I think there is a process problem that links 'group think' with the tools.

In practice the 'up vote' and 'down vote' make sense, provided all human beings were perfect in their intellectualism and objectivity. Does anyone actually think this is the case? Does anyone think having a rule, never enforced, that one should not 'down vote' comments merely because of disagreement will help human nature? Does anyone think it helps to have a system in which excessive down votes actually limit and restrict a users ability to use the site - or is that just hanging temptation for those who will abuse the system?

At best, users who engage with a position that is unpopular, violating the group think hoard on any subject, will find even the best reasoned contributions down voted into oblivion. If you run across the wrong crowd, you get the train and any hope of reasonable conversation is destroyed. Simply put, reddit gives users tools that pander to the worse in them, dangling them like temptation to be their worst - not surprisingly that is exactly what happens.

A typical problem: Engaged in discussion where the overall thread was running well over five to one in terms of up votes against down votes. After engaging with one poster who disagreed with me, in what was otherwise a polite conversation - she decided that my opinion was intolerable (without saying anything), and then proceeded to down vote every comment I had made in the thread. The result of a thread that was overall extremely positive, but generated a loss of 50 karma points from one angry user. When she brought in a friend or two, it quickly reached several hundred negative karma points. Nothing was wrong in the conversation, just a well reasoned argument from a position that was not liked by a very small minority of 'group thinkers'.

Good luck bringing this to the admins attention, who, at best, say the down vote function is necessary for their algorithm (its really, really easy to change the algorithm), and even in cases of obvious violation of the vote system, I have yet to see corrective action taken to adjust the behavior.

It really is about the process that reddit has built, and the bland indifference to the problems, the complete lack of proactivity, the deafness to both user and moderator, eventually reap what they sew.

"- This process hooks you on the addictive joy of righteous indignation, further incentivizing conflict and de-incentivizing real discussion. This is why meta-subs have such a big draw."

That about hit it in the head. Reddit is designed to do precisely what is said there.