Yeah, talking about partisan politics, while not fun, it is necessary occasionally, is impossible on HN. Talking about certain people and their decisions in te

Yeah, talking about partisan politics, while not fun, it is necessary occasionally, is impossible on HN. Talking about certain people and their decisions in tech is not possible also. I don't think downvotes are useful inputs, personally. It's far too easy to farm votes and use the accounts for essentially manipulation, it doesn't actually contribute to the dialogue, even when they're down voting something like an overly obvious question or dumb comment, a down vote doesn't really change anything. I think accounts under 5000 karma shouldn't have dowvoting capability at all. Additionally, once a down vote has been cast on a comment, that post's score should be hidden to discourage multiple downvotes. Unless someone is spamming or posting something actually harmful or illegal, ie not just an opinion, there's no benefit in discouraging that person from contributing in the site. These are my thoughts. I've seen HN go from a bastion of intelligent hackers and scholars mature enough to discuss nearly anything to a collection of mostly childish people bickering about nothing. Over the years and different accounts and seeing the wrong people rewarded and the wrong people blasted out for minor errors. It's crazy. Downvotes are just one angle, but I agree that it needs attention. Edit: this post now serves to prove the point I'm making.