Well, perhaps I was on that day. I should note I was not "kicked", but was suddenly prevented from being able to type in the middle of a back and forth. At the time it happened there really wasn't an explanation so I left the server. It's not a big deal, I just found it interesting and noteworthy. I'm told I can come back, but am soured to the idea. That aside, what concerns me more is the project mission creep with downvotes. First it was relabeling the flag to a downvote, and now it's encouraging people to use downvotes liberally.

Basically, whomever is coming up with these ideas must be a big fan of B.F. Skinner because what they're doing is training people to use operant conditioning on each other. Not all of operant conditioning is bad or unnatural per se. Some of it is normal market activity. For example, if a business does something particularly well they will get customers and that is the reward. Similar to if someone produces good content, they will get votes and that is the reward. So the positive reinforcement end of operant conditioning can be almost indistinguishable from normal market activity.

Whereas with the introduction of downvotes, you add something very unnatural to the equation that directly effects not only reputation points, but also can block value from being exchanged from patron to content creator. One of these things is natural, and one of these things is very unnatural. If steem wasn't already niche enough, i'm pretty sure that this move will make it even less popular among those who may have otherwise been interested in it.

Why is this punishment end of operant conditioning unnatural? A parent may use operant conditioning on a child to some degree of success, and I think we've all been conditioned, if you will, to accept this as normal. Whether it is an optimal way to raise a child is a different debate entirely. When adults use the punishment end of operant conditioning on other adults, it is a very unnatural thing. This is because it comes off as a form of psychological manipulation, and this is what the new "downvote" tool of hark fork 21 encourages. More specifically, when it is used to punish an author because you disagree with what they say.

If you've seen the Orville's Majority rule episode, or Black Mirror's Nose Dive, I think you'd come to see that this is very strange, and or a foreign way to teach people to behave. It's effect will be that people will be less genuine, less candid, and try to become the moral arbiters of the actions or inaction of their neighbors. I'd like to know who is coming up with these ideas and wonder what their goals are. The Chinese are already living under an oppressive social credit system and it's something that TPTB want to rollout worldwide.

Thanks for stopping by @shadowspub, and for
sharing your thoughts about myself & SteemChat.