It's a prerequisite for relevant discussion. That it happens everywhere is just a sign of how discussion is degrading everywhere.

Sure, you can just come into a thread and start a blog about the awesome breakfast you had, or guess what the article is about based on the title alone and pontificate on whatever triggers you, or just shoot whatever shit is on your mind, but that isn't something to be encouraged in a community whose purpose is supposed to be intellectual curiosity, in a thread with an actual topic at hand. You can't satisfy your own intellectual curiosity by never engaging your intellect with new material, much less anyone else's.

Otherwise, what's the point of having articles to begin with? Let's just have dang turn this place into a generic text forum and be done with it. Let's just make it /b/ without the pictures and any semblance of humor.

HN is not intended to be a place for rehashed discussion where everyone is already familiar with the relevant information. Reading the article should be considered essential criteria for commenting here.

I don't recommend that dang and others attempt to enforce this. Just that there be appropriate room for the chiding of those who comment without reading.