Your response being downvoted and thus less likely to be read - and with enough downvotes incapable of being read by those who haven't opted to read "Dead" comm

Your response being downvoted and thus less likely to be read - and with enough downvotes incapable of being read by those who haven't opted to read "Dead" comments - is a power given to the community to self-moderate. That power is also used to drown out opinions (ie. creating an echo chamber). Your response was civil, made in good faith, and had no reason that I can tell to be downvoted. If downvotes couldn't silence people, or prevent their opinions from being read, you would be correct. But because they can - it is a tool people can use to form an echo chamber. If you browse through heated topics where the HN demographic skews towards one side of the argument, you can see the echo chamber at work simply by turning ShowDead to "On" and reading every comment on the thread. If you browse with ShowDead "Off" you might not be aware of how frequent replies are silenced for no reason other than not agreeing with the echo chamber.