Well humans mourn their dead, but also there is a more practical reason if you&#x27;d like:<p>When I see a black bar on Hacker News, it serves as an alert to me to scan the news more carefully. Although I knew who McCarthy was, Jobs, etc, I didn&#x27;t know <i>this</i> person. The black bar alerted me that someone in this community that is considered quite an influence died. Now I&#x27;m reading all about the person in various articles. The black bar helped to alert me to that.