I've discussed this with acid before (not as even-headedly as you) and I must point out that xeldal, at least for a while there, was one of very few curators that upvoted a certain content. It didn't matter that it wasn't spam, or plagiarized. It was content that many have been censored for on other platforms. I didn't check his activity to see what else he upvoted. Downvotes are a way of demonetizing content one doesn't agree with. Many have figured out to burn their rewards, so the posts don't get downvoted, but do get read and supported. I applaud those accounts. They are not posting for the rewards, but curators can still earn on their posts.

If marky actually is hitting his downvote on posts of value, and he knows this, then he is harming himself along with others, if only via a tiny vindictive surge.

I have tailored my content to avoid downvotes, and I know others who have as well. Downvotes may have some value against plagiarism and spam (many accounts that some call spammers are just burning rewards too), but the effect on the little people has been censorship, and behavior modification.

I have moved my posts of that certain content to a platform that will not downvote them. And I use that platform to get information and to engage in discussions that do not happen, very often, here. Unlike others on that platform, I remain mostly on Hive - don't wanna throw out the baby with the bathwater. I disagree with you the downvotes are just a given that we have to deal with. This can be modified with the next fork. There seems to be a reluctance to change them in any way though. I don't know why.

Thank you for hosting this discussion.