[Cin]

This is on my mind.

It seems that many people believe that diversity of opinion inevitably leads to rude interactions and nasty comments. I have never thought that was necessarily a given. Nor have I believed that a polite voice cannot be a dissenting voice. I don't have to be an asshole to disagree with something and to make my opinion understood. Of course there are some people who hear dissenting opinions as nasty comments. And the clearer you are and the more sense you make the more some people hear your words as disagreeable and nasty. There's really nothing that can be done about that. But most people can hear an opposing opinion without crumbling or resorting to mean and angry responses. I agree that it does take more effort to find polite ways to say I don't agree with you at all and here is why than it does to simply say you are wrong and what you're saying is stupid. It takes effort and commitment to find legitimate reasons why you believe someone's opinions are wrong. And it takes a desire to be civil to find ways to express those reasons that don't insinuate the person is stupid or horrible for having a different opinion than you do. I have noticed that some people simply turn a specific comment into something generic and say I read stuff that say that and i think it's stupid. It's an almost polite why of calling you stupid while getting around the TOS. I never believe that calling something stupid is a justification for why it isn't a legitimate opinion. A person should have valid reasons for the opinions they hold. If you are going to disagree with someone you should at least respect them enough as a human being to put a little time and effort into explaining why you disagree and not just say it's stupid.

As far as where all the deep and meaningful conversations have gone here on this site I have no idea. But I don't believe having to express yourself respectfully is the reason these conversations are far and few in between.