Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes.
When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.
Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.
The guidelines make it clear we're aiming for something better here. Please read them and make an effort to observe them if you want to keep participating here.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
(Also, don't waste your time registering multiple accounts with trollish usernames for breaking the guidelines with; we detect and ban them easily.)