A comment is supposed to be upvoted for making a relevant contribution. A relevant contribution to the discussion of a statement is more likely to be criticism than it is to be a presentation of further corroboration. So, the most upvoted comments are likely to be critical ones. Mere voicing of agreement will necessarily be perceived as less relevant to the conversation and thus receive fewer upvotes; to change that, the norms about upvoting would have to be changed, so that being nice is considered more valuable than making a relevant contribution.
It’s not clear why a relevant contribution is more likely to be a criticism than further corroboration. There is a point in your comment where you seem to be a conflating two spectrums...agreement/disagreement and thoughtfulness/ simplicity.
Just like there is simple dissent (a comment with only the words, “I disagree”) and thoughtful criticism (like the linked comment) and there is both “mere voicing of agreement” (“Good post”) and thoughtful agreement ( “I agree with this, these are some particularly strong points you make, here’s some more supporting evidence”). I find the latter to be very useful.
It’s unfortunate that thoughtful agreement is not more valued than it is.
I think this kind of thoughtful agreement is valued very highly. But situations where someone has additional evidence they can present to corroborate a poster’s point simply have a much lower base rate than situations where someone comes up with a potential criticism. That’s because for the first, you have to come up with a potential criticism and produce the evidence to refute it.
A comment is supposed to be upvoted for making a relevant contribution. A relevant contribution to the discussion of a statement is more likely to be criticism than it is to be a presentation of further corroboration. So, the most upvoted comments are likely to be critical ones. Mere voicing of agreement will necessarily be perceived as less relevant to the conversation and thus receive fewer upvotes; to change that, the norms about upvoting would have to be changed, so that being nice is considered more valuable than making a relevant contribution.
Why is this unfortunate?
It’s not clear why a relevant contribution is more likely to be a criticism than further corroboration. There is a point in your comment where you seem to be a conflating two spectrums...agreement/disagreement and thoughtfulness/ simplicity.
Just like there is simple dissent (a comment with only the words, “I disagree”) and thoughtful criticism (like the linked comment) and there is both “mere voicing of agreement” (“Good post”) and thoughtful agreement ( “I agree with this, these are some particularly strong points you make, here’s some more supporting evidence”). I find the latter to be very useful.
It’s unfortunate that thoughtful agreement is not more valued than it is.
I think this kind of thoughtful agreement is valued very highly. But situations where someone has additional evidence they can present to corroborate a poster’s point simply have a much lower base rate than situations where someone comes up with a potential criticism. That’s because for the first, you have to come up with a potential criticism and produce the evidence to refute it.