Is there anything in the actual essay you disagreed with?
To answer your question, first of all name calling and attacking the people instead of the ideas makes for a nasty and unproductive conversation—basically like youtube comment discussion.
Secondly you're on the site he built. The guidelines clearly say, "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names." If you dislike the guidelines or feel that they are "terribly condescending", then maybe this isn't the ideal site for what you want.
standards of discourse in a community are the product of that community. we don't take direction from "dear leader" Paul Graham or anyone else.
is there anything in my comments that you think is out of line? did I attack anyone ad hominem or use weasel words or other forms of deceptive rhetoric?
judge for yourself. my standards of conversation are perfectly fine though, in my opinion. in fact, nearly ALL of the conversation in this thread has been perfectly fine.
my question for you is: why are you so sensitive about the tone of the conversation? is it that you're unhappy that so many people are deeply offended by Marc Andreesen's comments and it makes you uncomfortable to confront that disagreement?
You didn't answer my question, but instead asked me several.
I do not appreciate your insinuation about my own opinions. It's way off base and uncalled for. Referring to pg by the title used for N. Korea's dictator is also obnoxious.
I care about the civility of discussions because without it, they get both less pleasant and less constructive. This entire thread has been an exhibit of that.
IMHO it isn't "direction". PG just put various arguing methods into a sensible framework. Other people have done the same. I only referenced PG's because it seemed pertinent given his relationship to this forum. And I was an early commenter when there only a few comments and a high percentage of them engaged in name calling.
To answer your question, first of all name calling and attacking the people instead of the ideas makes for a nasty and unproductive conversation—basically like youtube comment discussion.
Secondly you're on the site he built. The guidelines clearly say, "When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names." If you dislike the guidelines or feel that they are "terribly condescending", then maybe this isn't the ideal site for what you want.