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Comment by MarkLowenstein | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, people keep saying they do this because of some "research" but I suspect that whatever research that was is very wrong. Here's what doesn't add up: the story of someone's life and activities is only truly interesting for a small fraction of the population, maybe one out of 50 people. So if you're going to write an article about a newsworthy scientific accomplishment, what are the chances that the people involved also happen to have a compelling life story? Pretty low. It's obvious to a numerate person that the first several paragraphs are there for no good reason, yet the author insists on wasting our time anyway, so we get annoyed and find something else to do.

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Always remember. Half of the world has an IQ under 100. Not everything that appeals to a software engineer will appeal to the masses. I have friends who think reading something like this means they "did the research".

It's pathetic, but it's the modern age where all knowledge is accessable but very few know how to get it. Most people think they're smart and are wrong. So accessible sciencey-feeling things are popular.

> the story of someone's life and activities is only truly interesting for a small fraction of the population, maybe one out of 50 people.

I think you're wrong here. Most people relate more to people than to gadgets. We're the exception here, not the rule. HN readers want the facts, but for the general population, the human interest angle improves the article. It gives them a reason to care.

A bit late, but I see now that I biffed on expressing myself here, and I don't blame you all for thinking I'm wrong. What I meant was that one out of 50 people's life stories are interesting, not that only one out of 50 people find life stories interesting.

> what are the chances that the people involved also happen to have a compelling life story? Pretty low.

Fear not. Journalists know that the way around this is to cherry-pick quotes, add some weasel world, and misrepresent the reality so that that person's life story suddenly sounds like a script for a Hollywood movie.

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