I can’t say I never downvote anyone but I get into these comment chains from time to time where really no matter what I post whoever I’m talking to downvotes every response but I generally shy away from downvoting even things I dislike. I don’t want to fall into an echo chamber where all I see are only the things I agree with.
Is it dumb or is it that you think it’s dumb. To be or not to be. You see I disagree with a lot of people but I see where they are coming from so I don’t think they are literally idiotic. I’m more apprehensive about living in a system where I only ever see what is agreement with whatever I think aka an echo chamber.
Nah it’s dumb
It is pretty common that people treat their views as an infallible truth. Anything they think is good and smart and any disagreement is bad and dumb.
People are waaaay to judgy and rarely think outside of their bubble, country, ‘layer’ or can relate that there are differences beyond their knowledge. That’s why I only downvote when I am mostly sure to understand all this context, not just because I don’t like or agree with a statement 🤷
I also often get a lot of downvotes due to this ironically since I try to understand and ask questions (non hostile!) because I don’t understand.
It seems you and I are birds of a feather. Same experience here. Any divergence from the accepted norm, even if it’s just inquiry is typically met with downvotes. That is most places trend towards an echo chamber, not just here but anywhere online.
I will absolutely downvote some people I disagree with if I think they are making a bad faith argument or I think their view is bad. If the masses decide my opinion is wrong then it will work out in the end. If not, then it must have been a bad comment.
You are, I am, we are the masses. I don’t mind disagreeing with people. I would be more bothered to be somewhere where everyone agrees and we have a culture of chasing off anyone who doesn’t aka an echo chamber. I’ll downvote people being mean because we can disagree and have civil discussion. Also someone blatantly trolling.
I didn’t say I downvote based on disagreeing. I said I downvote based on if it’s dumb. There are plenty of people that I disagree with that have salient points. The morons are the ones that get the downvote.
Ever notice how people tend to judge other’s intelligence by how much their opinions match their own?
Well I have the best and most correct opinions, so no problems there.