If that's true it means others can unlock it as long as my eyes are closed. I'm certain that's not the case.

I think the comment you replied to was a joke.

I got a chuckle out of it but honestly, we don't need to make this place like Reddit where serious topics were mixed with jokes and then it got so bad that its impossible to engage in a serious discussion without a [serious] tag in the headline. Vast number of places on the internet are enteraining, there is no shortage. Let's leave HN for serious discussions. Good joke though.

Jokes are OK on HN as long as they are genuinely funny. Unfunny jokes tend to get downvoted. As most 'jokes' are not legitimately funny this system works well to keep a balance.

I've been here 10 years and it hasn't become like Reddit yet. Every person saying that HN will become like Reddit has been wrong so far.

If the joke adds intellectual value, I mostly agree. The problem is defining what’s truly funny and what’s not and it is highly dependent on the individual reader.

I’ve personally feel/seen some erosion but it’s hard to quantify and measure.

The problem on Reddit is the huge amount of formulaic and reference-based humor. It's too easy and it becomes a race to see who posts the obvious joke first.

On HN jokes do get up voted - if they're original, related to the topic and actually funny.