You know there are people who don't like the HN hivemind, yes? "Hacker News is an echo chamber focusing on computer posturing and self-aggrandizement." and "Hacker News is the Slashdot for the smug classes".

For the most part I think they are right, though obviously I am still here. I think that says something about me.

Some of these people do things like do a redirect based on the referer.

Try following one of the links at https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=jwz.org . Done because "Hacker News is a steaming cesspool and I don't have time or desire to deal with their bandwidth demands, so I just block them."

It’s weird to call Hacker News a hive mind when all I see is people arguing with each other.

Ok... I guess I have to let out the secret. Open in incognito. After reading, you will realize this is purposeful trap to keep "Hacknews" out :).

If you delete the “/_security_check/” part from the URL, you get to the site proper. Maybe it's a reaction to a steep surge in requests.

Edit: Or, as another comment proposes, it could in fact be due to the referrer, and we're being had.

I think its a joke.