>... it seems like a stretch to imply that the average person neither suffers or finds ads invasive.

The average person has never heard of HN. It isn't the case that the average person's experience with today's internet ads is that of having their "... mind erode[s] into a twitchy mess."

The average person doesn't look at the comment section of a nice YouTube video.

>Most [HN] people don't like ads....

Most people don't suffer — at least not consciously — as a result of ads.