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> I know I will get downvoted for saying this I doubt it, but I downvoted you for saying that. No comment anywhere has ever been improved by adding "I know I w

by gjm11 4y ago

> I know I will get downvoted for saying this I doubt it, but I downvoted you for saying that. No comment anywhere has ever been improved by adding "I know I will get downvoted for saying this, but". Please don't do it.

DeathArrow 4y ago
Thank you for your comment. It is highly valuable to me.
swat535 4y ago
These kind of passive-aggressive replies always bother me, they don't contribute much to the discussion either. Please don't do it. There are very _few_ reasons why you should downvote a comment. I found parent's comment great, so I upvoted it to counter your unfair downvote.
- gjm11 4y ago
  (It wasn't passive-aggressive, it was just aggressive.) The "I know I'm going to get downvoted for this, but ..." thing is annoyingly common, and unfortunately it's common for a reason: a lot of the time it works: it lets you frame yourself as a victim without ever needing to be victimized. And, strictly as a matter of fact, it's almost always false. I just did a search for HN comments saying "I know I|this will get|be downvoted" and checked out the first ten I found. Only one of them was net downvoted (which that particular one richly deserved), even though several of them claimed not just to know they would be downvoted but to know that they would be downvoted "into oblivion" or some such phrasing. So, why do I care? Because (1) these things just add noise and (2) I think that on net they get unfairly upvoted; I want to discourage #1 and compensate for #2. (Also, most of the time comments that say "I know I'll get downvoted..." are in fact bad ones, but that isn't the point here. In this case, the comment itself was pretty reasonable. It just would have been better without the look-how-brave-I-am posturing.)
  - mcv 4y ago
    I've got to say I completely agree. "I know I'm going to get downvoted for this" is for me a cue to downvote it. Make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. I don't downvote a lot, but this gets a consistent downvote from me. Every comment that has that line can be improved by leaving it out.
    - Valakas_ 4y ago
      The cue is insecurity. You get triggered by his insecurity which you unconsciously see in yourself and don't like. This "not liking it" feeling is the "cue" you refer to. People say "you'll probably disagree" as a defense mechanism. They preemptively expect a rejection, and make it known, in order to make it hurt less. Works in a similar way as self-deprecating humor. "You can't hurt me, if i hurt myself first." "You can't reject me, if I reject myself/you first." I myself, got triggered by this thread and it's display of emotionally immaturity, because I have some of it myself, and I dislike it with a passion. I've noted that HN is a forum full of emotionally immature people that are usually polite in the way they show it. This little thread is a perfect example of it. Very off putting, still the threads are sometimes interesting, if we can accept this fact and try to look at the discussion itself.
      - mcv 4y ago
        > You get triggered by his insecurity which you unconsciously see in yourself and don't like. I think you're projecting something here. I'm not triggered by his insecurity and don't see it in myself. I just think begging for votes doesn't belong here, and begging for votes through reverse-psychology doesn't either. Let the content of your comment stand on its own merits.

by gjm11 4y ago

DeathArrow 4y ago

Thank you for your comment. It is highly valuable to me.

swat535 4y ago

These kind of passive-aggressive replies always bother me, they don't contribute much to the discussion either. Please don't do it. There are very _few_ reasons why you should downvote a comment. I found parent's comment great, so I upvoted it to counter your unfair downvote.

gjm11 4y ago
(It wasn't passive-aggressive, it was just aggressive.) The "I know I'm going to get downvoted for this, but ..." thing is annoyingly common, and unfortunately it's common for a reason: a lot of the time it works: it lets you frame yourself as a victim without ever needing to be victimized. And, strictly as a matter of fact, it's almost always false. I just did a search for HN comments saying "I know I|this will get|be downvoted" and checked out the first ten I found. Only one of them was net downvoted (which that particular one richly deserved), even though several of them claimed not just to know they would be downvoted but to know that they would be downvoted "into oblivion" or some such phrasing. So, why do I care? Because (1) these things just add noise and (2) I think that on net they get unfairly upvoted; I want to discourage #1 and compensate for #2. (Also, most of the time comments that say "I know I'll get downvoted..." are in fact bad ones, but that isn't the point here. In this case, the comment itself was pretty reasonable. It just would have been better without the look-how-brave-I-am posturing.)
- mcv 4y ago
  I've got to say I completely agree. "I know I'm going to get downvoted for this" is for me a cue to downvote it. Make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. I don't downvote a lot, but this gets a consistent downvote from me. Every comment that has that line can be improved by leaving it out.
  - Valakas_ 4y ago
    The cue is insecurity. You get triggered by his insecurity which you unconsciously see in yourself and don't like. This "not liking it" feeling is the "cue" you refer to. People say "you'll probably disagree" as a defense mechanism. They preemptively expect a rejection, and make it known, in order to make it hurt less. Works in a similar way as self-deprecating humor. "You can't hurt me, if i hurt myself first." "You can't reject me, if I reject myself/you first." I myself, got triggered by this thread and it's display of emotionally immaturity, because I have some of it myself, and I dislike it with a passion. I've noted that HN is a forum full of emotionally immature people that are usually polite in the way they show it. This little thread is a perfect example of it. Very off putting, still the threads are sometimes interesting, if we can accept this fact and try to look at the discussion itself.
    - mcv 4y ago
      > You get triggered by his insecurity which you unconsciously see in yourself and don't like. I think you're projecting something here. I'm not triggered by his insecurity and don't see it in myself. I just think begging for votes doesn't belong here, and begging for votes through reverse-psychology doesn't either. Let the content of your comment stand on its own merits.