I think would be inclined, in any ambiguous case such as that (or its opposite), to base an up-or-down vote on the question of whether I thought the commenter was honestly trying to seek truth, however poorly s/he might be doing so.
I don’t think that is in keeping with the overall goals of this site. You should get points for winning (making true statements) not for effort. “If you fail to achieve a correct answer, it is futile to protest that you acted with propriety.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean instantly downvoting anyone who is confused but it does mean that I’m not inclined to award upvotes for well meaning but wrong comments.
Should commenters be afraid to repeat false information which they currently believe to be true, for fear of being voted down? (This may sound like a rhetorical question, but it isn’t.)
Yes. Commenters should assume their comments will be read by multiple people and so should make a reasonable effort to check their facts before posting. A few minutes spent fact checking any uncertain claims to avoid wasted time on the part of readers is something I expect of commenters here and punishing factual inaccuracies with a downvote signals that expectation.
‘Reasonable effort’ is obviously somewhat open to interpretation but if one’s readers can find evidence of factual inaccuracy in a minute or two of googling then one has failed to clear the bar.
I would suggest that it makes no sense to reward getting the right answer without documenting the process you used, because then nobody benefits from your discovery that this process leads (in at least that one case) to the right answer.
Similarly, I don’t see the benefit of punishing someone for getting the wrong answer while sincerely trying to follow the right process. Perhaps a neutral response is appropriate, but we are still seeing a benefit from such failed attempts: we learn how the process can be misunderstood (because if the process is right, and followed correctly, then by definition it will arrive at the right answer), and thus how we need to refine the process (e.g. by re-wording its instructions) to prevent such errors.
Perhaps “Rationality is the art of winning the truth.”?
Actually, I really don’t like the connotations of the word “winning” (it reminds me too much of “arguments are soldiers”); I’d much rather say something like “Rationality is the art of gradually teasing the truth from the jaws of chaos.” Karma points should reflect whether the commenter has pulled out more truth—including truth about flaws in our teasing-process—or (the opposite) has helped feed the chaos-beast.
I don’t think that is in keeping with the overall goals of this site. You should get points for winning (making true statements) not for effort. “If you fail to achieve a correct answer, it is futile to protest that you acted with propriety.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean instantly downvoting anyone who is confused but it does mean that I’m not inclined to award upvotes for well meaning but wrong comments.
Yes. Commenters should assume their comments will be read by multiple people and so should make a reasonable effort to check their facts before posting. A few minutes spent fact checking any uncertain claims to avoid wasted time on the part of readers is something I expect of commenters here and punishing factual inaccuracies with a downvote signals that expectation.
‘Reasonable effort’ is obviously somewhat open to interpretation but if one’s readers can find evidence of factual inaccuracy in a minute or two of googling then one has failed to clear the bar.
I would suggest that it makes no sense to reward getting the right answer without documenting the process you used, because then nobody benefits from your discovery that this process leads (in at least that one case) to the right answer.
Similarly, I don’t see the benefit of punishing someone for getting the wrong answer while sincerely trying to follow the right process. Perhaps a neutral response is appropriate, but we are still seeing a benefit from such failed attempts: we learn how the process can be misunderstood (because if the process is right, and followed correctly, then by definition it will arrive at the right answer), and thus how we need to refine the process (e.g. by re-wording its instructions) to prevent such errors.
Perhaps “Rationality is the art of winning the truth.”?
Actually, I really don’t like the connotations of the word “winning” (it reminds me too much of “arguments are soldiers”); I’d much rather say something like “Rationality is the art of gradually teasing the truth from the jaws of chaos.” Karma points should reflect whether the commenter has pulled out more truth—including truth about flaws in our teasing-process—or (the opposite) has helped feed the chaos-beast.