional opinions? led to this being a Ask HN question. Is the question suggesting that more karma = more conformity with mainstream views?

Ask HN: Increasing Karma Implies Decreasing Variance?

Related Stories