[EricH]

Originally Posted by AmoryG

It hurts to be ganged up on, but I think people fear the negative rep button the most. I don't use the negative rep button, and I refuse to use it on new members because I feel it really discourages them from posting on this site again. It's hard to feel comfortable on this site when you think you're being judged based on your rep.

I agree on this. I think the most I've ever done is either threatened to use red (once), sent a neutral rep (a couple of times), or in particularly "stubborn" cases who seemed to have filters on their inputs, thought about using red and then realized that 47 other people already used it, so I thought I'd rather not.

I'll also send a PM instead of a red rep. I've done that a time or two.


The way I look at a lot of things is: "They" have an opinion, based on some evidence/assumptions. I have a different opinion, based on different evidence/assumptions. If I'm going to change an opinion, assuming it even needs changing, then I have only one option: Present my evidence/assumptions as a counter to "their" evidence/assumptions, and let them figure out whether they agree or disagree. And, anybody who thinks my opinion needs changing is welcome to do the same to me--as long as it's not a personal attack, I'll almost certainly be OK with that. Doing that can lead to some very interesting discussion, which may actually be instructive to everyone involved.