Today, I’m happy to announce the release of our user blocking feature. As one of the most requested features from commenters over the years, user blocking provides you with the ability to manage who you interact with on Disqus.
Blocking someone removes their activity from your experience across the network. This means that you’ll no longer get notifications from them via email or in your Disqus Inbox, nor will you see discussions or comments by them in your Home feed or on discussion threads.
This will not just create “echo chambers.” This will profoundly alter how brains work. Throughout the day, you get a million little tweaks to your amygdala. Within politics, these tweaks are good. They acclimate your brain to the existence of those who hold different beliefs. They make you tolerant.
We have seen what happens when people are released from the need to tolerate opposing opinions. You get all 400 lbs of Triggly puff. flailing and screaming wildly.
As if there weren’t already enough Apocalypse in the recipe, all of this conditioned adversiphobia may be tipping the nation even farther toward a civil war one day, as both sides are being progressively conditioned to have no tolerance for each other.
There is one stimulus working against this effect however, and his name is Donald Trump.
[…] User Blocking Available On Disqus – Amygdala Shielding […]
Was hoping you would have a post about the British MP that was killed yesterday. Seems signii
Very true. I’ve been a little short on time.
I’ve always used that sort of thing as a weapon. Announce that you are plonking the person, and then mute them. Whenever another commenter mentions that person’s name, always say, “oh, that loser is still around? I blocked him weeks/months/years ago.”
That sort of explicit outgrouping drives them crazy.
It’s as if the Polish Army invented a cloaking device — when you turn it on, it makes the enemy invisible to you!