The presence of "civility" - the appearance of it - does not improve the quality of those conversations people would refer to as "polarizing". An abhorrent mes

The presence of "civility" - the appearance of it - does not improve the quality of those conversations people would refer to as "polarizing". An abhorrent message conveyed in a polite tone remains abhorrent, and people affected by it are very unlikely to perceive it differently, no matter how many "I feel", "in my opinion", or "I hear you" someone might slap on top of it. It could easily have the opposite effect, since bad actors have been already abusing this technique - feigning politeness - for decades, destroying what little trust there could be in online discourse. Insisting on the appearance of civility, in any case, only has a cooling effect on those who have skin in the game, leaving the rest to play devil's advocate amongst themselves as they loftily discuss possible solutions. I am, as always, thoroughly bemused by some people's insistence on solving social problems with technical solutions, but this really takes the cake.