I think a bigger problem is the HN reader mind reading what the rest of the world wants. At least when an HN reader telling us what they want it's a primary source, but reading a comment about an HN reader postulating what the rest of the world wants is simply more noisy than an unrepresentative sample of what the world may want.

Point taken. However, would you say HN readers are an accurate average cross-section of broader society? Including interests and biases?

I would guess HN readers are not an average cross-section of broader society, but I would also guess that because of that HN readers would be pretty bad at understanding what broader society is thinking.