But there is a clear fear of downvotes, as you point out many start with "I know I'm going to get down voted", a few weeks ago someone posted the HN search for

But there is a clear fear of downvotes, as you point out many start with "I know I'm going to get down voted", a few weeks ago someone posted the HN search for "I don't mean to be ...", but also look at "genuinely curious": http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=genuinely+curious&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=genuinely+c... . I'm wondering if this kind of social pressure is preventing the less confident people to express their respectable opinions.