More to the point, why would he want to be? What is the actual value of HN karma, outside the confines of one's head? I know none of my friends could care less - in fact they'd probably call me an idiot for spending so much time here. And I would like to think HN members resist judging each other by their karma; except in extreme cases the text should stand by itself.

Still, the system does seem to work(1). Perhaps this eternal fight with the inner "karma farmer" demon is the price we have to pay for effective group moderation.

(1) Unfortunately, there is only one data point, insufficient to form any firm conclusions