"I hope you recover quickly from your unfortunate accident!"

The human body is an amazing system! The brief contact with the grinder left a pit in my flesh. It was tender for ~2 days, but is now refilled with a flexible material and no longer hurts except when stretched to the limits of my range of motion (it sits astride a knuckle). Apparently nothing lived in the rusty depths of the pickup truck that found my flesh a suitable home.

"I guess you got a lot of downvotes on Hive!"

In the past I have been mercilessly DV'd for months. I do not often today get DV's, despite I discuss with folks that often DV my observations that DV's often produce counterproductive results from their purposes. I do what I can with what I have to counter the disincentive DV's produce to remain on Hive and keep posting. Just as I often interact with those casting DV's, I often interact with those receiving them. Very few of the latter aren't beneficial to Hive, and do not quickly repent of whatever sin (if any) that caused them to be targeted. My understanding is that few DV's are cast intending to drive users from the platform (taking at face value the statements of those DV'ing), but it is an observable effect, and a primary reason to separate out the various purposes DV's serve with specific tools that do not cause off target effects, IMHO.

"...Hive also uses downvotes to benefit the rich who bought a lot of Hive stock!"

Hive doesn't DV. Specific users of Hive DV, and most of them state they don't do so to benefit themselves, but Hive itself. It isn't possible to ascertain the veracity of statements of intent, and DV'ers and DV'd both may well be less than forthright regarding their purposes. DV's do increase the centralization of stake in the largest accounts, which is never the claimed purpose of those casting DV's. IMHO, this is an off target effect of DV's that should not exist, because it creates a financial incentive to DV contrary to any of the claimed purposes for which users DV. While it is inevitable that financial incentives do underlie actions, no one is willing to claim that is their purpose, which reveals no one feels that purpose is morally or ethically superable. That purpose then should not be financially incentivized, IMHO.

"Do you want downvotes to disappear?"

I want the purposes for which DV's are beneficially applied to be met with better tools. I do not think that horse drawn carriages should disappear just because commercial air travel enables people to travel more quickly to places horses cannot take them. DV's today are comparable to horse drawn carriages being the only means of conveyance, and we need better tools to achieve the purposes DV's are meant to effect.

Thanks!