Let's run through a thought experiment. How easy would it be for you to replicate the ensuing political discussion in another forum or in real life with coworkers/friends? For most people, fairly easy. I had several such discussions today alone. In contrast, the occasional valuable discussion that still takes place on HN is reasonably difficult to replicate in other online forums and has a high cost for replication in real life (time of smart people is valuable and much cheaper when done async online). Not to mention that PG essentially banned run-of-the-mill politics on HN from the start, but the guidelines are unfortunately vague and haven't withstood the test of time.
Therein lies my reasoning for my dislike of politics on HN. Thomas may have different reasoning.
Therein lies my reasoning for my dislike of politics on HN. Thomas may have different reasoning.