Golden Rule. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. You even stated it yourself so you are most likely in the right place. I have noticed that you have to be careful telling jokes here. The people here are smart and they tend to like a joke that is clever...
Just because someone is wrong, it doesn't mean they aren't smart.
But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter to me what people on here think of themselves and others as long they can articulate their opinions in an intelligent and reasonable manner.
"Just because someone is wrong, it doesn't mean they aren't smart"
Indeed, just as being right doesn't mean they are smart - but the point I'm making is that HN users cover a range of cleverness, and that self-estimation is pointless (Dunning-Kroger syndrome). Saying "only joke if you're clever" is all but identical to saying "anyone can joke".
