When I first joined I think that may have been how I saw it. However once I started commenting I was surprised to see how often myself or colleagues would be upvoted for supposedly controversial opinions.

HN is not what I would describe as true multifaceted debate, but I doubt any forum can achieve that as there always seem to be large groups with well formed opinions on the matter who do not wish to participate.

Discerning the reasons for participation or non participation is my go-to for understanding a topic, despite it always being almost impossible by definition.