>>>What I dislike is seeing downvotes applied carelessly because of casual disagreement with a commment which is otherwise well thought out. I'd rather people actually reply expressing their dissent, which at least gives the chance for rebuttal and further debate. Downvoting is the easy way out, and tends to look rather insulting to me, because being at zero or sub-zero relegates serious commenters to the same class as trolls.<<<
You know what's the sad part? In this process the lowest common denominator always rises up. Further, I've noticed that this varies from thread to thread. If you pick up a technical thread then you find insightful things on the top, but if you pick up something general that everyone thinks they can take a stab at you will usually find the simplest concept up there.
The more complex thought out ones tend to stay at the bottom, because most people don't take the time to read through them and understand what the author is saying. It's this human tendency to get attracted to the simple bright lights instead of the beautiful kaleidoscopic pattern in the sky.
Further, much of the quality of discussion is influenced by the subtlety of the matter hand. It's like the audience for each thread is difference and there is a stark contrast between these HN groups.
It's for reasons like these that I have almost quit commenting on non-technical articles. Most people don't even refute my arguments they simply down vote the hell out of me as if I am spam, especially if I say something that goes against the party line of that particular thread (certain threads invite certain kinds of people which leads to group think). That is insulting.
However, I won't quit until I find a solution to this problem. So, that I can help Mr. Graham in fixing this instead of just sending a rant to him.
You know what's the sad part? In this process the lowest common denominator always rises up. Further, I've noticed that this varies from thread to thread. If you pick up a technical thread then you find insightful things on the top, but if you pick up something general that everyone thinks they can take a stab at you will usually find the simplest concept up there.
The more complex thought out ones tend to stay at the bottom, because most people don't take the time to read through them and understand what the author is saying. It's this human tendency to get attracted to the simple bright lights instead of the beautiful kaleidoscopic pattern in the sky.
Further, much of the quality of discussion is influenced by the subtlety of the matter hand. It's like the audience for each thread is difference and there is a stark contrast between these HN groups.
It's for reasons like these that I have almost quit commenting on non-technical articles. Most people don't even refute my arguments they simply down vote the hell out of me as if I am spam, especially if I say something that goes against the party line of that particular thread (certain threads invite certain kinds of people which leads to group think). That is insulting.
However, I won't quit until I find a solution to this problem. So, that I can help Mr. Graham in fixing this instead of just sending a rant to him.