I’ve also found that ad hominem abuse is officially discouraged, but in practice is very effective at winning an argument. Alas, none of this changes the fact t

I’ve also found that ad hominem abuse is officially discouraged, but in practice is very effective at winning an argument. Alas, none of this changes the fact that it is noise and not signal. In my experience, if a comment is unpopular and gets some downvotes, eventually someone will reply, the author will retort effectively, and then votes will swing the other way as people reading the thread cotton on to the idea that it’s a good point even if it’s unpopular. Have a little patience. Things will work themselves out, and even if they don’t, why be so invested in points that you need to spend a lot of time strategizing and engaging in rhetorical devices?