On a separate note, would a terse downvote really be more discouraging and more likely to cause friction and ill will than seeing a list of comments like "Downvote: whiny troll who thinks people only disagree with him because they hate themselves"?
Materially, a person who downvotes without comment is really no different than a person who posts whiny comment, except that the person who bothers to post the comment opens themselves to public ridicule for their statement while a downvoter is perfectly protected behind a veil of absolute anonymity.
Why do you think you're owed this?
In addition, it's good manners. A person who is just contradictory to everything you say, and responds to all of your statements with a "no, you are wrong" over and over again with no further elaboration is usually considered an asshole and doesn't get invited to parties. People want to get invited to parties, so they try not to be rude in this way in real life except towards people they have utter contempt for and whose parties they don't want to go to anyway.
The anonymity of a virtual space however, opens up the doors to people to be out and out rude to one another. A downvote sans comment is even more anonymous because the recipient can't even see who their detractor was (and in addition, by the site guidelines can't even ask for clarification of the downvotes, which is silly).
However, HN guidelines also proscribe:
> Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation.
I think this is reasonable, my contention is that a downvote sans comment is the same as the hypothetical person who just responds "no, you are wrong" over and over again with no further commentary.
Here, we simplify that with a downvote. Have a nice life.
You asked a question, got a civil answer and responded really rather rudely.
At first I thought this elblanco guy was a bit whiny as well, but now I'm starting to see the pattern of bad behavior behind his point.
After your response (and a few others), I think he is perfectly valid.
If my karma were high enough, I would certainly downvote...nay flag your comment as a clear violation of guidelines.