Vis-à-vis HN and the discussion of down-voting here specifically:
There are definitely times when the down-voting is pathetically petty and inane. One of the most glaring examples I've noticed is this: any time somebody makes a post asking for book recommendations in any form (eg, "What's a book that influenced you?" or "What books do you recommend for $REASON?", or however they choose to phrase it), no matter what the rest of the content of your response is, IF you include anything by Ayn Rand you will get down-voted.
That's it... just mentioning an Ayn Rand book like The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged will provoke some people to downvote you. You could scarcely get more petty and ridiculous if you tried.
It's not like I'm even talking about overtly political threads, or a comment that specifically endorses Rand or her philosophy / ideology / etc. That I could (almost) understand the occasional downvote at least, just because her stuff is moderately controversial in some circles.
But to think that merely having the audacity to include a certain author's books on a list is reason to downvote a comment? And it wouldn't matter if it were Rand or anybody, the fundamental point is the same. It's one thing to dislike an author, but "C'mon, man..." as they say.
> IF you include anything by Ayn Rand you will get down-voted. [...] I could (almost) understand the occasional downvote at least, just because her stuff is moderately controversial in some circles.
To explain why your post was (as you so correctly predicted) downvoted: Her stuff isn't "moderately controversial in some circles"; it is utter bullshit through and through, and a surefire indicator that the proponent is either stupid, misled, motivated by hateful politics, or two or more thereof. Any downvotes are utterly well-deserved and a valuable life lesson that should be taken to heart.
There are definitely times when the down-voting is pathetically petty and inane. One of the most glaring examples I've noticed is this: any time somebody makes a post asking for book recommendations in any form (eg, "What's a book that influenced you?" or "What books do you recommend for $REASON?", or however they choose to phrase it), no matter what the rest of the content of your response is, IF you include anything by Ayn Rand you will get down-voted.
That's it... just mentioning an Ayn Rand book like The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged will provoke some people to downvote you. You could scarcely get more petty and ridiculous if you tried.
It's not like I'm even talking about overtly political threads, or a comment that specifically endorses Rand or her philosophy / ideology / etc. That I could (almost) understand the occasional downvote at least, just because her stuff is moderately controversial in some circles.
But to think that merely having the audacity to include a certain author's books on a list is reason to downvote a comment? And it wouldn't matter if it were Rand or anybody, the fundamental point is the same. It's one thing to dislike an author, but "C'mon, man..." as they say.