15 years ago I was a totally different person than the one I am today. I was always a tech oriented, but my interests were totally different back then. I imagine that this happens with everyone. But not only humans. Communities as a whole and even just websites do that too.
I was just thinking the other day about Ars Technica: they published a quite technical article about Ethernet, and I was taken a bit aback, thinking that I haven't seen such an article since years from them. Looking closer, it was a republished article from like 6 years ago. They used to be more technical and less political. Times change.
I think in the past 15 years HN has changed, and you have changed too, but not in the same direction.