While scrolling through my timeline with a cup of tea this morning I had a minor revelation about a couple of things that I've posted about lately. Namely, people posting about something, but refusing to hear even *slightly* different viewpoints that mostly agree, and people confidently posting about something that I, or others, know is actually, blatantly, factually wrong.
Mastodon is, actually, pretty full of really smart people. Often, the type of people who either are actual experts in a subject, or, are experts on a more local-scale. They're simply not used to being wrong, or being told that they're wrong.
It's fine to opine on things, like, "I'm a(n) [insert title here, ie, astrophysicist] and here's my thoughts on something totally different [insert subject, ie, the inner workings of the Federal Court system]" when it's an invitation for comment and discussion. But there's far too much of "Well, I actually work in the [Federal Court System] and here's how it works." and instead of having a discussion it's just a "HOW DARE YOU. I'M BRILLIANT! *BLOCK*"
Someone pointing out that you don't know everything is not an attack on your intellect. Being intelligent and being an expert in one thing does not mean you know everything about all subjects. A little humility would go a long ways here.
I'm honestly shocked by how many really intelligent and well educated people that I see here doubling down on ridiculous statements well outside of their field. I see too much of it, and I even proactively block ANYONE that I see posting confidently but factually wrong information about anything that I know to be factually incorrect, no matter how small.
Anyway, make of it what you will, but, if you think that everything you believe is correct, across all subjects, and you're unwilling to listen to people who might, actually, know better than you, the problem probably isn't Mastodon or even the people replying to you. It's more likely that you prefer to live in an echo chamber where your beliefs are never challenged or questioned.
@BE I have been wrong on here a few times and I am mildly shamed by it. But I do not regret any of my blocks, even on a topic I find that I am wrong about, because I only block the people who are snarky about it. The extra comment, at the beginning or end, that shows that the purpose of the post is to make me feel bad, and the correction is just evidence that I should feel bad - that is worth a block. Friends help friends when they make a mistake and don't need to tear down egos.
@BE in all honesty, I mostly block people treating my other follows like they deserve scorn for not having perfect knowledge. In order of frequency, I would say the most common response to one of my mistakes is profound silence, followed by a few instances of needless scorn, nobody just tells me the fact that I missed and could change my mind, and absolutely nobody has ever DMed me about a mistake so I could chose to correct or delete my post. I guess the point is the confrontation.
@BE
One of the reasons for this might be some sort of post twitter stress. After seeing enough reply guys, lynch mobs and general barroom squabbles, but in front of virtual tv cameras, some trigger fingers are happier than others. Public social networks might leave a mark on people and their online social habits for decades.
Not to mention that fedi's huge draw was "we are taking care of twitter's bullshit", so I kind of understand if I get blocked for the mildest of comments here