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I don't really completely agree with this argument but I'd like to remind the HN community not to downvote simply because you disagree. I would argue that drug

I don't really completely agree with this argument but I'd like to remind the HN community not to downvote simply because you disagree. I would argue that drug addiction is affecting older adults much more severely than youth. I can definitely agree that social cohesion in America has been somewhat awful for generations.

tokai 7y ago
Please don't believe you know why others down vote. I down voted because it's a comment with unsubstantiated claims, only tangible related to the article.
freddie_mercury 7y ago
> I don't really completely agree with this argument but I'd like to remind the HN community not to downvote simply because you disagree. pg has explicitly said that downvotes on Hacker News can be used for disagreement. "Downvotes to express disagreement are part of the ethos of this site; it's a norm Paul Graham established almost a decade ago."
- Clubber 7y ago
  It's not a great idea and here's why: it's an almost sure way to create an echo chamber. How? The point system is the gamification of the forums. It's designed to spur conversation while also an attempt at self moderation. When someone posts a controversial but trailblazing comment, like say "Scrum Agile doesn't work very well for their company and here's why," the barrage of downvotes from the orthodoxy makes that person lose points and disincentivizes them from making any more controversial posts (unless they just don't give a damn). Ergo, the conversation gravitates towards whatever the herd thinks is best. It's rewarding conventional thinking and discouraging unorthodox thought, which is poison to any technological discussion. Technology and in fact progress itself was built on questioning and even destroying the conventional.
  - marcoseliziario 7y ago
    Yes. Probably by design.
- dang 7y ago
  That quote is from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17613243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17613243, which was tptacek's. But yes: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=16131314&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
sneak 7y ago
GP is making a bigoted argument with supporting data from a serial killer. If I were to downvote because I disagree with their argument, I would have to downvote twice. Let’s stop discussing voting now, though. I agree with the mods here that it makes for very boring reading.

tokai 7y ago

Please don't believe you know why others down vote. I down voted because it's a comment with unsubstantiated claims, only tangible related to the article.

freddie_mercury 7y ago

> I don't really completely agree with this argument but I'd like to remind the HN community not to downvote simply because you disagree. pg has explicitly said that downvotes on Hacker News can be used for disagreement. "Downvotes to express disagreement are part of the ethos of this site; it's a norm Paul Graham established almost a decade ago."

Clubber 7y ago
It's not a great idea and here's why: it's an almost sure way to create an echo chamber. How? The point system is the gamification of the forums. It's designed to spur conversation while also an attempt at self moderation. When someone posts a controversial but trailblazing comment, like say "Scrum Agile doesn't work very well for their company and here's why," the barrage of downvotes from the orthodoxy makes that person lose points and disincentivizes them from making any more controversial posts (unless they just don't give a damn). Ergo, the conversation gravitates towards whatever the herd thinks is best. It's rewarding conventional thinking and discouraging unorthodox thought, which is poison to any technological discussion. Technology and in fact progress itself was built on questioning and even destroying the conventional.
- marcoseliziario 7y ago
  Yes. Probably by design.
dang 7y ago
That quote is from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17613243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17613243, which was tptacek's. But yes: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=16131314&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

sneak 7y ago

GP is making a bigoted argument with supporting data from a serial killer. If I were to downvote because I disagree with their argument, I would have to downvote twice. Let’s stop discussing voting now, though. I agree with the mods here that it makes for very boring reading.