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Comment by danilocampos | Hacker News Reader

HN's community is a pit of sexist villainy, unnecessary pedantry, empty sycophancy, and vapid self-aggrandizement.

But yeah, let's make sure we get on this downvoting "problem" post-haste.

PS: I downvoted every single comment in this thread that rubbed me even a little bit the wrong way, regardless of its constructiveness. I left no comment in explanation. I took special delight in doing so for comments with an especially righteous tone. The world is no worse for my having done so. The community would have been no better had I restrained myself.

Downvotes are not the problem.

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All right, I'll bite.

>HN's community is a pit of sexist villainy, unnecessary pedantry, empty sycophancy, and vapid self-aggrandizement.

Then why are you here? I'm not asking you to leave, but that is such a thorough indictment that I do wonder why you stay. There must be more to the site than that.

>PS: I downvoted every single comment in this thread that rubbed me even a little bit the wrong way, regardless of its constructiveness. I left no comment in explanation. I took special delight in doing so for comments with an especially righteous tone. The world is no worse for my having done so. The community would have been no better had I restrained myself.

One person downvoting like this is not much of a problem. If very few people behaved like that the OP would not have needed to post this. If everyone behaved like that the site would be unusable.

>Downvotes are not the problem.

Thoughtless downvoting is _a_ problem. I don't know if it's the biggest problem the site has but why would you let that stop you from addressing it?

> Then why are you here?

The obvious reason – occasional boredom. Oh, and the inherent joys of venting my spleen.

The better question: Why do you engage in the community?

You could just browse articles without creating an account.

> Why do you engage in the community?

Same deal. Occasional boredom.

Your profile reads ~"inescapable idealism" yet you sound like the most jaded person I've come across lately. Downvoting isn't the problem, it's probably cynicism. Nailed it.

...I'm so – honestly – puzzled by this that I'm wondering if you're trolling me or I'm misreading it or something. But I'll answer at face value:

Without idealism, where do you think my disappointment in the community would come from?

An idealist can be positive about a state of affairs and the future. He need not be disappointed that utopia has not yet been reached. I find HN encouraging, because the tone and contents are mostly pretty good. So where does your disappointment come from?

Let it be known that I thought this post was hilarious, and so I upvoted it.

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