Which - to me - is a good thing.

Do not know what downvotes are.

// image title: a lemmy post which shows a multiple of comments in regards to its upvotes/downvotes

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Personally, I use downvotes to say “I disagree with this and/or it is a stupid/bad/bigoted/etc take, but I do not wish to spend the time and effort to respond and get dragged into a text-based mudfight

    So far, a great articulation of what (I guess) most downvoters are thinking.

    with someone who is unlikely to speak to me politely, no matter how polite I try to be in my rebuttal.”

    But I’m not sure you’re being honest with yourself here. Certainly not if you’re talking about my comments, which are always polite if sometimes a bit forthright because I’m a direct kind of person.

    I like having a way to say “no, bad, stop that”

    Nicely put, again. But then: why should your antagonist “stop that”? They should shut up just because you disagree with them?

    We come back to the crucial element: civility. If one believes in free speech, and the right of others to have their own opinions and to have a voice, I still see absolutely justification for downvoting a thoughtfully expressed opinion.

    I don’t agree with you here but I respect your right to have an opinion and I would never think of downvoting you for it. If that comes across as sanctimonious, so be it. I prefer to see it as just coherent with values. Which I’m sure you share, by the way.

    • medgremlin@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      Usually, when I disagree with something, it is because it is incorrect, lying, or particularly mean-spirited. I disagree with people that do not think that every human deserves the same rights. I disagree with people that push for ideologies that would strip other humans of their rights, or that would inflict needless suffering. I don’t downvote people when I disagree with what media they think is good or something. I downvote those that express ideas that are antithetical to what I see as basic human decency or that are factually incorrect.

      • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Factually incorrect, sure. But do you not see that your other criteria are very subjective? Rights, suffering, decency, these are all slippery non-binary concepts. Others may define them differently from you. Presumably you don’t think that others are not allowed to have their own opinions, yet in effect you’re telling them that. I think I already know which way you vote and, believe it or not, I vote that way too. But in my understanding of history, treating the views of others as invalid is generally a dangerous path to be on.