I think (if I'm not mistaken) that your vote is also weighted according to your Karma level? Which would mean that even if it were more popular, your vote could

I think (if I'm not mistaken) that your vote is also weighted according to your Karma level? Which would mean that even if it were more popular, your vote could still yield a lot of power, and if you were a noob, you would have to comment and vote to improve your karma for the sake of achieving significant power. So, yes. I think that's part of why I participate here, and pretty much nowhere else. Not to put words in his mouth, but PG seems focused on community building with HN, and every aspect of the site, from the design to the functionality seems geared toward that. Hopefully those features will stand up to popularity and not be overpowered by dumb-masses, if you will.