Correcting errors and karma

Bones was saying that it was up to her to decide if the procedure was being abused, not up to the aurors whose job it was to implement it

The specific error the Auror was making (if we are to take a consequentialist look and ignore the settled rules) was to act on a hypothetical problem that turns out not to be real, so Bones's superior expertise would be used, in particular, to determine whether the hypothetical problem is real.

Well, the real concern wouldn't be so much that they've sneakily gained karma but that it would damage the signal/noise ratio.

I am open to agreeing with any correct logic that I can understand and have evidence that it's correct.

I haven't downvoted any of your content, but I suspect the negative karma is because your ideas are difficult to understand and (perhaps because of this) seem poorly thought out. If you were to write up a detailed explanation of the ideas you bring to the community and your general philosophy in concrete, simple language, and post it in discussion, you might get a better reception. You may want to lurk for a while or read some sequence posts, as that will give you a better intuitive grasp of LW conventions, etiquette, and how to communicate clearly. If you have difficulties with jargon or English is not your native language, PM me and I'll help you.

The other very important thing about getting a better reception: some of what you've said has come off as rude. LW has a strong culture of not complaining about one's karma or the treatment one is getting. If people are criticizing you, either refute their criticisms or change the way you write--taking it to the meta-level of complaining about their criticism is tangential and leads to fighting.

Regarding the karma meter: the total karma meter bottoms out at 0, but you'll have to get 218 upvotes before it starts going up. The karma meter below that is the change in your total karma over the past 30 days (or all the time you've had your account, if you've been on less than 30 days). So what you should take from this is that you are in the negatives, and have lost 218 in the past month. I don't like that it doesn't display negative totals either, because it's annoying and inelegant, but I don't have the skills to fix it and few people have negative totals for long enough that it's a priority.

I meant posts, not comments :)

Personally, I'm OK with people humbly asking for reasons, as long as there is no implications that the downvotes are somehow "wrong".

I downvote most talk about karma (complaints, "I bet you'll downvote me", etc) as well, because I want people to do so less. But I support requests for explanations of downvotes, because I want people to explain their downvotes.

EDIT: Okay, I'll get aboard the irony train: Why was I downvoted?