Is it simply because being pessimistic makes you sound smarter?
Partly, it's because HN's stereotypical user is an engineer. Engineers are supposed to tend critical / cynical / pessimistic - otherwise stuff just doesn't work, and Sales gets away with pre-selling "production starts next quarter" pedal-powered supersonic flying cars.
Partly, it's because folks here recognize that the world has huge problems (injustice, wars, climate change, etc.) which neither their stereotypical skills nor personal aspirations (write awesome code, engineer a cloud solution, scale a startup, take their unicorn public) do anything meaningful to address. And that if things really go to sh*t...then all their 1337 skillz, achievements, money, and possessions will be worth far less than some old Luddite geezer's bunker in Montana.
(I've noticed for a while that I have a pretty critical / cynical / pessimistic tone here on HN. For me, that's partly because many HNer's feels like they're a fraction of my age, with a rather narrow education and worldview - so they can need reminding that a whole lot of actually-relevant stuff happened before the web was a thing, and the world doesn't "just work" because of {optimistic generalities & hand-waves that a parent might use in explaining society & economics to a kid}):
I wonder whether those who feel the place has become too critical are not actually in dire need to face that cricism instead of finding some exuse why they would rather not.
Back in the day, western society offered humans a far richer social life - neighborhoods, churches, formal & informal social & service clubs, etc. Now - those are, mostly, dying or gone, thanks to relentless capitalism and mass media. Families are far smaller and more fragmented. But the human needs which they met are still with us.
Would really like to read that.
1. not criticizing and not doing anything constructive
2. criticizing while doing something destructive, e.g. like framing every criticism in opposition to doing something constructive, as if the peole who are constructive cannot criticise and those who criticise cannot be constructive.
I would not be able to tell at a glance whether someone critical is doing something constructive or not. Accusing critics of not doing anything constructive is itself not constructive, but just evasion.
Me saying it is easier to criticise than create doesn't mean criticism is always harmful or useless.
Everyone is on edge, not just HN lol.
Like/dislike buttons promote groupthink and demote comments from critical thinkers whose thinking doesn’t conform to whatever is popular.
This makes group-thinkers more tribal and protective of their ideas, while critical thinkers feel ostracised and more defensive about their ideas.
Everyone becomes more combative and unhappy.
