I think you took it a step further and went meta. I asked a basic question about this particular article, and you drew back and made an observation about the f

I think you took it a step further and went meta. I asked a basic question about this particular article, and you drew back and made an observation about the forest. I think you're absolutely correct. What does a vote mean? What does a flag mean? Do they differ at an article or comment level? (Other than the obvious flag:downvote difference) I do prefer upvotes to "+1" or "me too" responses, but downvotes can either be indicators of "I disagree with you," or "this is inappropriate for this forum/discussion/etc." It's unfortunate that there is little way to disambiguate them except in certain obvious cases.