> Don't down vote people simply because you disagree with them. Just because you don't agree with their opinion doesn't mean it should be hidden from others.

To be honest, I got angry and clicked the downvote arrow without sufficient consideration, then thought (since I couldn't undo it) that the civil thing to do was to explain.

Your personal moderation guidelines are admirable, but as they aren't in any way in-line with the moderation guidelines of the site, perhaps you should treat them like spiritual beliefs, and keep them to yourself?

EDIT: s/like your/like/g (unintentional ad-hominem)

Where did I mention spiritual beliefs??? As for these being my guidelines - they aren't. In my time using HN I've seen many, many people advocate that guideline. It might be useful to rethink your attitude when commenting your average karma is less than one.

There are a group of people who suggest that downvoting should only be used to hide comments that don't add to discussion.

PG has said that downvote to disagree is acceptable.

Can you point to anything in the guidelines or introductions or faqs about not downvotig for disagreement?

Since it's impossible to eliminate downvotig for disagreement you may as well just let it happen.

There definitely isn't anything in the guidelines pointing towards either behaviour. I totally respect PG's opinion on it. I find though that HN fosters better discussion that other sites because unpopular opinions are just down votes - they're debated and not hidden. I could just let it happen but hopefully by contributing my thoughts on it those who down vote for disagreement will change.

Yeah, I edited it, but understand I figured you were the kind of person who wouldn't barf all over a thread with your spiritual beliefs, and meant that part as a compliment.

I've advocated your same guidelines in the past, as they promote a healthy site/forum, but they are not HN's guidelines. PG has actually encouraged the antithesis of your guidelines in the past, so I'm compelled to tell you as much.

Sure that's fine. It's definitely not part of the guidelines (as you said) but I think it's also fine for me to advocate what I think leads to better discussions. It's one of the reasons I enjoy HN. Unlike other sites there is less hive mind. Unpopular opinions are debated rather than just hidden.

If you're suggesting that we should, as a site, act against the guidelines and push for unofficial guidelines that promote better posting, I think this is a fantastic idea.

Ad hominem attacks, however, are clearly not in-line with moderation guidelines. :P

Can you let me know where I made an ad-hominem? None was intended, but I'd like to correct that record.

Edit: ah. Everyone assumed I was talking about ggparent's spiritual beliefs. Amazing how a sole personal pronoun can alter intent.