Oh mouse, I see where you're coming from as most "list articles" lack value and insight worth of HN, but I disagree with you that a ban on their genre is the so

Oh mouse, I see where you're coming from as most "list articles" lack value and insight worth of HN, but I disagree with you that a ban on their genre is the solution. Y'see, lists aren't inherently bad in and of themselves. If essays (like pg essays) are programs, list articles are like pseudo-code: they're bite-sized tidbits that give you an outline of what the author thinks the major points of his writing is about. The problem with lists is usually two-fold: If the list lists trivial and common-sense ideas without telling you why or how that works, it has very little value. This type work best as an element inside of an essay or as supporting arguments for another single central idea. On the other hand the list items are non-trivial, the list format works against a full fleshing out of the non-trivial idea : the readers' focus is diluted by the other points and the points each get so long that the whole article is essentially a series of essays, boring the reader to tears. Lists are powerful; use with caution.