Re^3: Why downvote nodes without commenting on them?

[Paulster2]

xorl, your idea of making people accountable for their actions is a very idealistic solution. The whole idea of "voting" whether here at the Monastery or at the polling booths trying to elect an official, is by and of its nature suppose to be secretive. If it wasn't for this, you would only get Anonymous Monk posts, no one would get any kind of xp and this would be a very boring place indeed. XP is not the end-all-do-all, but IMHO provides a bit of fun that other sites don't have. It keeps Monks coming back and keeps things interesting.

It's a monk's priveledge to write comments about others' nodes, not an obligation. As the monk gets more experience, they also get more votes. There is an implied amount of responsibility there to behave in a rational and logical manner, but that doesn't mean that they have to post. While others don't post as you think that they should, every time that someone posts, they run the risk of getting ++ or --. The worst thing that can happen here is that nothing gets posted and nobody learns anything.

Monks such as Wassercrats, because they had negative xp, couldn't vote because you don't get any votes until you attain the Novice level, at which point you get five votes. All of this I am sure that you realize. My main point is that when I'm down voted, someone, somewhere had a problem with what I posted. It is my responsiblity to figure out in my own mind wether or not the person was being malicous or if it is something that I actually typed. You can't please all of the people all of the time. That's why I try to think about what I am posting before I click on the "create" button.

In conclusion...I am not the most prolific (or perlific ;-) Monk to visit these pages. I like reading others' posts. I like voting on others' posts, usually ++, but sometimes it's --. Either way, if I was forced to write a post every time I voted either way, I don't know that I would even vote again.