The same pattern plays out on every divisive topic: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... The truth, as far as I can tell after studying the data closely for years now, is that this is pure cognitive bias. One easy way to see this is to notice how people who like and dislike the opposite things have precisely opposing pictures of the bias they think dominates here.
Somehow people find it difficult to understand how someone else, with a different background, might have a very different view. It feels like it can't possibly be sincere—it must be dishonest and disingenuous, such as communist agents under the hood (or shills being paid to astroturf, or whatever lingo fits the theme). In reality, this is how a non-siloed internet forum works: you encounter others who believe very different things than you do.
If it feels weird or odd, that's because we're good at siloing ourselves into places where we don't rub shoulders with such people with such views. HN isn't like that, because it's the same set of stories and comments for everyone. There are millions of people here, all over the world. If a topic is at all divisive, there's at least a million people who strongly disagree with you about it. That's all you need to explain the comments, votes, and flags you dislike.
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...