I too am looking for a good discussion. I think down votes are enough for shared awareness. It's not the perfect system because you can get downvoted simply fo

I too am looking for a good discussion. I think down votes are enough for shared awareness. It's not the perfect system because you can get downvoted simply for disagreeing with the community at large. However, being downvoted for having a different opinion isn't heavily stigmatized on HN. I rarely see a -4 rating on a comment that isn't trollish, off topic, or a joke that backfired. Most social interaction has this kind of fuzziness. It works most of the time which is good enough.