[bumbada]

I agree that people on HN downvote reasonable opinions and questions that do not go against HN guidelines.

It is the reddit effect. At first Reddit was like HN populated with highly educated people. As it got more and more users it democratized: The vote of a know-it-all 16 years old is the same as the one from a PhD in the field. In fact there are thousands of non experts for each expert, so they always win in a public space.

We add to that that we are using text, we do not carry intonation and other emotional information and lots of people will misunderstand whatever you say.

So the more popular a place like this becomes, the most degraded it becomes.

Do not take that seriously. I had great karma when I posted my real identity years ago and now lots of my comments are downvoted too, and I am the same person. I did not care then and not care now.