Thanks for laying it out. Yeah, I’ve thought about this and I do get it that we’re all different. I wrote that out of exasperation from the inconsistency and just plain old pettiness that seems to underline some of those motives that leave people confused.

My criteria is: does this contribute to the conversation in any meaningful way and is it grounded? So to me things like downvoting because of some arbitrary reason that only serves the voter feels selfish and shallow and pointless. It’s almost destructive, even, when previous voting scores hold some momentum and impact how the thread is perceived. For example, some folks have been downvoted to hell because someone misinterpreted their comment and replied with a popular opinion totally missing the point, framing the first person a moron but without critically looking into what they’re saying beyond first the impression. (Man, I wish I could find that one exemplary thread easily.)

I know, I know, the points are made up and don’t matter, but sometimes they mean something to those who receive them.

But anyway, thank you for your synthesis, you sound like a very smart cookie.