This is a teenager

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Visualization & UX

  • Many found the scrolling animation impressive but frustrating: scroll‑jacking, jank on mobile, broken states when scrolling back, and even browser crashes.
  • Core criticisms:
    • Cohort “bars” have different widths, making visual comparison of proportions misleading.
    • Color semantics change between slides, causing cognitive dissonance.
    • Some legends appear reversed (e.g., “seen someone shot”), leading to misinterpretation.
    • Individual datapoint motion makes it hard to see who changed vs just moved.
  • Several people preferred static charts or the YouTube video over the interactive.

Interpretation of the Data

  • A common reaction: the narrator’s rhetoric overstates what the visuals show. Differences between “no/some/many adverse experiences” appear modest, especially for income and GPA.
  • Others, after counting or looking more carefully, argued the effects are substantial in relative terms (e.g., 2–3× higher rates of bad outcomes), just visually under‑emphasized.
  • Health and subjective happiness differences looked more dramatic than income or education.
  • Some noted that many with “many adverse experiences” still attend college or end up high‑earning, and many with “no adverse” do poorly, complicating a simple victim‑story.
  • The race section and color choices were seen by some as confusing or biased.

Correlation, Causation, and Genetics

  • Multiple commenters stressed that this is an observational, correlational dataset; it cannot by itself prove causation.
  • Some argued that many adverse experiences are entangled with poverty and neighborhood; others emphasized genetic confounds and cited adoption/twin research referenced in the thread.
  • Debates around how much is “parenting style,” how much is environment, and how much is heritable traits (e.g., impulse control, IQ).

Policy, Responsibility, and Ideology

  • Strong disagreement over the conclusion that “these kids are our collective responsibility”:
    • One camp supports systemic remedies: stronger safety nets, better schools, housing, healthcare, earlier ACE screening, support for parents, and neighborhood investment.
    • Another camp emphasizes personal responsibility, warns against a “victim mentality,” and questions whether policies (welfare, minimum wage, college‑for‑all) create perverse incentives.
  • Recurrent themes: importance of stable two‑parent families, positive adult mentors, and the potential of college vs trades vs military as “escape routes.”

Personal Testimonies

  • Several readers with high ACE scores shared stories of abuse, poverty, or instability, and described both long‑term scars and the role of a few key adults, institutions, or opportunities in helping them “make it out.”