Yes, but in this case the upvoters could have simply upvoted the parent comment ...

		gnosis on April 4, 2011 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Ask HN: How to stave off decline of HN? Yes, but in this case the upvoters could have simply upvoted the parent comment pg was replying to. Short "i agree" or "i disagree" type of comments are usually discouraged on HN, as they don't really contribute to the discussion. Usually.