[rboyd]

wait a minute here..

HN:

- asks you to self-assign a new name upon joining

- has a leader

- has a hierarchy (rating system)

- esteemed texts which promise by adopting a strange method (Lisp) that you can achieve higher levels of wealth and self actualization

should I be worried?

[chinathrow]

> should I be worried?

No, you can (ok, I admit: try) to leave any time.

/etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com

[xg15]

If you go that route, at least change the password to some random string to lock yourself out.

But that's not leaving either. Your posts are still out there, and so is your account. In fact, no one except you would know you left.

There is a reason why the EU mandated the right to deletion.

[TiredOfLife]

Good old "how to stop smoking?" "just stop smoking"

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

What if there's a forward proxy listening on 127.0.0.1

I don't run mine on 127.0.0.1 but that address is a very popular default

[em-bee]

i think it would be useful to distinguish between addiction and coercion.

if you can't leave a cult, it's coercion. if you can't leave hackernews, it's addiction.

[dogleash]

>should I be worried?

If you read Hackers and Painters without realizing you're getting conned, yes. Very much so.

[cj]

First sentence of the wikipedia page for "Cult":

> Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals.

HN is definitely a social group with unusual and often extreme philosophical beliefs that often aren't mainstream. (And that's why I keep coming back!)

[TrainedMonkey]

People want to belong. If you do not belong to anything that looks like a cult you operate outside of society.

[invalidOrTaken]

for several years now my resume has labeled me a "Software Cultist"