Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Surely you have a study to support this? Or are we just speculating. The problem with this particular area is that it's not intuitive, and relying on "common sense" guidance is why everyone got fat in the first place.


Does it matter? This is a discussion forum, not a scientific journal. If you have something more informative to add, just do it.


Generally here if you make a claim it's totally fair to be asked to substantiate it. I already provided the evidence that this individual was wrong, so I'm looking to see why they think otherwise. Maybe they'll teach me something new.


> Generally here if you make a claim it's totally fair to be asked to substantiate it.

Anything is fair. It is a discussion forum. You can say whatever the hell you want. But it is equally nonsensical.

> so I'm looking to see why they think otherwise.

You looked for someone else – someone who prepared a study – to tell you why it might be otherwise. But if you want to talk to someone else, go talk to that someone else. If you want to come here, be happy with the people who are here. They might actually teach you something without having to defer to random other people.


I'm taking a moment to enjoy your username in the context of this back and forth.


Questioning questionable claims is as much discussion as anything else.


Questioning the person who made the claim, sure. Get them to elaborate. That improves the discussion. But halting discussion until they can come up with the words of someone else to justify their claim, as seen here, just makes you look stupid. If you would rather talk to someone else, go talk to someone else instead. At the end of the day, all is fair in discussion, so go for it – call for someone else to enter the discussion if you want. But as all is fair, we're also going to call out your stupidity when you do.


The bit that you're (intentionally?) missing is that this is just a polite way of saying "you're full of shit". The only person being stupid here is the person making strong empirical claims without qualifying them or providing supporting evidence.

I could see a reasonable complaint that asking for studies is being passive-aggressive, but it's the sort of passive-aggressive that both helps keep the discussion more civil and leaves room to actually substantiate the original claims (that is, it's actively better for keeping the discussion going!). Just saying "lol, no, wrong" kills the discussion far more than talking about (lack of) evidence.


> The bit that you're (intentionally?) missing is that this is just a polite way of saying "you're full of shit".

If someone is full of shit, and assuming you care, then logically you would put in the effort to fix their misunderstanding, not tell them off. Exclaiming that someone is "full of shit", politely or not, is stupid. If you don't care, then why not own it? Don't care.

> The only person being stupid here is the person making strong empirical claims without qualifying them or providing supporting evidence.

There can be more than one stupid party involved.

> I could see a reasonable complaint that asking for studies is being passive-aggressive

It is just straight up nonsensical. I get that is was only ever a silly meme and always understood to be nonsensical, but a meme that has become quite tired. It was funny 20 years ago, perhaps, but at this point it is time to lay it to rest. I mean, anything goes in discussion. If you still think it is edgy, go for it. But the rest of us will still think it is stupid.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: