I think this forum attracts a non-trivial number of people who have a hyperfocus issue beginning with the letter A.
In many HN threads with lots of comments, at some point in the thread (and very often starting at or near the top), the comments successively veer off to the right, sometimes to a ridiculous extent, forcing rightmost comments into a thin vertical column that is a pain to read. And worse, the main topic of the OP is often not discussed much at all, since the majority of comments are about these minute inconsequential details, as you say above - and since these trivia subthreads tend to get upvoted the most.
It's why grammar nazis are the most insufferable, because their picking apart of your sentences appears to invalidate your argument, when really they're just being pricks.
I love HN don’t get me wrong, but my coworkers and I like to poke fun at it. Some jokes are “why didn’t you just use rust?” and “Well what did Paul Graham have to say about it?” when debating something. It’s a culture like any other. I would say a lot of super smart people are here, who have deep knowledge on the most esoteric niche subjects, and provide a lot of sage wisdom and advice. But there are a lot of cranks too (including myself!).