The one mistake you don't want to make around here is to assume any sort of homogeneity among the commentariat. (I make that mistake myself more often than I s

The one mistake you don't want to make around here is to assume any sort of homogeneity among the commentariat. (I make that mistake myself more often than I should.) HN is a mixture of stereotypically left-leaning people, from high-school students to old-school cyberpunk activists, sharing threads with stereotypically right-leaning people from billionaire founders to ambitious wannabees. There is also no shortage of Trumpers around here, and no shortage of people whom the Trumpers would like to exile or worse. What doesn't go over well with any of these people is sea-lioning. The site guidelines explicitly require an assumption of good faith on the part of the people you're talking with. When you make it difficult to honor that rule by "just asking questions here," it tends to generate friction. Those who think you secretly agree with them may vote you up, while those who suspect otherwise may do the opposite. But nobody is ultimately fooled, and nobody is genuinely impressed.