Yeah, the HN headline was stupid. Sadly stupid titles usually get a lot of up votes. By stupid I mean, intended to incite a knee-jerk reaction.
If, however, you make a (willfully) ignorant assertion, people jump at the chance to tell you just how wrong you are.
Not that I want to advocate this approach, but I understand why someone would use it if, in the end, it generates more useful information.
(I think this was discussed elsewhere on HN, with "troll, don't inquire" as a disappointingly effective means of getting information.)