When I proposed a couple years ago (2019) that we remove all karma integers from the HN website for a week to see if the quality of the site would improve or worsen, people argued that it should be something they can opt out of.
The most common argument I remember was “I need unread counts to know if a topic is worth reading”, which suggests the early stages of addiction to high positive integers that we’re seeing on every other site.
Have we come around yet to agreeing that all like counts are harmful — whether Facebook, Twitter, or HN? Because I’d love to see what HN is like when people participate based on the content rather than the integers.