On Perl Monks once in a while I get a message that states "Ack! You just lost 1 experience point." That means someone disliked what I wrote somewhere enough to downvote me.
That's OK. If I were the cheeriest optomist in the world I wouldn't expect everyone to like or agree with what I write. The thing that nags me is the 'somewhere'. I haven't written a tremendous amount on Perl Monks, but I have written enough so that it is not worth the time to go looking for the node that someone downvoted.
The reason I would like to know what the anonymous monk disliked is to give me a chance to improve my writing, either technique or content. To know that that was the second (or thirty-second) time a node I wrote was downvoted would be a help toward improving.
But no one will write to tell you why they disliked what you wrote, whether you were an idiot, or wrong or just a bad writer. Sort of like wandering blindfolded through a dark house where people run up and hit you with sticks. Its not the pain, its the not knowing.
I have never downvoted any node myself. It is not nobility or a forgiving nature, heaven knows. It is more the fact that my knowledge of Perl is not great enough for me to be sure that any particular node is wrong enough to earn a downvote. And stupidity is not the monopoly of anyone, as well vote against the rising tide. As for trolls, I leave them to the editors and the gods. Why waste a vote?
And, like real graffiti, the best you can do is just ignore it and move on, knowing that someone got their kicks from kicking someone else. That's life.
Re:Welcome to Perlmonks {grin}
xenchu on 2004-01-21T19:00:59
I'll admit downvotes used to bite a bit but I quickly got over that when I considered the source. These people didn't even bother to trash whatever node it was with any kind of comment, just hit-and-run.
So the only thing that irked me even a little was not knowing what node I was being knocked for. Now Corion sent me information on the Luke_Repwalker and StatsWhore nodes so that may not be a factor soon.
Oh, and thanks for the welcome.{g}
Re:Welcome to Perlmonks {grin}
jordan on 2004-01-22T20:25:15
Merlyn, you have the highest real (not counting vroom's arbitrarily assigned astronomical value) XP total over there on Perlmonks. I typically upvote just about everything I read from you, but...
- At first, I got upset about that, but I realized that while some of them are actually good feedback that I wasn't fitting into the "hive" mindset...
Are you sure that you are only downvoted for not fitting into the "hive" mindset?
I downvoted you before and it was because I thought you were dead wrong and I think you even admitted you were wrong in the thread when someone called you on it.
Get a little perspective. The people who downvote you aren't always right and neither are you.
Re:Welcome to Perlmonks {grin}
merlyn on 2004-01-23T07:45:36
But that's included in the "hive" mindset. Stating something wrongly gets downvoted. I don't know why you posted a "correction" here, because I was already including that in my original statement.Re:Welcome to Perlmonks {grin}
jordan on 2004-01-23T22:20:13
I don't know about you, but I think of a "hive" mindset as something equivalent to groupthink, which is bad.
It's not groupthink to correct someone when they are wrong. Especially, when a comment is offerred pointing why you think it's wrong, which I always do, except when there's already a comment that sums up how I feel very clearly. In fact, when that someone is so highly regarded, such as yourself, and one publically corrects them, there is the danger of risking negative attention to oneself. Being critical of highly regarded commenters is demonstrating courage and it's the opposite of being part of a "hive".
Members of a "hive" don't think for themselves and would be expected to always agree with those with high XPs.
