It’s not clear why a relevant contribution is more likely to be a criticism than further corroboration. There is a point in your comment where you seem to be a conflating two spectrums...agreement/disagreement and thoughtfulness/ simplicity.
Just like there is simple dissent (a comment with only the words, “I disagree”) and thoughtful criticism (like the linked comment) and there is both “mere voicing of agreement” (“Good post”) and thoughtful agreement ( “I agree with this, these are some particularly strong points you make, here’s some more supporting evidence”). I find the latter to be very useful.
It’s unfortunate that thoughtful agreement is not more valued than it is.
I think this kind of thoughtful agreement is valued very highly. But situations where someone has additional evidence they can present to corroborate a poster’s point simply have a much lower base rate than situations where someone comes up with a potential criticism. That’s because for the first, you have to come up with a potential criticism and produce the evidence to refute it.
It’s not clear why a relevant contribution is more likely to be a criticism than further corroboration. There is a point in your comment where you seem to be a conflating two spectrums...agreement/disagreement and thoughtfulness/ simplicity.
Just like there is simple dissent (a comment with only the words, “I disagree”) and thoughtful criticism (like the linked comment) and there is both “mere voicing of agreement” (“Good post”) and thoughtful agreement ( “I agree with this, these are some particularly strong points you make, here’s some more supporting evidence”). I find the latter to be very useful.
It’s unfortunate that thoughtful agreement is not more valued than it is.
I think this kind of thoughtful agreement is valued very highly. But situations where someone has additional evidence they can present to corroborate a poster’s point simply have a much lower base rate than situations where someone comes up with a potential criticism. That’s because for the first, you have to come up with a potential criticism and produce the evidence to refute it.