I did not complain. Maybe you should revisit your downvoting principles.

I inquired why I was being downvoted for asking a question. I was genuinely curious about how that was bad.

Just bad form to mention your own score, period.

True, but if you ask a genuine question and get downvotes, what are you supposed to infer from that?

Yes it may be bad form to mention your own score, but it's equally bad form to downvote for asking a question, or read into a question something that wasn't said which may require a down vote.

Why don't you take the time to answer the parents question rather than downvote them for querying why their question got downvotes?

If there's anywhere that appreciates the gaining of knowledge on the internet, surely hn must be one of the top candidates. So why downvote questions? And yes it's happened to me multiple times, and it's bloody annoying. Doubly so because you know if you try to clarify you'll get someone downvoting you because why? I don't know. Because that would be 'bad form'? BS.

/Rant

Often I think it means that you asked a painful question. Don't think that downvotes are always bad, they merely just tell what is popular, just like in reddit.

But this isn't Reddit. If I wanted a popularity contest I'd be on Reddit, or Twitter or Facebook.

I want intelligent questions and answers and a basic respect for learning and knowledge.

To me it just shouldn't be acceptable to downvote a (non rhetorical) question.