I am referring to the fictional straw man monolith I am imagining for the purpose of this comment to reinforce my pre-existing bias; this bias is however somewh

I am referring to the fictional straw man monolith I am imagining for the purpose of this comment to reinforce my pre-existing bias; this bias is however somewhat relevant as what I probably should have said instead is "the same communities" or "the same cohorts" as I have particular non-HN online communities in mind. Some forums have a very predictable pattern and sequence of responses to certain events or topics, which is what has informed my bias as having been a member of these communities and have noticed this appeal to authoritarianism in times of societal stress. To keep it HN-relevant: a good example is to bring up blockchain on HN. There could be a novel feature some day that someone discovers that ends up being an actual indisputable valid use for blockchain and I'm convinced HN will replay the same comment thread the majority of the times that something will be posted about it. There's nothing wrong with that, it's the user's prerogative and I'm not mad at their personal agency, but it is important to note the trend. > Polarization is a serious problem in today's society. While this is true, and I respect it, the truth in actual outcomes is that societally people regress to the mean and emulate the zeitgeist to an extent. Conformity is a survival trait in a communal atmosphere.