HN has many problems and groupthink like all online communities, but one thing that sets it apart is higher quality effort posts are actually rewarded here beca

HN has many problems and groupthink like all online communities, but one thing that sets it apart is higher quality effort posts are actually rewarded here because people still are generally curious. It's not deterministic as you said, but there is a correlation. On every other platform save some (some) subreddits, effort posts are anti-correlated with karma. So on net HN is better. Is it the Lyceum, the height of learned, reasoned debate and intellectual curiosity? No, HN is definitely not an ideal but it is certainly better, on net compared with the alternatives, not that the alternatives are harsh competition.