Mainly because the site has always worked this way and I fear unintended side effects from making significant changes.

Also, it's not clear how to do it well. I do have some ideas which I'd like to try someday. Here's one: people work well with feedback loops, so telling them that they're penalized and giving them a way to fix it could be a good thing. Unfortunately, it could also just be awful. This place is always one step away from sudden decline, and when walking near a precipice one wants to step carefully.

You once called me out on being overly brash once and I appreciated it, since being more careful when I post. Just my 2 cents but it seemed to work for me.

Just send a comment in reply to the comment that caused the punishment. Disable replies, make it time-limited (1 week to 1 year in duration).

Interesting. I would not have thought HN would take a Burkean approach to innovations in community management.

Don’t question Dan. He gets results. Everybody loves his moderation, and if you don’t love the moderation then you should just leave. There’s always Reddit!