Sure, most people enjoy humor or wit, but most people aren't as funny as they think, and I think even you'd agree the luster tends to wear off once the top thread on every post is a chain of memes, in-jokes, and stupid puns nested too deep to fit comfortably on any screen.

That is the natural entropic end-state of all large social news sites. HN has anti-bodies against that by downvoting a bit more aggressively than might seem warranted at first glance, but all in all I think it's a wise choice.