I routinely read through the comments before I actually click on the link to the article. It's a quick indicator to the quality of the article and often, I learn more from the comments vs. the article itself.
I used to do the same thing until I realized how much it affected my interpretation of the article. It colored my thoughts, making me part of the hivemind. Now I read the article first, then wait a few seconds before looking at what other people think so I can better for my own opinion.
Somewhere between 50-75% of the time I don't read the articles posted to HN. The comments are frequenty more interesting, and almost always have commenters that are more informed about the original topic.
