This is exactly the kind of post I come to HN to read. Thank you for posting this as it attempts to answer an interesting question I didn't even think to ask.
Only articles about the finer points of segment tuning and tweaking x86 assembly registers! Or all the reasons why classes can never really approach the elegance and terseness of classic K&R C structs. Or how Common Lisp and Scheme have this and that and the other but only that and no more :)
The former are really life skills that make even the most hardcore techies more effective human beings!
Or ... perhaps many HN folks just hate the concept of hacking the human brain to generate more sales.