It's also important to understand that points don't mean ANYTHING on HN.

Mods have the power to weight stories so that they stay on the first page, second page, or drop off completely. Points don't matter if a mod likes or dislikes a story. Think of them as Editors and we are submitting stories they (the mods) may enjoy. The point value on the story is irrelevant.

A single person with 500 karma can "gray out" your post and suddenly you're outed as someone with a "wrong" opinion.

Users have the ability to flag posts, essentially make them invisible if they don't agree with an opinion. Get a few users to gang up on someone and you can silence people and ideas easily.

Points on HN are an illusion. People with 500+ karma and the mods are the only ones with power here.