&gt; Posting a comment not aligned with the majority opinion carries a risk of at most -4 points. I assert that downvotes more often correlate with disagreement than failure to abide by the standards of discourse. Since the penalty is limited, that&#x27;s okay.<p>A comment can have far worse consequences than the loss of a few karma points. If you say the wrong thing, your reputation and (potentially) your livelihood are at risk. That&#x27;s why, for anything <i>remotely</i> controversial, I use pseudonymous accounts. It&#x27;s simply not worth it to have my real-world reputation ruined. I can&#x27;t imagine the deluge of hate that would descend upon me if some of my views were known; doubly-so for misconstrued versions of them. I can already hear the haters: &quot;Chroma approves of torture!&quot;[1][2], &quot;Chroma is sexist!&quot;[3][4], &quot;Chroma is ageist!&quot;[5] &quot;Chroma hates muslims!&quot;[6][7], &quot;Chroma hates the Amish!&quot;[8], &quot;Chroma hates pilots!&quot;[9], &quot;Chroma wants to slaughter all lions!&quot;[10], &quot;Chroma thinks motorcycle riders are mentally ill!&quot;[11] Etcetera.<p>That said, I agree with you on defensive writing. When expressing anything controversial, defensive writing is mostly a waste of effort. Simply holding the opinion is cause enough for others to downvote and denigrate. Unless it&#x27;s something very close to your audience&#x27;s views, you might as well aim for good prose and avoid hedges.<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10531577" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10531577</a><p>2. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8725500" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8725500</a><p>3. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10443021" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10443021</a><p>4. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=4321440" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=4321440</a><p>5. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8889897" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8889897</a><p>6. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=9530853" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=9530853</a><p>7. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8879389" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8879389</a><p>8. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=9280711" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=9280711</a><p>9. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10417447" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10417447</a><p>10. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10476699" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10476699</a><p>11. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8569078" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8569078</a>