"someone took a risk and put themselves out there for judgement"
People don't build things to never see the light of day. People build things that they hope other people will use. Bringing it to HN is basically a huge show and tell/brag fest.
Show HN: I used (x language) to build this in (random time)
Sometimes it's exactly what is needed to push a personal project to completion.
For example, I had my own "Show HN" time for nyan-mode for Emacs [1], and while I was thinking about playing around with Elisp anyway, I don't think I would have motivation to finish it, if it was not for the thought that I can do a "Show HN" with it.
I don't want to say that this was HN-targeted. It's more that when you know there is an audience that could a) appreciate, b) comment and c) actually use what you are building, it gives a lot more of a drive to actually finish the project.
"someone took a risk and put themselves out there for judgement"
People don't build things to never see the light of day. People build things that they hope other people will use. Bringing it to HN is basically a huge show and tell/brag fest.
Show HN: I used (x language) to build this in (random time)