I think it should be required that when a person downvotes a post or comment, they should need to supply a comment as to why. That would have multiple benefits. One, it is maddening to make a comment in earnest and get downvoted but no feedback why it was downvoted. Two, it would reduce the number of people who downvote a comment simply because they disagree as they would have to expose their own opinion and risk their own downvotes.

I have no problems with people disagreeing with me and it can be enlightening if I learn something from the exchange. With a naked downvote I learn nothing.

Sometimes people can dislike something but they are unable to articulate the reason. Yet the reason may be valid.

So I would say: permit downvoting, but as well as removing one point from the downvoted, let it cost the downvoter one point also.

This reflects real life where it's possible for me to lose my temper in a conversation but it always inflicts a psychological cost on me for doing so. I don't get to express displeasure for free. Which helps keep the discourse civil.

EGreg

Wow, I love both of these comments. I've been on the receiving end of downvotes after making helpful comments reflecting strongly-held opinions, that are the result of years of battle-testing them, and even building free software to put them into practice. Silent downvotes are maddening, and I often edit my comments to invite people to just disagree and give me their strongest arguments as to why they think my comment is bad / shouldn't have been posted / etc. I prefer they focus on substance, and I would welcome great counterpoints that I haven't thought of.

But it's worse than that. Every time I link to the actual solution that I spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars building, rather than just talk about it, I get silent downvotes. Watch, I will do it here:

https://github.com/Qbix/Platform