The bigger figures become untouchable, above reproach, around here. There are some figures who are literally toxic, but because they've become a part of the core group they can get away with it. And if you doubt or question them, you must be a troll.

This is fairly normal group behavior, of course. It's a "group is its own worst enemy" behavior. It's how groups become insular and delusional and self-supporting.

The identification and vilification of external enemies. Religious veneration. HN in a nutshell.

It would be an interesting exercise to remove names from comments for a while and see how they do. I suspect the exercise would surprise some people.

Further, some of the biggest names around here are masters of self-promotion. As much as we can cheer on "transparency", it isn't so selfless when it's used to farm SEO, or to fish for consulting engagements. I'm actually surprised BCC didn't go for much more simply for the pagerank value.

This post has fallen off the front page, with which it will be dominated by the herd and I expect a rapid moderation influx that sees anything other that raw praise fade to transparency.