I used to agree with these principles, but in the long run it will cause HN's demise. It was fine when we used to be a low-traffic website, but I think these guidelines don't scale very well. The most upvoted stories are the ones which everybody agrees upon, not the most interesting ones.
But who am I to complain? I don't contribute that much either.
This is exactly what I was thinking when I asked this question. It seem that since Hacker News has gained more traffic > more submissions > more activity the quality of interesting has got a lot larger... perhaps it's the point system that encourages people to submit any old thing that they think is interesting in pursuit of more points, community status, etc...
But who am I to complain? I don't contribute that much either.