More likely that contrarian headlines garner more activity than their obvious or expected counterparts, pushing them to higher rankings more frequently. Here on

More likely that contrarian headlines garner more activity than their obvious or expected counterparts, pushing them to higher rankings more frequently. Here on hn, it’s possible that if a user reads a headline they already agree with, they will say to themselves “oh ya, I know that already, don’t need to read that.” Then when they see a contrarian headlibe they say to themselves “hmm, what’s this.” I would posit something more along those lines. Although I now realize, your comment may have been rhetorical in the sense of suggesting that this post (and others like it) take advantage of this trend but lack in substance. It is a strange phenomenon, that the brain tends to ignore things that are expected, and is often jarred by the unexpected. It’s maybe one of the downfalls of expecting the unexpected. Because it makes even the unexpected seem ordinary. Or maybe the reverse is true, and expecting the unexpected makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. I’m gonna go and have some breakfast.