on that bit about policy costs being definite, I have a simple objection.

hmm. policy costs are usually estimates and thus are are usually colored by ideology.

imo

even PG?

Yes I think this hammers an important point. Write with what helps you think, For me It has to be an uber size blank sheet of paper and I just start planning. After the paper I can usually go to a laptop an either make a rough prototype or at least a structure in code. I don't know why I can't seem to code directly.

To repeat do what helps you think faster/clearer/better

Telling someone why he was down modded may help improve an already civil place.

I don't know. In normal interactions, I get the impression that the reasons for positive responses are a lot more honest than the reasons for negative ones -- e.g. "I already have plans," rather than "You smell like bark. All the time."

It would be helpful to know why people mod us down, but it might just make people bitter.

Well, explaining why you thought a point was wrong is a little different than trying to hide dislike or indifference towards a person. The former isn't personal.

The problem with explaining every down mod is that it causes a whole discussion to occur regarding moderation. To me, that seems like a tremendous waste of time.

In a democracy, not everyone is going to see things in the same light. That's just something that we all have to deal with and move on.

I think this has always been the key. Its like the mom/pop store versus the Walmart super stores. They need (digg/reddit) to be popular to be a viable acquisition target or business whereas hacker news is just a place where we try to find like minded people trying to share information and grow learn together.

Question is what do you really want out of life.

Is it good enough to be the basis of a company? Are you daring enough to start a company? These are some questions you have to answer.

I think the best way is to demo this by starting a free service. If its good enough and meets people's needs you people will go to you with offers.

Grieve, Don't try to escape the pain!

I think this is an important point. We tend to view useless things(at least to ourselves) as ugly.

Not necessarily, I think Twitter looks great ;)

Great Idea, Hope Something good results so that more people emulate your example!