Many of us here followed the same path. HN is good for now, but it has been changing. It's unlikely we'll still be here in a couple years.
I am constantly amazed at the thoughtful comments from people who are informed on a subject and take their time to layout a cogent argument. This makes it worthwhile to spend some time scanning more and more other stuff. I am getting to be quite a speed reader in this place.
HN will be just fine as long as Dang (and the other guy) spend so much energy here.
We also have our own form of Kryptonite, the HN front page list of discussions. Many of the people that get kicks stirring up trouble would not understand or care to read this stuff.