On what I seek out in discussion: Productive and insightful discourse
Talking around a few ongoing conversations about blocklists, some pleasingly productive threads (several going on a few months of discussion), trolling, and whatnot...
What I most appreciate in discussion are people who can enlighten me in some way. That might be academic or technical knowlege. It might be life experience. It might be an unusual perspective or way of framing things. It could be language or images. It could be a culture or location that's distant.
What it is though is fresh to me, something that isn't overly familiar or stale.
I much prefer when it's also delivered with respect and charity. That's not always a given, and there are times and circumstances which make that a tall order --- someone who's been aggrieved or fatigued or repeatedly affronted may not have it in them, or even earnest attempts may fail. But it's rare that insight is delivered with a constant sneer.
It's the capacity to derail conversations, and correspondingly, the eagerness to take offered bait, that is probably my biggest factor in deciding whom to block. I like threads that go places (and places I'd not initially had in mind is absolutely fine, so long as it's productive and informative, and even somewhat entertaining). Descending into tired turgid wallows, not so much. The problem with Big Lie propaganda and disinformation isn't that it's some great truth. It's just the same damned bullshit repeated endlessly. And really, it's not hard to find. If that's your stock in trade, there are plenty of other suppliers.
Good discussion is a fairly fragile thing. It is not robust, though it does seem constantly to want to emerge. This is a chief reason why disruption is so toxic, and why I respond to it so harshly.
And it really doesn't much matter if it's intentional or accidental. As I get older, I'm somewhat less interested in why people are, and focus somewhat more on how. Past a certain age, I treat that as an established and immutable pattern. Somewhere around 3-6 weeks, in many cases....
If you're hearing from multiple people that what you're selling stinks, maybe listen a bit. I usually drop a few hints before hitting the ban-hammer. I expect people to register them.
(And if we've known each other for over a year and you're not presently blocked, this all but certainly doesn't apply to you. There are some fresher faces, at least in appearing around these parts, who might take notice though.)
I've said most of this before in some form or another. Bears repeating from time to time.
That is all.
