I agree with enough of this. I know there are immediate downsides and hypothetical dangers. But the upsides seem indispensable. The argument needs to consider the balance of the two.
If you don’t want to talk to someone, don’t upvote her and don’t reply to her.
They remain in the fabric of the forum, making it less fun to read. Not upvoting doesn’t address this issue.
“Safe spaces” are about banning content which might offend someone’s sensibilities. My suggestion is about “banning” less content.
Things that are not fun (for certain sense of “fun”) offend my sensibilities (for certain sense of “offend”). My suggestion is to discourage them by downvoting. (This is the intended analogy, which is strong enough to carry over a lot of Yvain’s discussion, even if the concept “safe spaces” doesn’t apply in detail, although I think it does to a greater extent than I think you think it does.)
Let me rephrase. I suggest downvoting a comment only when it makes you think “I don’t want this person in this community”. Don’t downvote comments which might be reasonably attributed to an OK person making an honest mistake.
This sabotages any chance of using karma to find and sort good comments from bad in the future. I want good content to be differentiated from bad regardless of source. I upvote known trolls when they say smart shit and I downvote eliezer when he’s being a douchebag.
I wasn’t at all suggesting to upvote / downvote on ad hominem basis. When someone is being a douchebag, downvote her by all means. When someone is stating an opinion you consider to be wrong while doing it in honest and respectful manner, don’t downvote. If you want to express your disagreement, reply and (politely) explain why you disagree.
I agree with enough of this. I know there are immediate downsides and hypothetical dangers. But the upsides seem indispensable. The argument needs to consider the balance of the two.
They remain in the fabric of the forum, making it less fun to read. Not upvoting doesn’t address this issue.
Things that are not fun (for certain sense of “fun”) offend my sensibilities (for certain sense of “offend”). My suggestion is to discourage them by downvoting. (This is the intended analogy, which is strong enough to carry over a lot of Yvain’s discussion, even if the concept “safe spaces” doesn’t apply in detail, although I think it does to a greater extent than I think you think it does.)
Let me rephrase. I suggest downvoting a comment only when it makes you think “I don’t want this person in this community”. Don’t downvote comments which might be reasonably attributed to an OK person making an honest mistake.
This sabotages any chance of using karma to find and sort good comments from bad in the future. I want good content to be differentiated from bad regardless of source. I upvote known trolls when they say smart shit and I downvote eliezer when he’s being a douchebag.
I wasn’t at all suggesting to upvote / downvote on ad hominem basis. When someone is being a douchebag, downvote her by all means. When someone is stating an opinion you consider to be wrong while doing it in honest and respectful manner, don’t downvote. If you want to express your disagreement, reply and (politely) explain why you disagree.