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Imagine you’re sitting in a circle of friends. Arguing about something. You propose an argument and the rest of your friends just shake their heads and indicate
by systemvoltage 5y ago
Imagine you’re sitting in a circle of friends. Arguing about something. You propose an argument and the rest of your friends just shake their heads and indicate with thumbs down. No words are uttered, no response, it’s just silence.
It feels oppressive to be downvoted without explanation about reasonable, well articulated points. I’m not talking about rude, disrespectful comments. Just because you disagree, you shouldn’t just walk away with “Take that! Downvotes for you! I’m out”.
It’s rude. It’s disrespectful. It’s very un-HN.
There are many disadvantages and zero upsides to “Downvote as a disagreement”. It is a signal to others who are now primed with the gray text. It affects people’s thinking. It invalidates arguments before others have had a chance to think about it. It’s downright dangerous.
Downvotes are totally OK for rude comments.
- loopz 5y agoMaybe it's just a signal for trying to come up with something interesting, or refrain from engaging in pointless comments? Voting is separate from comments, and entangling them makes for even less interesting discussions.
- theamk 5y agoI can easily imagine something like this in IRL. You are sitting in a circle of friends and someone proposes well argued and supported point in support of something very horrible. You avert your eyes, attempt to pretend that you haven't really heard that. Then change the topic. If this happens frequently enough, maybe next time you won't invite this person. Remember, "reasonable" is different for every person. And "well articulated" and "respectful" does not mean "reasonable".