It seems awfully rude to cut and paste this gigantic comment, which is now virtually pinned to the top of a discussion thread of a blog post to which it barely responds.
There's nothing in this that indicates it is at all customized for the article it is attached to. Especially given that you and the author seem to have some things in common (connection to small-town Minnesota & love of mathematics) it seems like you could have done a lot better than just re-posting virtually the same comment for the 11th time.
You have to go about half way down the page to find a comment that actually engages with the article. The way the HN system works out in practice the "winning" top level comment determines the entire structure of the ensuing discussion. I think that means that top level commentators have a particular responsibility to comment well.
The currency of upvotes suggests that many readers have appreciated my comment, perhaps because it provided them new information about an important set of issues. That set of issues has been discussed in many of the comments here, and was discussed in the original article.
The currency of actual cash money, which is not provided in our information-sharing environment here on Hacker News, would free up time for me to customize each comment I post more thoroughly. Under current conditions on Hacker News, I will continue to post for free, and I hope some of my comments are worth more than I bill for them.
A comment of this size that's not specific to the article might be better hosted on a blog and incorporated by reference, or a link to the previous discussion on HN. It's great material, but I have to agree with the GP that you post substantially the same comment every few months. It does rather swamp other contributions while being somewhat generic.
Quite the glib and misanthropic response, not to mention the value you measure is based upon imagination and a strawman. If you're not interested in engaging the community except in terms of price, why participate?
Most of the time one's hopes are not as valuable outside that person's head as they are inside.
If you're not interested in engaging the community except in terms of price, why participate?
I was interested in sharing information, did, was evidently appreciated for sharing the information, but also still criticized for how I did so. Fine. But I will go on sharing information here in a manner that fits my work schedule and other personal responsibilities. If all I dislike about somebody's comment is the MANNER in which it was written, when the content is accurate and helpful, my own style is not to complain about that.
There's nothing in this that indicates it is at all customized for the article it is attached to. Especially given that you and the author seem to have some things in common (connection to small-town Minnesota & love of mathematics) it seems like you could have done a lot better than just re-posting virtually the same comment for the 11th time.
You have to go about half way down the page to find a comment that actually engages with the article. The way the HN system works out in practice the "winning" top level comment determines the entire structure of the ensuing discussion. I think that means that top level commentators have a particular responsibility to comment well.