"Do folks in here are really that needy of self-validation, even if it means seeking such from something completely insignificant like internet points?"
But... is that not exactly the description of somebody who complains about downvotes?? As said by others; they should be considered exactly as valid as upvotes. If you feel like they prohibit you from voicing an opinion, I personally feel like that is a you-problem. Ask yourself of the content you posted is crap, if you feel it is not, simply ignore the downvotes and move on, they are just pixels.
Edit: I checked your posts, most downvoted ones seem to be clickbaity or images that you posted to the linux community. This is not something that vibes with that type of community, I would have downvoted that too. The ones on your technical questions seem unjustified however. Posting a code snippet asking people to execute it... I think that crap should even have been deleted by mods.
By that logic, upvoting posts is equally as "repressive" as downvoting as it decreases the relative visibility of all other comments, I hope that angle shows the stupidity of that argument. I think we have a fundamental difference in understanding censorship, freedom of speech and intolerance here. If you want to play the self-victimization game, please do so on Reddit and not in the linux community on this platform.