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Comment by _8j50 | Hacker News Reader

I get downvoted all the time, sometimes I failed to express my intent properly and caused a misunderstanding. Other times I expressed a view or opinion that was unpopular. There is no way to distinguish "i disagree" vs "your comment has bad arguments or intent and don't add value"

For example, I was going to leave an honest comment: "She is mostly right and I have no problem with it. Beauty is an advantage, as well as money, class and who you know. Just getting a lawyer depends on those factors before you even reach the court" it is an honest observation but guaranteed downvote.

It would be better to require a comment reply for a downvote but no requirement at all for flagging a comment.

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> ... I have no problem with it .... is an honest observation but guaranteed downvote.

You seem to be doing the whole "express my intent properly and caused a misunderstanding" thing again here with this line. This part does not read like an observation, but a value judgment, and abhorrent one at that. This part reads as not just saying that the justice system is biased, but that it should be biased, which I don't think is your actual view, or any sane person's.

I guess you are right about the misunderstanding. No, it shouldn't be biased but you will get treated differently if you don't dress nice for example, this is very explicit and intentional. We do not have a system where everyone regardless of appearance or other advantages is equal. I don't have a problem with her beauty being an advantage because others also have an advantage in other forms and are allowed to exploit it. Ideally judges and juries should not see or hear the defendant and lawyers should all get paid the same amount regardless of the defendant and everyone should get educated on the law and their rights equally. But the more practical way to acheive justice right now is to accept natural biases caused by beauty or unnatural ones like wealth and compensate those who lack advantages by other means like legal associations that do probono, government funding legal insurance like health insurance (except directly without the middleman) and judges, at the request of the defendant or prosecution educating juries about the bias caused by a persons appearance and warnig them about unintentional bias and many other practical things. I have no problem with her advantage because it isn't her fault and the root cause is not her taking advantage of her appearance.

This is what i mean by requiring a reply for a downvote, to allow the commenter a chance to reply and clarify what they mean.

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