I have decided they are not idiots. They are arrogant. They act like their way is the right way. “Bypassing other posts” is not a “good reading pattern”? Fie on’t! ah, fie! (Yes, that’s Shakespeare. Hamlet I believe. We have roots here, and roots that need to be respected!)
Reading all posts is a foolish waste of time. Bypassing useless drivel is smart. Using well-liked posts as an entre into interesting and thoughtful threads is perfectly fine reading pattern. It exposes you to posts that don’t necessarily agree with your preconceived ideas. If a well-liked post is interesting, you can easily read the discussion around that post. If it’s hyperbolic blathering, you can move on to some other topic without wasting time on the entire thread.
–Peter