Using upvotes freely but downvotes sparingly produces something else (which I cannot mention by name without this comment going 'dead'). The willingness to dis

Using upvotes freely but downvotes sparingly produces something else (which I cannot mention by name without this comment going 'dead'). The willingness to disagree is a large part of what makes HN what it is, and I think that downvotes help foster the sort of atmosphere in which that is possible. Really, contrarian viewpoints are hardly an endangered animal here.