I downvoted the parent for snarky ad hominem that adds nothing to the site. I downvoted this comment for complaining about comment voting and perpetuating the notion that voting should be about whether you agree or disagree with it. They are just bad comments.
No, my comment was intended to further elucidate the original comment as to garner an explanation for the reasoning behind your disagreement with the comment.
Instead you dismissed it as "snarky". Why do you disagree that Zed Shaw is attempting to hijack the situation to garner attention?
You're missing the point by a wide margin. I voted because I felt they were lousy comments. Whether I agree with them or not is hardly relevant, as I don't think they're even worth paying that much attention to.
The whole idea that comment moderation should be based on whether you agree or disagree with the message is a toxic one that has killed civil conversation on dozens of sites, replacing it with thoughtless and instinctual groupthink that frankly makes everyone dumber. (I won't even pretend to be above it at all times myself, but I try, and would hope to not be alone in that.) Ultimately, you can't stop everybody from voting that way, but you can discourage it, and that's what my post was about.
