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    I mean, it's fairly well known at this point that even people who understand the purpose of the site and what it is looking for refrain from downvoting answers they think are wrong or not useful due to the rep cost. Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 18:01
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    @KevinB - upon what do you base that hypothesis/wild claim? Citations please. Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 18:12
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    From 13 years of people saying as much on MSO. Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 18:13
  • That said, there's a lot of answers here with various opinions on things that prevent people from casting downvotes. meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/398537/… Commented Sep 19, 2023 at 18:15
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    The cost to downvote has never affected my choice to downvote. It's so minimal that it has always seemed like it might as well not be there. The only time it would have affected me was if I just didn't have enough rep. Number go up isn't really all that much of an incentive: the reason why I like my rep is because it shows me people find my posts useful. That doesn't change if I spend my points. Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 5:57
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    The G.O.A.T. is the user that currently has the highest rep on a site: Greatest of All Time. But, of course it is a temporary thing as one can be passed. I will likely lose the designation on one of those sites. It is just a fun thing here. Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 12:47
  • A question for the mods and staff: Should I make my engagement proposal at the end of this a separate meta post? Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 12:48
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    I've seen posts on Politics SE already being voted into Hades because the person dared to suggest that Donald Trump may not actually be evil. Removing barriers to downvotes would intensify that happening. Commented Sep 21, 2023 at 12:23
  • @trlkly but you've probably also never used sock puppet to milk association bonuses for bounties or serial downvotes of people commenting on your answers. Or any of the other things that the main proposal in this Post has been criticised for. Commented Sep 21, 2023 at 18:55
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    I think this discussion shows some major differences between sites. Reputation on MSO, even more so on Mathoverflow is considered precious, you need to provide meaning mathematical insight to get it, on MO it even needs to be meaningful in the eyes of a professional mathematician. Even if an answer is objectively wrong people often prefer to comment hoping for a fix rather than downvote. On the other hand, upvotes on politics often simply follow for matching political views and similarly people downvote because the politically disagree. Commented Sep 22, 2023 at 6:16