>You can always 'showdead' on your HN preferences.

I haven't been around here very long and recently figured out 'showdead' because I wanted to be able to see what folks were talking about -- especially when there were replies to such comments.

In fact, even if I'm skimming comments, I always read flagged/dead comments -- to make sure I hear all the voices. Even the ones I don't appreciate or even dislike (although that's not always the 'dead' ones)