Why is it disturbing? It makes perfect sense. People quote art because the quote encapsulates something they want to express in a nice package.
Those people already have the concept of what they want to express in their head but sometimes it is not fully formed. It is nebulous and it would take an entire rant to express.
Artists spent time polishing the form, tweaking and retweaking. A preposition here, a synonym there. That polishing results in some very sticky quotes. And sometimes those quotes are close enough to what people want to express and so the quote sticks.
I dare you to find a nicer way to express the meaning behind "With great power comes great responsibility". It's a dumb quote we all know, yet it is perfect.
It is one thing when you use it as phrasing, it is another if you use it as "out of nowhere" claim as if it applied to the real world.
> I dare you to find a nicer way to express the meaning behind "With great power comes great responsibility". It's a dumb quote we all know, yet it is perfect.
I don't recall this one to be used as argument. Probably it does not really say anything applicable to anything. It works because it is vague enough for anyone to project feelings into.
> People quote fictional characters for the same reason they quote anything else. The quote is a nice package.
Except that similar factual claim is never said outside of those quotes. They are used as truism, argument by authority, but content of it is not actually argued.
> Do you feel like random quotes from a known genius like Einstein are somehow worth more?
I actually rarely see those being used to make specific claims. Those tend to be vague. As argument they would be similarly bad, but they are not used that way.
> Do you feel that quotes from fiction that people do not believe is fiction (scripture) are worth more?
I never ever seen quote from scripture being used as argument in HN.
And yes, someone treating Heinlein as Catholics treat Bible would indeed be disturbing.
Those people already have the concept of what they want to express in their head but sometimes it is not fully formed. It is nebulous and it would take an entire rant to express.
Artists spent time polishing the form, tweaking and retweaking. A preposition here, a synonym there. That polishing results in some very sticky quotes. And sometimes those quotes are close enough to what people want to express and so the quote sticks.
I dare you to find a nicer way to express the meaning behind "With great power comes great responsibility". It's a dumb quote we all know, yet it is perfect.