As a general rule, in scientific circles anyway, the person making an assertion is the one who gets to support it. Asking "Why do you believe that?" is always valid.
In this context someone explaining themselves would be nice, even without citations (they would be nice though). Instead I was getting downvotes for asking "why" just with a few more words.
At the moment there is no reason to believe either side and plenty of reasons to dismiss both, not as cranks, but at least as cranky.
Complaining on a form inherently lowers it's quality. As a rule Down-vote, Flag, or say nothing don't clutter up HN with posts that make for poor reading.
And yes, mass downvoting both sides of a thread is often better than getting in the middle of a heated debate.
Given that this is your response, and you've chosen not to shed some light on the subject yourself, the options left to describe your motives are not positive.
That question was asked, and answered by several people. "Why do you think that?" and "You haven't cited to my satisfaction, although I've done my research... which I'm not sharing for... reasons..." isn't the same thing at all.
