Joe,

In regards to the symbols to represent negative atlas points.

SO I adjusted my thinking to asking what are these points really?  My answer is in a way these points are intellectual money.  It’s a payment we receive from our fellow readers and writers for saying something useful and productive for the cause.  Atlas Points are our currency for intellectual productivity.  If we think of it in this way a world of symbolism opens up to us, the world of the market economy, banking, and business.

            As our Atlas Points are our currency, our membership is our account with the bank of intellectual currency: this site.  As In a good bank, most accounts are in the black (or in the gold) but at times they can drop into the red if the person frivolously spends his currency unwisely.  Perhaps you can draw from that something useful?  Perhaps a red Atlas should track our negative points while the gold atlas tracks out positive points?

            As you already have a running account on the member’s page of what intellectual transactions they have made with the bank (The list of posts and articles).  You have a method of showing with the “*” that there is a positive vote in favor perhaps “~” can be the negative denotation.  Then you can list the positive and negative points with the balance in the place where you already have the Atlas Points listed on the members page.

That’s All.

Cheers,

 
Eric

Generally, I now stand persuaded. (I want to emphasize that my problem was not anyone’s “score,” so to speak, but the system as such.) But I have a few more comments:

This reasoning sounds good, assuming people don’t punish on the basis of disagreement. However, I myself have sometimes done so, when I didn’t have the time to compose a proper reply. I like my posts to be carefully written and edited for the most part; but sometimes I felt I had to “say” something, so I voted negatively. Others may do the same, especially newcomers.

Another thing is that, since I don’t think readers will award points for politeness, which ought to be standard, posters will most often get points for being perceived as correct, that is, Objectivist, and lose points only for rudeness. So there are different standards for plus and minus votes.

Maybe it will work out the way you envision, since (a fact I was ignoring) Atlas points are also awarded in other contexts. So I stand persuaded, and am interested to see how it all works out.