> The point of downvoting on HN isn't to express "I don't agree with this", it's for "this is not constructive to the conversation". I do not believe it should be downvoted.

This is an ideal to be approached though, not one which is always reached. I can say with virtual certainty that there is overlap between opinions this group disagrees with and opinions it labels as not constructive to the conversation.

Acknowledged. I wasn't saying "you were downvoted because...". Rather, I was saying "This person should not have been downvoted, because...". I agree that there's overlap, and I was pointing out that it was happening here and shouldn't.

There is some ancient comment by pg that says something to the effect of "downvoting to express disagreement is fine," that people always bring out when this discussion happens. I think that should change. Downvoting simply because you disagree should not be the desired behavior, and flagging for disagreement especially shouldn't be desired.

I can't say that I live up to that standard. But, I do vouch probably 10x more than I flag. Browsing with showdead on, I get to see an interesting view of HN, and there are some bits of gold in the sluice there.