[lignuist]

Why don't you just accept, that people are upvoting this, because it is relevant to them and they want to discuss the topic with fellow hackers?

I think I will never get the point of those "why is this on HN?" posts. HN's frontpage is not redacted by editors, but filled with posts people have upvoted.

[derefr]

The only eventual result of "people upvoting things relevant to them" in an open-membership community is the upvoting of the things the most people can agree on: pictures of cats with words on them. Communities on the internet have disparate purposes, and must be tended--if not by editors, then by the conscientious decisions of their members--lest they all become pointless microcosm-representations of society as a whole. And yes, this sometimes involves being "that guy" and telling people to think more about the net effect of everyone voting the same way they do (in a Timeless Decision Theory sort of way) before they upvote things.

[cantos]

There are two things wrong with this. First, you are assuming that a nonzero fraction of people will sign up for every open-membership community available to them, frequent, and vote in each such community. Realistically most people probably can't do this for more than ten communities. Second, even if there is eventually convergence it may not occur quickly. For example, the universe will eventually reach a state of maximum entropy but it isn't something that any of us need to worry about today.

[notdrunkatall]

If that happens here, we'll find another place, ad infinitum. That's just how it works.

[eliben]

Because this plays on people's basic instinct to keep being fed meaningless, content-less pieces of the current "hot news". It's the bread and butter of modern media, and is not much different from what tabloid readers experience. It would be perfectly fine to discuss this issue around articles with actual content. It's very tiring to see every attention-seeking-hyperbolic-titled news article linked here.

[tymekpavel]

You are overlooking the fact that posting "meaningless" news prompts the meaningful discussion around the issue that you claim you're perfectly fine with.

I welcome these posts because they are frequently accompanied by a quality of discussion that is unique to the HN community.

[zxcdw]

This. Thousand times this! No other words needed really.

[Myrth]

What's so tiring? Ignoring the thread if you don't like it?