<human>: I'm fairly new to reddit, and I have read the rules, lurked around, and made a few comments. Recently I saw a few people complaining about the misuse of karma, and I began to wonder if I've been doing it wrong.

Personally, I'm pretty liberal with upvotes. When I see an article, video, or link I like, I'll upvote so the poster knows I like it. Not always, but most of the time. I rarely downvote a post unless its very hard to understand, or seems racist or extreamist (I've never seen anything like that, though). 

If I disagree with a post, I don't downvote, I simply comment explaining why. In fact, I'll often upvote well reasoned arguments from the other side, because I like to see a good discussion, and when people share their views, I'm open to listen. I do let my opinions and beliefs get into the mix, but who doesn't? Besides, I never downvote solely based on whether I disagree. Someone has to say something very rude, stupid, or simply useless.

Can you summarize the given text in a few sentences?
<bot>: I'd like to know if this is the proper way to use karma. Is upvoting all good ideas and thoughts, regardless of my agreement ok? Is downvoting people who say stupid things the right use?