Or maybe it's just that: it's a well written article and the subject matter is interesting. An article doesn't need to have "new facts" to "stand above the news

Or maybe it's just that: it's a well written article and the subject matter is interesting. An article doesn't need to have "new facts" to "stand above the news media noise". Plenty of submissions on HN doesn't contain "new facts". You may find "there are no new facts" but not everyone does.