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user-inactivated  ·  3540 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: "You are muted here. Have you tried apologizing?"  ·  

I'm sure neither of us are inclined to do so. I don't follow you and you don't follow me. That's not my point.

I don't care if people mute me, that's fine. I care that people can remove my ability to talk to others. That, to me, is a problem. No one should have the ability to stop me from talking to someone else. Sure, I could go start another post. But that's a band-aid, not a solution. I'm much more in favor of the several proposals of "mute as comment ignore" where the muter simply doesn't see the comment anymore, but doesn't remove that person's ability to communicate and have discourse.

As for your point on apologies, there's a reason you're not supposed to apologize in a vehicle accident. An apology is an admission of guilt. People shouldn't have to feel guilty about holding diverse opinions here. Hubski is a community centered around "thoughtful discussion," and jumping up and down on someone's ability to speak (once again, to others) defeats that. You used the phrase "upper hand," that itself incites conflict rather than discourse (and I'd argue, goes against your "reach out" suggestion). I don't have the inclination to talk to people who aren't willing to tolerate opinions they don't share, I come here for discussion and thoughtful debate on topics. Being silenced for having a differing opinion destroys what Hubski is.