Seems like it could be made either a) easier to read / skim through comments ---with points shown, or b) easier to cast a fair vote, and thus contribute to HN -

Seems like it could be made either a) easier to read / skim through comments ---with points shown, or b) easier to cast a fair vote, and thus contribute to HN ---with points hidden. Thinking of it this way, maybe we should have two different modes--- ‘quick reading’, with points shown and voting disabled, and ‘contribution’, with points hidden and voting enabled. Wait, I know it complicates things a bit, but it makes sense. Look: - If you do read everything carefully and don't rely on crowd's opinion, then you don't need points anyway and you can well contribute to HN by voting justly. Use ‘contribution’ mode. - If you usually read HN in a hurry, thus you shouldn't be tempted to vote. Use ‘quick reading’ mode. The weakest point here is changing mode. Don't know how frequently people switch between ‘skimming’ and ‘contribution’ mode while reading HN… If not often, then maybe it makes sense to place a switch on the user's settings page. (Maybe with contribution mode disabled for noobs.)