Top comments on HN are usually ones that counter the post itself or are self-congratulatory in some congratulatory/celebration post. It's pretty obvious as to w

Top comments on HN are usually ones that counter the post itself or are self-congratulatory in some congratulatory/celebration post. It's pretty obvious as to why. For people who want to read something that could have any sense of controversy - people who don't like the person or some of their content then others will read the comments and upvote the comment that aligns with them (which is counter to the content). Whereas people who upvoted the story (and maybe align with the story) will not upvote all the comments supporting the story - they might upvote one or two but might spread it out. Dissent isn't universal. It takes more effort and isn't relevant to them - also more people might just read the content and upvote it and not participate in the discussion. Upvotes are basically finite resource and tend to be spread out over majority positions, whereas minority positions are spread over fewer posts... Thus, they get to the top easier even if they're a minority. It's not really surprising at all if you're on here enough. It's standard practice. It's not like it takes as many upvotes as the story gets to be the top comment on the page. Usually 20-40 is enough even for modestly popular posts like this. Larger ones will require over 50. A few people don't like some of his content or thumbnails and there you go - easy to reach the top.