Do you disagree with the main thesis of the post you replied to?
If your point is that it is still possible to be serendipitous despite broad societal trends, some words explaining ways you've found to do so, or perhaps how it was received by others, would be far more useful than a low-signal, defensive comment such as "speak for yourself".
I do agree that writing useful comments is time consuming. I sometimes wonder whether there is a worthwhile result. However, I think higher quality comments are more appreciated on HN compared to many other discussion boards.
What they're saying is that this is probably not a societal trend, as you put it. In my anecdotal experience people are doing less and less pre-programmed tours and a lot more of exploration and going off-trail because of all the information we have at our disposal.
It's like the people complaining about all the fancy Lego sets today are removing creativity from Lego, no? One kid might build the set and leave it together forever. But my kid builds the set, leaves it together a few weeks, then uses all the cool new pieces to fuel his crazy creativity.
Likewise, this summer I made a spontaneous trip to Milwaukee for their Irish festival on less than two hours' notice that a band I love was going to be there. Maybe it's just me, but I would never have made a six hour trip to a city I've never been to with no advance planning without the assurance that my smartphone was there to help me navigate my way around.
If your point is that it is still possible to be serendipitous despite broad societal trends, some words explaining ways you've found to do so, or perhaps how it was received by others, would be far more useful than a low-signal, defensive comment such as "speak for yourself".
I do agree that writing useful comments is time consuming. I sometimes wonder whether there is a worthwhile result. However, I think higher quality comments are more appreciated on HN compared to many other discussion boards.