> Hacker News is a high quality forum because it disallows political discussion. It's interesting that you think so, because this very discussion is extremely

> Hacker News is a high quality forum because it disallows political discussion. It's interesting that you think so, because this very discussion is extremely political, though perhaps meta-political. I think Hacker News may be unique in that political discussion can take place in a technical forum. The main barrier to thoughtful discussion may be the HN points system. I suspect that many insightful posts are not written due to self-censorship (fear of losing points). It's completely irrational of course, the points are meaningless, but when they are lost it can cause some distress. Nobody likes to lose a game.