I'm not sure how true that is and I might be able to prove it.
(1) One way it could help is: if I could get feedback about where I went astray. That's what I want to know when I'm downvoted. I don't care about a karma point, I care about learning something new.
Which makes me wonder: would it help to ask people explain why they downvoted something -- even if their username doesn't get attached to an explanation that becomes public?
(2) Here's an instance where it actually helped: [1]. Me explaining in [2] why [1] was downvoted (which was at something like -1 at the time) lead into [1] being voted again and [2] being upvoted too for clarifying the situation.
(3) This comment is aligned with HN's own request for providing feedback about what's good and bad for HN comments [3].
(4) You should be alarmed when you see a guilty word like "never" used. Particularly if you are the one using it. It's an alarm that indicates you are going to an extreme to justify a position. If what you say is evidently true, you wouldn't feel the need to try hard to qualify it. Or at least, when I made this argument in [4] people voted 20 points for it (which you dang can verify as an administrator).
(5) These arguments suggest reviewing the site guidelines and it's hard to dismiss them as useless. They could improve HN.
I fully understand if what you've discovered studying downvotes is that dealing with them differently leads into more problems than it does dealing with them with the advice of "don't post about being downvoted". I also understand if you are not willing to deal with those problems now. But saying "it never helps" sounds far fetched. You are claiming there's nothing that can be done about downvotes, ever. That's a strong claim to make, especially in a field that's only 50 years old.
I'm not sure how true that is and I might be able to prove it.
(1) One way it could help is: if I could get feedback about where I went astray. That's what I want to know when I'm downvoted. I don't care about a karma point, I care about learning something new.
Which makes me wonder: would it help to ask people explain why they downvoted something -- even if their username doesn't get attached to an explanation that becomes public?
(2) Here's an instance where it actually helped: [1]. Me explaining in [2] why [1] was downvoted (which was at something like -1 at the time) lead into [1] being voted again and [2] being upvoted too for clarifying the situation.
(3) This comment is aligned with HN's own request for providing feedback about what's good and bad for HN comments [3].
(4) You should be alarmed when you see a guilty word like "never" used. Particularly if you are the one using it. It's an alarm that indicates you are going to an extreme to justify a position. If what you say is evidently true, you wouldn't feel the need to try hard to qualify it. Or at least, when I made this argument in [4] people voted 20 points for it (which you dang can verify as an administrator).
(5) These arguments suggest reviewing the site guidelines and it's hard to dismiss them as useless. They could improve HN.
[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7285865
[2] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7288741
[3] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7605973
[4] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7565441
I fully understand if what you've discovered studying downvotes is that dealing with them differently leads into more problems than it does dealing with them with the advice of "don't post about being downvoted". I also understand if you are not willing to deal with those problems now. But saying "it never helps" sounds far fetched. You are claiming there's nothing that can be done about downvotes, ever. That's a strong claim to make, especially in a field that's only 50 years old.