I expect the greatest driver of interest in the news is fear. The second greatest is anger. For a tech crowd, this is relevant due to our general fear of the u

I expect the greatest driver of interest in the news is fear. The second greatest is anger. For a tech crowd, this is relevant due to our general fear of the unknown (new technology). Will this a) destroy us all? b) take my job? Pointing out the minute failings of new technology will confirm people's bias and fears. A large contingent of HN posters seem convinced that AI will take all the jobs, and that this is a Bad Thing. This particular article plays into our environmental fears, which is also a topic near and dear to HN commenters. Both the nobody-is-employable and capitalism-is-killing-us crowds can agree that the solution to these problems is immediate massive increase in the power of the government Before It's Too Late (TM). Getting the Anger clicks is easy: Trump! "Look at the things Trump is doing. Doesn't that make you angry!?" Click. Click. Click. As in all things: follow the money. When you get fearful or angry from some news article, realize that you are being played. How does reality differ from the story you're being told? Think back a few years to some sensational stories. How did that turn out? More than likely, things are fine. We didn't all die from H1N1, swine flu, bird flu, Ebola. A few years ago, Texas passed campus carry laws, so college students and staff can carry concealed handguns. How many stories can you remember that bear out the (predictably) hysterical headlines of the time?