We tend to be wary of technical solutions to human problems. I fear the unintended side effects.

HN is rife with "technical solutions to human problems" already, which is why new users can't downvote posts. It improved Stack Overflow, it would work here.

This "don't let new users comment right away" idea is a frequent suggestion on HN, and one obvious problem with it is that some of the best threads on HN happen when the subject of a story posted here jumps into an HN thread for the first time to answer questions. Case in point: Nick Kokonas from Alinea Group has an account on HN ('nkokonas) because Tock, the restaurant booking company started out of Alinea, got mentioned here.

Delaying comments from new users would be of dubious benefit to the community (many of the worst comments on HN are not as a rule coming from fresh new accounts, and that safeguard is easily gamed), and what we'd lose in exchange is pretty clear. It hasn't been adopted here for a reason, not just out of laziness.

Like, what if we make them wait forever? That would be awesome. FWIW as much as I hate to accept dang's logic of the overcoming anti-anti-ness of every thread, it does seem true, so why not just let the thing play out...?

> why not just let the thing play out

I think because it could kill the thread, or demotivate the OP. People reflexively rejecting my contributions would demotivate me.

Naw. You have to just gird yourself for the hit. It's true, what he says. The first wave is brutal. Nothing _anyone_ says should demotivate _you_. Your motivation has to come from your own inside vision. Having people talk shit about it is actually a sign that you're doing something right, because they're jealous. The only time you should worry is if they say nothing at all.. =\