You should have read on; it was just an attention grabber :)
I don't want to offend anyone but that article was extremely boring (I did end up reading it). I suppose I'd seen the Richard Feynman video on fire and trees quite recently beforehand and was in an intolerant mood. But it's impossible to stay in any kind of negative mood if you watch Feynman, his love of knowledge is just infectious.
There is no need for all the hyperbole and Zed Shaw-like drama on HN, articles can be interestingly written without all that baggage. That someone such as yourself, who knows a lot about this, and someone like me who doesn't can both enjoy the article is a testament to the style.
[1]http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2008/11/where_does_a_tree_get...