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Does HN strategically push or withhold desirable content on each refresh in the most addictive way possible specifically to keep people refreshing the page and prevent them stopping?

I think intent matters for a lot here, as does who/what is pulling the levers. If popular content organically rises to the top because people like it that's not really a problem, but if content is artificially pushed to the top or hidden entirely to push an agenda that could be an issue.