[lawrenceyan]

Using the "shill argument" basically shuts down any possibility for an actual discussion or discourse. If you truly believe that a commentator is doing something like that, you should honestly just flag the comment and move on.

The entire point of HN, or at least in its attempt, is to be able to have meaningful conversations, and it will be to great detriment for the community if we allow rhetorical criticism like this to become more prevalent.