Comment by imiric

How are you getting persecution complex from what I said? If anything, your comment might be feeding that delusion. :)

My point is that HN definitely has certain weights associated with accounts, which control the karma, visibility, and ultimately discussion of certain topics.

This problem doesn't affect only negativity or downvotes, but upvotes as well. The most upvoted comments are not necessarily of the highest quality, or contribute the most to the discussion. They just happen to be the most visible, and to generally align with the feeling of the hive mind.

I know this because some of my own comments have been at the top, without being anything special, while others I think are, barely get any attention. I certainly examine my thinking whenever it strongly aligns with the hive mind, as this community does not particularly align with my values.

I also tend to seek out comments near the bottom of threads, and have dead comments enabled, precisely to counteract this flawed system. I often find quality opinions there, so I suggest everyone do the same as well.

An essential feature of a healthy and interesting discussion forum is to accomodate different viewpoints. That starts by not burying those that disagree with the majority, or boosting those that agree. AFAIK no online system has gotten this right yet.