HN post rank != importance or interest, rather something more akin to "discussion quality + recency". A highly polarizing post with lots of comments vs votes or lots of flags will tend to rank lower than a neutral post with mild votes and mild discussion via the algorithm. A lot of that depends on the presentation, if the post presents something more controversial it still tends to float to the top as long as it is thoughtful instead of inciteful.
Comments
HN post rank != importance or interest, rather something more akin to "discussion quality + recency". A highly polarizing post with lots of comments vs votes or lots of flags will tend to rank lower than a neutral post with mild votes and mild discussion via the algorithm. A lot of that depends on the presentation, if the post presents something more controversial it still tends to float to the top as long as it is thoughtful instead of inciteful.