I think a large part of the problem is the ambiguity and subjectivity of what upvote/downvote is supposed to represent. Upvoting can signify intent to promote v

I think a large part of the problem is the ambiguity and subjectivity of what upvote/downvote is supposed to represent. Upvoting can signify intent to promote visibility (intended meaning on HN, I think), agreement with opinions, amusement, compassion, relevance. Oftentimes these are in conflict. Do I upvote a comment that IMO presents dangerous thoughts built on false assumptions and flawed reasoning, but that has a solid dismissal and spawns a great and honest conversation subthread? When we see highly voted and opinionated comments, I think we all generally believe this is because most voters agreed with the sentiment. I have no issues downvoting useless comments I disagree with, but these are tricky. There are other situations when the mixing signals become an issue. I've been brooding on how a more multi-faceted voting system would work - how many dimensions are there, how are they presented and how do they affect thread rendering? What's the right balance and how specific should it be for different communities (think subreddits)? My hunch is that 1 (status quo) is too little and 5 too many.