The most obvious problem is that the "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" clause in the guidelines is too broad and, therefore, impossible for certain peopl

The most obvious problem is that the "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" clause in the guidelines is too broad and, therefore, impossible for certain people to internalize. That's why there are even long-time users who somehow believe that pictures of girls in t-shirts are appropriate (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1367047 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1367047). That misconception creates a broken windows environment where people start racing downwards. I don't have a precise solution. In my experience, zero tolerance for off-topic subjects like political discussions is the best way to keep online communities healthy. As the saying goes, give an inch and they'll take a mile. Somehow making the "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" clause stricter would go a long way to improving quality overall.