Excuse the intrusion, but there's no PM system on HN...
I've noticed your recent, prolific rise to prominence here on HN. You seem to have come out of nowhere and shot past most other users whose accounts are much older. I would be interested in reading an article from you on what you've learned and observed over the past year.
[Boy, harsh. It's not like there's an email address on the guy's profile. Guess I should have contacted him telepathically. Yet another reminder to keep showdead on.]
Gee. I had a prolific rise to prominence? I didn't notice. I'm certainly one of the less interesting and skilled people on this forum, so I'm frankly baffled.
Well, since you asked...
The most important thing that I've learned is that it's a good idea to put yourself out there: Say what you think, be honest, and be ready to defend your ideas (but also be ready to admit you were wrong if you find out that you are).
Also, don't worry about the possibility saying something stupid. Some of the best conversations I've had on HN happened because I said something stupid: If you say something stupid, that usually means that you aren't well educated in that area, and hold misconceptions. It's best to get those misconceptions out there, so that you'll know that they're wrong.
Remember to attack ideas, not people. Even when you really, really, want to attack people. It's not worth it.
Don't focus on your karma too much: just because you got downed doesn't mean it wasn't worth saying.
Do you have any thoughts about the voting system on HN? Not that it's going to change, but I am becoming quite tired of seeing worthwhile, interesting comments downvoted into grayness. It feels like a kind of anonymous shaming, like a group of people put on masks, gather around someone, and wag their fingers at them until they are shamed into silence. It only takes a few people to downvote a comment into obscurity, and it may happen by chance that the first few people to see it are censorious, preventing others who would upvote it from even seeing it. I strongly think that there should only be two options: upvote, or flag for rule violations.
