Raise the Hammer

ok, well it seemed like your most recent screed was designed against any and all naysayers. Coming where it did, the insinuation I got from it was that way, but maybe I was wrong. And I guess by answering me you've lifted any ban, so that's nice.

I'm not concerned about downvoting, I'm concerned about the disappearing effect.

Censorship doesn't need to be absolute. You seem to think it's only when someone permanently erases information. I think the gradual graying out, and eventual cutting off of posts is also a type of censorship. It requires an act to see the post, and even when you see it you can barely read it. This has a chilling effect. The effect of being grayed out - I'm just guessing you've never experienced it - is that your comment is labelled as offensive. Your point is not reasoned against, it disappears, with the broadcasted message that you are unwilling to listen to reason. One way to response to this has been: man up. Don't cry. You can just unblock the comment.

But the thing is, the issue is not that I can unblock the comment, it's that this function exists and threatens that in any further disagreement you will be labelled a troll. It sets a tone for discussion. Also, it gets misused.

I've maintained that there are reasonable limits on speech, which are exactly your purpose for the system. Hate speech deserves to be erased. But you've put the policing power into the hands of the community, and once this is misused, even just occasionally, on legitimate positions, then I think it does more harm to you than good.

If turbo doesn’t care about the truth then that’s his problem. If people want to get into imbruglios with him then let them. But for me turbo gains credence by being made to disappear that he would never gain by words. I don’t want other people telling me what not to read. I suspect that’s why few registered users actually ignore trolls. I still don’t know how Zipf’s law relates, but if I’m right that the number of downvotes indicates that registered users are not using their power to censor/ disappear people, and in fact are changing the default status to remove the default settings, then the system simply doesn’t work as intended, and by that I mean, the disappearing function, not the community censure via downvote function.

I may have gotten touchy following the us and you language and Z Jones’ rant, which was not a ‘reply’ to my comment but a personal attack with an insinuation I was one of these trolls Hamilton is crawling with, so that got me off track from my original point so there it is. I'll have to check with my psychiatrist about the low self esteem issue.

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