> There is no distinction between someone who is against the public opinion here, and that of a troll or regular crapflooder.
Over time, there is a huge difference. But people have a strong bias against wanting to admit this in their own case and those of users they agree with.
There's something about expressing a controversial opinion that compels people to be gratuitously provocative on top of the opinion they're expressing. Predictably, they get downvoted for the gratuitous provocation. Then they complain about how the hordes of HN can't appreciate their brave independent thinking, want to suppress them, and so on. This happens astonishingly often, and you can't understand how HN works without taking it into account.
Over time, there is a huge difference. But people have a strong bias against wanting to admit this in their own case and those of users they agree with.
There's something about expressing a controversial opinion that compels people to be gratuitously provocative on top of the opinion they're expressing. Predictably, they get downvoted for the gratuitous provocation. Then they complain about how the hordes of HN can't appreciate their brave independent thinking, want to suppress them, and so on. This happens astonishingly often, and you can't understand how HN works without taking it into account.