I have nothing but respect for the work of moderating HN, I have no doubt it’s incredibly difficult. I also wonder if you’d be getting downvoted if more people realised who you are (as a non-mod who occasionally cites the rules and tries to be respectful while doing so, I know it isn’t a popular stance).

All that said, I too disagree with this point:

> But we can safely assume that HN readers are reasonably competent and discerning adults, who can make up their own mind about these things.

On the contrary, we can safely assume HN readers include teens and younger.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4653053

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22883469

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5947260

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14137926

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34059645

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=135494

I simply opened the HN search, did not change any defaults, and searched “I am” then 14 and 12. I didn’t even click through the second page of each. Those posts are old (they were ordered by popularity by default) but the point stands.

Even regarding adults I must disagree. Bad actors often actively try to hide their actions, so finding and reporting what could be harmful is useful and a service to the community. We all have our blind spots and are gullible in certain areas, or may just be having a lazy day and not doing due diligence. The HN community is in no way immune to human faults and biases.

I’m just one data point but I didn’t find your parent post disrespectful or unreasonably negative, and their questions were valid. It didn’t feel like a post deserving of rebuff.

The commenter has replied and accepted that their comment could have been better with respect to the accusatory, cross-examination style, which was the main concern I had.

Regarding the age of HN users: yes I know it's not the case that 100% of participants are mature adults; when I make a comment like that I have to ask myself "do I really need to couch this with the concession that this is not a 100% watertight assumption?" Evidently yes :)

I think it's important to defend against hostile comments towards people sharing unconventional healing techniques on HN. People who share these concepts can be vulnerable to attack from people who feel very emboldened by their faith in mainstream approaches and allegiance to orthodoxy. I know it can be exasperating, trying to be heard when faced with attacks like that, no matter how well-intentioned, well-researched and conscientious you are. We don't want HN to be a place that allows hostile treatment towards marginal voices to go un-defended, because it's usually the case that transformative ideas start out as fringe ideas, and risk being lost altogether unless someone makes the effort to advocate for them, often at great personal cost.