“Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.”

Thanks, I actually had no idea about this one, and nobody ever bothered to point it out to me. I do find it disheartening though that anything against the grain in this forum often results in downvote and no comment. That said, this will be my final mention of the issue and I’ll just eat the negative karma from here rather than self censor (except on the issue as per the guideline).

There is an art (that applies here and elsewhere) to phrasing comments/opinions that might go against the grain, in such a way that people appreciate being educated/enlightened or given the chance to think about an old topic in a new way.

Of course on every topic there will be some people who don't want to rethink their position, but you shouldn't worry about them (though accept that their downvotes are inevitable).

But if you craft your answers for people who might not yet agree with your position but are open to considering a new take, you'll get plenty more upvotes than downvotes overall.

Thanks for the tip. I certainly fail at this art since agreement and open ended question results in downvotes. I really can't get much softer when trying to open minds. I could improve my punctuation I guess.