I know that participating on HN has made my comments on all forums more thoughtful, less hyperbolic, more serious, and generally better considered. The reasonab

I know that participating on HN has made my comments on all forums more thoughtful, less hyperbolic, more serious, and generally better considered. The reasonable rules, excellent moderation and the community culture here have been excellent teachers. The voting mechanism helps me gauge if my comments are reasonable (I don't care about the magnitude but more the negative/positive score telling me if I'm off the rails). Perhaps a similar effect eventually takes hold on many of the contributors, and for the ones who can't moderate themselves to the culture here, I guess they'll recess into lurkers or simply go away elsewhere.