The comment I linked to is from Paul Graham, the founder of this site, and the principle he expressed in that comment was that downvoting for disagreement was f

The comment I linked to is from Paul Graham, the founder of this site, and the principle he expressed in that comment was that downvoting for disagreement was fine, because upvoting for agreement is also normal. The quote you cited was from a reply but we haven't adopted that; we've always upheld pg's principle. > I am making fact-based arguments. I see no fact-based counter-arguments, mostly nonsense and/or abuse that break [2] It's fine to state facts, and we want this to be a site where everyone can discuss difficult, controversial topics. But that can only happen if people are kind and respectful, and make their own efforts to observe the guidelines. The main problem with your style of commenting is that several of your comments contain personal swipes. If other commenters break the guidelines, you should flag them or email us to point them out, but you're only in a position to do that if you show, through your actions, that you're making an effort to respect the guidelines yourself. The guidelines that are most relevant in this case are: Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes. Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3." Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html