[magic-chicken]

He asked : why is it important ? You answered : because it is important. His comment has value because he's questionning an ill defined 'authority'. You accused him of a commiting a logical fallacy while committing one yourself. I learned more by reading the answers to his question than by reading your comment.

[keiferski]

To quote Wikipedia, "Paradise Lost has had a profound impact on writers, artists and illustrators, and, in the twentieth century, filmmakers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_in_popular_cultu...

I'm sorry, but the idea that a single paragraph HN comment is some kind of deep philosophical point about the nature of authority is absurd. It was a glib dismissive comment, skeptical not for any well-thought out reason, but simply because they personally didn't understand it. I don't know how precisely I'd define anti-intellectualism, but that comes pretty close.

[magic-chicken]

This quote is gold, and I think this is the best answer you could have come with in the first place.