I don't suspect that I can persuade you that you are wrong, but my reasoning behind the functionality here is largely inspired by interactions IRL.

Not to say those things are bad, they are awesome, community-building ideas.

They just aren't exactly in line with that goal of "thoughtful" discussion.

However, most of my interactions with people IRL tend to lean towards the inability to really say anything without fear of losing friends or being disliked. Then again, I'm not the most socially functional of people.

Although I think it's a noble ideal, I haven't found people that remain associates IRL that have nothing in common beyond the desire to discuss things.

It is unlikely that a person will remain friends with someone who persistently and consistently challenges their ideas. Any site that encourages the muting of people will encourage the formation of a community based on muting those you don't like, and "liking" someone is almost certainly correlated to "agrees with me in some way". Perhaps you can get variations on the same theme, but true, wold-subversive, disagreement creates strife, can cause anger, and will be silenced.

You and I have disagreed in the past, and I have never felt the need to mute you. Doing so wouldn't enhance my experience. It would make it worse.

Perhaps, in that way, a person can make hubski what they want from it.