Does it change anything if you specifically focus on the fact that upvotes and downvotes are supposed to mean “I want to see more/less like this” rather than “I think this is good/bad” or “I think this is right/wrong” or “I like/dislike the point being made”?
This is at most only true in one respect: many implementors of the system primarily had such intent.
Count me among those who saw downvoting this as pointless. It was already downvoted enough to be removed from the main page, and downvotes are limited. Also, all else equal, I feel bad when engaging in piling on. This post is what I think of as ideal: it responds to the OP by finding the limited case for which an argument resembling that of the OP would be right, so the OP can see the contrast without feeling attacked.
This is at most only true in one respect: many implementors of the system primarily had such intent.
“It doesn’t even seem to have occurred to them that a voter might attach their own meaning to a vote for Stephen Colbert—that a voter might have their own thoughts about whether a vote for Stephen Colbert was “wasted” or not.”
Count me among those who saw downvoting this as pointless. It was already downvoted enough to be removed from the main page, and downvotes are limited. Also, all else equal, I feel bad when engaging in piling on. This post is what I think of as ideal: it responds to the OP by finding the limited case for which an argument resembling that of the OP would be right, so the OP can see the contrast without feeling attacked.