Yes and no. On one hand, I think it prevents me from saying silly comments that I might not think twice about saying on Reddit.
On the other hand, Reddit also has karma, but I get far more negative votes there than here, not because they're mean/nasty comments, but because I enjoy criticizing some of the stupid that goes on there (uncreative pun threads, etc).
"Hmm will this be unpopular and ding my karma. In my case it seems like HN Karma encourages group think."
I don't see a lot of negative karma voting due to people disagreeing with opinions. Usually it will just hover around 0 if most people disagree. Only when a comment is clearly wrong, immature, stupid, inappropriate, etc will it reach negative values.
On the other hand, Reddit also has karma, but I get far more negative votes there than here, not because they're mean/nasty comments, but because I enjoy criticizing some of the stupid that goes on there (uncreative pun threads, etc).
"Hmm will this be unpopular and ding my karma. In my case it seems like HN Karma encourages group think."
I don't see a lot of negative karma voting due to people disagreeing with opinions. Usually it will just hover around 0 if most people disagree. Only when a comment is clearly wrong, immature, stupid, inappropriate, etc will it reach negative values.