Contrary Opinions

Under the premise that the author is trying to meet readers where they are at, short contrarian comments are largely indistinguishable from trolling behavior in open online fora. "Haha I'm going to go with the honesty." doesn't isn't symptomatic of other interpretations of the behavior.

Don't get me wrong. On it's own, the comment reads as a simple description of a reasonable personal behavior. In the heated context, it doesn't it adds fuel to the fire more than it reflects light on the topic.

Complaining about downvotes is contrary to the HN guidelines. Yes they hurt. They are feedback on the quality of the comment. How might the idea have been written differently in order to be better received by its audience? Better writing is what's in your control.

This isn't the way to go about this, dealing with idiots or not.

Point on the doll where you got downvoted

On HN the truth must never be used as a weapon to make someone feel bad.