I don't care what the article says, nor will I read it, but I will defend to the death my right to comment on it.

In Soviet Russia, the article defends YOU!

I realize you intend it as a joke, but it's sad how much your quote sums up HN commentary. It hits uncomfortably close to home.

In fairness though, it’s frequent that I learn more from the comments than the article, even when I read the article.

> I learn more from the comments than the article

Those comments must be the ones coming from those who actually read the article, or who are subject experts, though.

Why is it sad? It's a feature, not a bug - most of the articles aren't worth the time spent reading them, but they work as good discussion prompts. Comment section is where the value is.

I tend to check the comments first, in case the article is clickbait or a duplicate post. Usually, if the commentary is interesting, I’ll go read the article, then come back.

Nonesense!

We all know that if it were uncomfortably close to home only people with show-dead checked would see it.