For me, reading HN is like reading the paper or reading books about subjects that matter to me: it&#x27;s not time strictly spent on the job I have to do, but it&#x27;s part of a healthy information diet. Crunching code without taking a look at what&#x27;s currently happening and being discussed in your professional community is hardly a recipe for self improvement. 
(It&#x27;s a thin red line between healthy consumption and abuse, I know, but our job often _requires_ that we keep an eye on what&#x27;s going on outside our compiler.)