but I suspect some posts are not nearly as useful or fun to readers in 2020 as their karma makes them appear.
Maybe it’s because they’re old. (You also might want to treat karma as a noisy signal.)
or a general pattern (e.g. posts from LW 1.0 often have a higher score than they deserve because [reason]).
The older a post is, the more time it’s had for people to read and upvote it. (Admittedly, this seems reasonable in that if karma reflect the (positive) impact it’s had on people’s lives, old posts would still have this advantage.)
ETA:
As for a specific example, I’d say The Sequences, because it doesn’t seem like there’s been a sequel.
Maybe it’s because they’re old. (You also might want to treat karma as a noisy signal.)
The older a post is, the more time it’s had for people to read and upvote it. (Admittedly, this seems reasonable in that if karma reflect the (positive) impact it’s had on people’s lives, old posts would still have this advantage.)
ETA:
As for a specific example, I’d say The Sequences, because it doesn’t seem like there’s been a sequel.