I think reading HN and watching reality TV are a lot closer than you think. The obvious difference is that you apparently have contempt for one and not the other. But I challenge the idea that you're being enriched any more by posting on HN.

Maybe you learn some new things here and there the same way someone who watches a lot of Elimidate might pick up some social skills/awareness.

But notice how convenient it is to attribute bad qualities to the thing you don't even enjoy in the first place, and positive qualities to the thing you do enjoy.