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A comment on Dear YC: Please stop downvoting thoughtful comments you disagree with.. Parent comment

Re:Dear YC: Please stop downvoting thoughtful comments you d... by tspiteri on Friday July 24, 2009 @10:33AM (#721476)
Does something which is factually wrong improve the quality of the conversation? I think that downvotes should be used to push down comments that reduce the quality of the conversation even if they are not vulgar, rude, or off-topic.
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Re:Dear YC: Please stop downvoting thoughtful comments you d... by nailer on Friday July 24, 2009 @12:42PM (#721829)
Yes. People who contribute things they believe to be correct, even if incorrect, gives other people an opportunity to demonstrate the correct behavior and others still a chance to be educated.

Additionally, sometimes the original poster was in fact correct, and the responder correcting him is proven incorrect.

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Re:Dear YC: Please stop downvoting thoughtful comments you d... by tspiteri on Friday July 24, 2009 @12:55PM (#721872)
In that case, the comment does add value to the conversation, whether it is correct or not, so I agree with you that in that case downvoting is wrong.
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