I am not opposed to people discussing commenting trends or karmic-system theory (_particularly_ when a concrete example is given), I am opposed to them doing it as top level posts in conversations not specifically about commenting trends or voting systems.
"Top level, or not" may not be something that you find to be an interesting consideration, but it is what I am complaining about. Since meta-conversation in general is not what I am complaining about, there is no irony.
That it's not "top level" itself, well, I don't find it as much of a differentiator.