I have noticed a couple of things lately about Hacker News that go to mood. 1. There seem to be more political topics appearing, for example around handling of

I have noticed a couple of things lately about Hacker News that go to mood. 1. There seem to be more political topics appearing, for example around handling of COVID or effects of social networks on society. The best comments on these topics ferret out a priori assumptions or find real data to illuminate tradeoffs. But they tend to be drowned out by more shallow comments. I think that's in part because these issues are hard to discuss in a dispassionate way and most of us are simply not very good at it. I'm firmly in this camp, unfortunately. 2. HN commentary seems more predictable than it did a few years ago. For example, you post something about how a big company has changed licensing of software you'll likely get a fairly predictable (and long) discussion about the evils of capitalism. I don't think this is a real change. Some HN readers have a more binary view of the world than others and it has always been this way. I think I just notice it more. I still think HN has some of the best commentary available on the web. For all the silly arguments we have (and that I have contributed to eagerly), you still get those gems where somebody who truly understands an issue deeply weighs in and tells it like it is. They have helped me understand countless articles that I would never have understood on my own. I love those comments and hope they never go away.