I actually don't know who the moderators are here, nor am I looking for any specific outcome. Even if I knew all the mods, I would treat them as any other membe

I actually don't know who the moderators are here, nor am I looking for any specific outcome. Even if I knew all the mods, I would treat them as any other member. Not doing so would imply I treat other members poorly or that the mods have a god complex, neither of which I believe to be true. Moreover, if they deem me unfit to be a member of this community, I doubt grovelling and theatre would do any good. > Second, you're continuing even still with unwelcome, potentially hurtful, and overly-judgmental characterizations of another member's opinion None of which is a personal attack. It's quite literally impossible to not be hurtful to everyone all the time. It's not worth my effort to go out of my way to not be direct (which isn't rude). It's more than possible to find an argument BS or laughable without that being a commentary on the presenter of said argument. Plenty of not-stupid people make stupid and shitty arguments -- myself included. I expect my BS, poor arguments, and bad reasoning to be called out and corrected without needing to beat around the bush or otherwise sugar coat it. I'm an adult, I can accept when I'm wrong when presented with a convining argument. I expect others to find some of my opinions dumb, or otherwise incompatible with their world view. That isn't the other person being uncivil, disrespectful, or otherwise antagonistic or launching ad hominems. They shouldn't feel ashamed for voicing that either, many times over if I'm presenting my opinion as some universal truth. > The majority of HN participants debate issues -- even ones that are contentious or may have "obvious" answers -- with an inclusive tone that conveys respect. We'd do well to look to them for inspiration. What have I done that's disrespectful or otherwise not inclusive. It's very saddening that simply finding someone's opinion, especially one that's no where near deep-seated or otherwise a defining characteristic, so over the top with exaggeration that it's funny is now considered not inclusive or disrespectful. People can be respected without needing to baby them and protect their egos. However, arguments are not the people that make them. Arguments deserve no respect simply for existing. The fast bad, false, or ineffective ones die, the better. If we can't sit and discuss arguments and options without everyone taking it personally, we will never be able to get far as a society.