"If a better article comes along, it will receive more votes and become the new #1." More votes than what? A previous article's votes on HN? As time goes on,

"If a better article comes along, it will receive more votes and become the new #1." More votes than what? A previous article's votes on HN? As time goes on, there are more people reading HN, so even shitty articles posted today may get more votes than stellar articles posted two years ago.