Re meanness: I don't see evidence for it in comments or answers, or in voting to migrate or put on hold unsuitable questions for CV. Down-voting basic questions, however, especially without explanation, might be viewed as meanness; at any rate it may not be encouraging to new users.
Recent examples of questions that IMO are all right, but received down-votes:
Probability that x samples from normal distribution sum to XProbability that x samples from normal distribution sum to X
Log probability vs product of probabilitiesLog probability vs product of probabilities
How to analyze relationship between data pairsHow to analyze relationship between data pairs
Of course these questions, & others, may well not have been downvoted because they're basic (& I don't mean to criticize anyone just for voting in a way I might not have done), but if there's anything to the idea that people are being discouraged from asking basic questions by the manner in which other basic questions are responded to, as @Jen has suggested, it's that impression we want to avoid.
So for basic questions I'd certainly suggest
- Taking more pains than usual to explain the reason for the down-vote where you feel one's justified.
& more tentatively
- Considering, in cases where the question hasn't any up-votes, & isn't blatantly awful (incomprehensible, scan of entire homework sheet, &c.)—& especially when it's from a new user, or gathering close votes anyway—whether a down-vote's helpful.
