Hey, what a surprise - the top comment on a HN post comes from a reader who dismisses the post outright despite failing to actually read it in its entirety.
Your ad hominem attack against me is not appreciated, nor is your attempt to treat me as a category and stereotype rather than a real person behind a keyboard.
Like others here, I make it a general rule to read everything, and even consulting other sources, before commenting. Like others here also, I had not the time nor the inclination to go through the entirety of a 16,000 word behemoth of writing when the first 8,000 words were rote reptitions of a single point already copiously made within 1,000 words. Being no stranger to long-form writing, and seeing no visible structure to the work that would suggest it's going anywhere besides more reptition of the same point, I gave up - like others here did.
A basic modicum of civility is desirable, and this includes blatant labeling and name-calling.
I did not call you any name (unless you count "reader"), nor was I attacking you. I was merely sarcastically expressing my frustration at a trend I've observed on HN in which the top comment on an article which I highly enjoyed is almost invariably someone disagreeing outright, often without having read the entire post.
If you read half of that behemoth of an article, good for you - you can't be accused of not giving it a fair chance (although I found that second half to be more interesting and insightful myself).
I just find it aggravating and perhaps indicative of a negative attitude amongst HN readers that contrarian comments almost always end up at the top of the thread. That is all. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.
I think this wasn't a case of middlebrow dismissal which you rightly rail against. The original comment seems to be directly complaining about the style of the author rather than just dismissing it off hand. When it comes to Morozov this is a salient aspect, because while he certainly does his homework he tends to revel in polemic bordering on vitriol.
I'm sad 'potatolicious got to say this before I did; he's one of my must-reads on HN. It's also sad how quickly a critique Paul Graham has of the environment on HN gets twisted into another way to degrade the environment on HN.
