The only people who will think "this guy is on to something" will be those who already agree with you. Strawmanning and mockery may silence people, but it will

The only people who will think "this guy is on to something" will be those who already agree with you. Strawmanning and mockery may silence people, but it will very rarely change their views. (Do you really think a racist who is on hackernews hasn't already read a hundred variations on your post?) Also, it would have been pretty easy to communicate your point without the mockery.