Replying to make clear my disagreement [smile], I'll clarify that what I was writing about is the case when user 1 posts a new comment, and then various anonymous users downvote to indicate factual disagreement, rather than downvoting to indicate that it was a lousy comment. User 1 has nothing further to reply to, because all user 1 or any onlooker sees is a bunch of downvotes. (And since the comment's net vote total is shown, sometimes both downvotes and upvotes are invisible if they cancel each other out.)
I agree with your desire for simplicity. I have the opinion that a voting system that votes both on agreement with the statement of the post, up or down, and on the contribution of the post to the community, up or down, is simple enough to be worth the additional information. Reasonable minds can differ, of course, and I'd be happy to read replies about why this is a bad idea.
I agree with you that some people downvotes others because they don't agree with them, and that's a shame. I personaly downvote one-line-and-2-smileys comments and upvote comments that teach me something.
I really don't feel the need for 2 little arrows, it would just be confusing, and users would hit the wrong buttons, etc.
I agree with your desire for simplicity. I have the opinion that a voting system that votes both on agreement with the statement of the post, up or down, and on the contribution of the post to the community, up or down, is simple enough to be worth the additional information. Reasonable minds can differ, of course, and I'd be happy to read replies about why this is a bad idea.