[tejohnso]

Exactly. This helps train the "don't believe everything you read" muscle.

[edgyquant]

Sure for the percentage of people who do read all the way through and then rethink things. This is <1% in most communities

[setr]

Assuming everyone is an idiot, and designing around that basis, seems like a great way to foster a community of idiots.

And unlike stackoverflow, there’s not really any good reason for anyone to think a top-level comment is somehow authoritative, especially because the best comments on HN tend to be replies