Another thing is that lacking the freedom to delete our own comments here, I assume many people treat their account as only a throwaway identity.

i revoked my HN credentials on my phone because i was arguing too much and otherwise not getting enough sleep.

When you have to get up and walk across a house to tell someone they're wrong on the internet, I try to make sure i won't have to delete it. I am contrite about a few of my off-the-cuff comments.