I dislike humor on HN (but don't mind it in more light-hearted places, everything has a time and a place) for two reasons. a. It crowds out other content. b.

I dislike humor on HN (but don't mind it in more light-hearted places, everything has a time and a place) for two reasons. a. It crowds out other content. b. It's harder to argue against a point made as a joke. Consider your examples. Let's say there is an issue with argument y. It's much more natural to point out in phrasing 1, than in phrasing 2. You look like someone who doesn't get that it's just a joke and there were some artistic liberties taken. So y is allowed to stand uncontested.