It is discouraged yes, but also it's human nature to want to understand why ones opinion isn't popular. I have seen previously my own posts be downvoted with no comments given and no clear idea of what I was doing to displease the hive mind.

I've come to accept the occasional downvote as noise in the process.

It's probably not healthy to take them seriously.

Definitely. Agree with you on both points. Maybe I find it strange as commenting on your downvotes is shunned, but it's largely OK to downvote something without explanation. This is only HN after all and I'm very comfortable being different from the 'average-HN'er'.

  > this isn't Reddit/Voat.

Indeed, sometimes it feels like Stepford.