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Ask HN: Why don't you have contact information on your profile

4 points by dennis_jeeves1 ↗ HN
Some of the most politically incorrect, insightful, unpopular yet interesting comments that I see are made by individuals who have no contact information on their profile.

What would your motivation be, to put an unpopular opinion if there are no means for similar minded people to get in touch with you?

I fully understand that one cannot reveal your real name, or other contact information that is normally used for everyday life, because there can be a backlash that can have a negative impact your life.

7 comments

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uberman
Did you just answer your own question?
aaaaaasss
The lack of private messaging on HN is interesting, but you could always just reply to their latest comment.... that's what I do with dang, but he doesn't like it.
akerl_
There are plenty of reasons to post an opinion other than to get in touch with likeminded people.
dennis_jeeves1
What are those? That is precisely what I'm trying to glean.
superchroma
I want to make friends on my own terms, rather than letting them initiate, I guess? Maybe this is evidence of narcissistic traits.

Also, I don't really want to talk to like minded people. I already think like myself, and I don't really want a hugbox of people who think like me so we can spend time telling each other things we agree with. I'm interested in challenging my ideas a bit, and encountering new perspectives.

All that said, I use this username on other social networks so if people are determined they can find me that way.

soueuls
I think you are missing the point. What you consider to be a controversial/non PC answer is considered to be a pretty normal answer to them.

They are not trying to get in touch with like minded people, they are just posting comment on HN to share their thoughts and react to a news, pretty much exactly like you are doing.

I will take myself as an example :

1. I think diversity is a completely useless metric. 2. I am in favor legalizing discriminations. 3. I believe we should not help people who want to commit suicide.

I don't consider any of these opinions to be controversial.

dennis_jeeves1
>share their thoughts and react to a news, pretty much exactly like you are doing.

While it's somewhat 'natural' to share a thought, I never share it because I want to share it. I'm way too conscious about my time to merely share a topic.

>1. I think diversity is a completely useless metric. 2. I am in favor legalizing discrimination. 3. I believe we should not help people who want to commit suicide.

>I don't consider any of these opinions to be controversial.

Isn't the 'hard' opinion ( Or the opinion that they generally pander to?)of the majority by definition 'controversial' ?

Side note on 1): people who insist on diversity (or play along with the diversity card), will never do well in the long run in an area where competence is important. So it's one of the traits (among many others) that I use to size people up and decide who to associate with. Often when there is one fundamental difference, there are likely to be many other fundamental differences.