I wander from group to group at the party, enjoying conversation with friends. Then, at one random group, I can't talk, because the individual who happened to open that conversation doesn't want to hear from me. You replied to bioemerl, and now I am replying to you. None of our moderation settings have much effect here; we are subject to Bypel's preferences, because Bypel created the post. Unless you restrict yourself to commenting only on your own posts, your moderation settings are mostly ignored. This suggests that you have never been muted by anyone who creates posts that attract dialog among people you enjoy interacting with. Most users don't mute spammers (I don't), yet I encounter very little spam. I think you overestimate the usefulness of muting, and possibly underestimate the disadvantages, because they haven't affected you.why would you want to comment on or have a dialog with someone that clearly doesn't want to have one with you? I just don't get it.
I have also been muted by people, and I could not have cared less.