I read the first three comments and they all say roughly the same thing. But I can't figure why you think this functions as you hypothesize. Do you have data?

I read the first three comments and they all say roughly the same thing. But I can't figure why you think this functions as you hypothesize. Do you have data? Why not move the buttons on HN to random parts of the page? Or randomize the article titles every time you reload HN, so you're never sure whether you've already read an article? Or swap one comment between threads to keep people on their toes? Wouldn't those all be equally plausible ways to get people to read things more carefully by sacrificing usability? Your other comments suggest that you would be against tl;dr's, which outside the internet are known as "abstracts", and (like descriptive titles) are known to be highly useful.