Down-voting without responding: intellectual cowardice?

I think that if someone is willing to cast a "thumbs down" vote they should be willing to explain why (even if they're not required to).

I would think you could vote down something you don't think adds to the discussion or builds the community. Of course it could be abused...much like feedback on ebay. Does anyone even take that seriously anymore? Interesting point. I'm going to think about it before forming more of a solid opinion. In the NEAR future...perhaps a tutorial or intro could be made with guidelines on what the thumbs up and down are really meant for. We're still setting culture here, so it can still be made into whatever we want it to mean. Just as the "like" button was on facebook. At least you get a dislike button here! I really like that.

I absolutely agree, the down vote should require a response.

I get down votes and I could give a rat's a$$. I'm retired, I don't care about points or standing, but the point is: If you want to down vote then at least man up and say why! I think these type of forums make it easy for Joe Blow to hide behind the key board. It's different if you got to say something face to face, then you got to back it up.

I don't take this position very often. I'm generally pretty respectful by nature. However, if yousay something ridiculously STUPID, inflammatory, or insulting, I don't think I waste my time explaining to you why I down voted you. Be honest with yourself, you already know you down voted. you likely wrote something with a nasty attitude or was completely out-of pocket.
Now, do I down vote often? NO. Do I normally write an explanation? YES. Am I obligated to? Absolutely not!

I do like the irony of this with the down votes you got. It wasn't me. But maybe they are just speechless.

I've only received one down vote since I've been here and it came with no explanation, but really, I could care less. I'm trying to imagine a scenario where I would down vote someone. I wouldn't do it for merely voicing ideas that I don't agree with. I guess someone would have to be a real ass clown for me to down vote them. Anyone here from the current administration?

I don't feel like I owe anyone a justification for a downvote. I'll give one out of respect, but if I see the same person trolling over and over, I stop wasting my time typing "I downvoted you because reason reason reason yada yada" and just skip on to the next thread or response after doing the deed.

While I like the idea of a mandatory explanation for a downvote, it does make me wonder if upvotes should have an explanation as well.

I agree and I'm giving you a thumbs up vote for the recommendation!