Feedback is valuable when it is informative, as the exchange with WrongBot turned out to be in the end.
Unfortunately, a downvote by itself will not typically be that informative. Sometimes it’s obvious why a comment was downvoted (in which case it doesn’t provide much information anyway); but in this case, I had no real idea, and it seemed plausible that it resulted from a misinterpretation of the comment. (As turned out to be the case.)
(Also, the slight to one’s social status represented by a downvote isn’t “imagined”; it’s tangible and numerical.)
In this case your statement was a vague disagreement with the intuitively correct answer, with no supporting argument provided. That is just bad writing, and I would downvote it for so being
The comment was a quick answer to a yes-no question posed to me by Eliezer. Would you have been more or less inclined to downvote it if I had written only “Yes”?
Unfortunately, a downvote by itself will not typically be that informative. Sometimes it’s obvious why a comment was downvoted (in which case it doesn’t provide much information anyway); but in this case, I had no real idea, and it seemed plausible that it resulted from a misinterpretation of the comment. (As turned out to be the case.)
Providing information isn’t the point of downvoting, it is a means of expressing social disapproval. (Perhaps that is information in a sense, but it is more complicated than just that.) The fact that they are being contrary to a social norm may or may not be obvious to the commenter, if not then it is new information. Regardless, the downvote is a signal to reexamine the comment and think about why it was not approved by over 50% of the readers who felt strongly enough to vote on it.
(Also, the slight to one’s social status represented by a downvote isn’t “imagined”; it’s tangible and numerical.)
Tangibility and significance are completely different matters. A penny might appear more solid than a dollar, but is far less worthy of consideration. You could ignore a minus-1 comment quite safely without people deciding (even momentarily) that you are a loser or some such. That you chose not to makes it look like you have an inflated view of how significant it is.
The comment was a quick answer to a yes-no question posed to me by Eliezer. Would you have been more or less inclined to downvote it if I had written only “Yes”?
Probably less, as I would then have simply felt like requesting clarification, or perhaps even thinking of a reason on my own. A bad argument (or one that sounds bad) is worse than no argument.
Feedback is valuable when it is informative, as the exchange with WrongBot turned out to be in the end.
Unfortunately, a downvote by itself will not typically be that informative. Sometimes it’s obvious why a comment was downvoted (in which case it doesn’t provide much information anyway); but in this case, I had no real idea, and it seemed plausible that it resulted from a misinterpretation of the comment. (As turned out to be the case.)
(Also, the slight to one’s social status represented by a downvote isn’t “imagined”; it’s tangible and numerical.)
The comment was a quick answer to a yes-no question posed to me by Eliezer. Would you have been more or less inclined to downvote it if I had written only “Yes”?
Providing information isn’t the point of downvoting, it is a means of expressing social disapproval. (Perhaps that is information in a sense, but it is more complicated than just that.) The fact that they are being contrary to a social norm may or may not be obvious to the commenter, if not then it is new information. Regardless, the downvote is a signal to reexamine the comment and think about why it was not approved by over 50% of the readers who felt strongly enough to vote on it.
Tangibility and significance are completely different matters. A penny might appear more solid than a dollar, but is far less worthy of consideration. You could ignore a minus-1 comment quite safely without people deciding (even momentarily) that you are a loser or some such. That you chose not to makes it look like you have an inflated view of how significant it is.
Probably less, as I would then have simply felt like requesting clarification, or perhaps even thinking of a reason on my own. A bad argument (or one that sounds bad) is worse than no argument.