It’s a proxy for various things. Popularity of ideas is one thing, sure. Quality is another. It doesn’t have to be either or. If there’s any signal at all, I don’t understand why you should ignore it. I actually think downvotes carry much more signal than upvotes.
If there’s any signal at all, I don’t understand why you should ignore it.
Because it’s a highly noisy signal, and the part of the signal which is not pure noise is easy to manipulate. Even ignoring blatant manipulation events such as block down-voting, what does karma represent and how should it affect your beliefs and behaviours?
It’s a proxy for various things. Popularity of ideas is one thing, sure. Quality is another. It doesn’t have to be either or. If there’s any signal at all, I don’t understand why you should ignore it. I actually think downvotes carry much more signal than upvotes.
Do you “vote”, by the way?
Because it’s a highly noisy signal, and the part of the signal which is not pure noise is easy to manipulate. Even ignoring blatant manipulation events such as block down-voting, what does karma represent and how should it affect your beliefs and behaviours?