> First, no, you can't force "respectful". Yes, you are right. > it's not the kind of comment we want on HN I agree, but if the goal is for the OP to underst

> First, no, you can't force "respectful". Yes, you are right. > it's not the kind of comment we want on HN I agree, but if the goal is for the OP to understand this and change, I feel like the downvote acts more like a way for the downvoter to feel better than to teach the OP what was wrong with the comment. > isn't really going to raise the level of discourse much (...) it tells the original poster more than a bare downvote does, but not much more I see what you mean, and I agree, but at the same time I think that the difference between 'nothing' and giving some feedback is in my opinion what makes the difference between making downvoting about retaliation vs. teaching and correcting behavior.