Heh. No, your description does make sense, and made me laugh. Never do I feel more validated than when reading a Paul Graham essay, ("Guess who's not crazy?? Me!").
As I said above, I freely admit I'm oversensitive, something I probably share with many HN users. Maybe one reason I wince here at HN more than elsewhere is because I'd otherwise consider HN somewhat of an intellectual refuge, with peers. So when you read/hear something about you described as an Other, or somebody who should/does have traits different than you do (example: I don't like fashion.), you feel out of place, something I'd otherwise never feel at HN, a place I usually feel right at home at.
Anyway, I like your description of how it feels to read HN, pretty right on :D
I also feel out of place: Although I'm male, I'm old, have a family, I have tech credentials, but not in programming--in fact, I feel like I'm forever the novice. My tools aren't "cool," but they were new to me (OOP-Java, web scripting-PHP; in fact, they were berated in this very thread) so I "learned" them.
But I'll tell you a secret: edw519 has it exactly right. In fact, his attitude is the single, predominant trait I've seen in successful CEOs (or other group leaders). "They don't like * because they don't get it yet" is a very useful mindset for dealing with rejection ("why aren't they buying my product?"). They vary widely in their other personality traits; some are outgoing, others introverted, etc. But CEOs/leaders that convey that attitude to the group keep the whole team up. And feeling up is far more productive than feeling down!
As I said above, I freely admit I'm oversensitive, something I probably share with many HN users. Maybe one reason I wince here at HN more than elsewhere is because I'd otherwise consider HN somewhat of an intellectual refuge, with peers. So when you read/hear something about you described as an Other, or somebody who should/does have traits different than you do (example: I don't like fashion.), you feel out of place, something I'd otherwise never feel at HN, a place I usually feel right at home at.
Anyway, I like your description of how it feels to read HN, pretty right on :D