Yes, and generally avoiding tricks to increase engagement. I don't think it was consciously thought through—we just (going back to pg) have an instinctive aversion to that. Also, since HN isn't a startup that has to grow at all costs, we have the luxury of not needing to.

It fits with trying to optimize for (intellectual) curiosity: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor.... If something is interesting enough, you'll be motivated to look at it. If you're not motivated, probably you're more interested in something else and should look at that instead.