I have no complaints, only a .02 observation based on another thread in the Den.
The act of calling someone an “idiot” is only an insult if no evidence is offered to support the assertion. Another way to look at it is, it is nothing more than the manifestation of an opponents failure to address the discussion at hand.
As long as someone can respond to the foundation of the insult to offset the assertion by using effective rhetoric, the conversation is less about people and more about the content even if there is some personalization.
However, comments / memes that simply state “you are an idiot” and are posted as a knee jerk reaction to a commenter who is making a point offers nothing to the conversation and ends the discussion before it can begin.
It hardly seem fair to penalize someone from calling BS on this overt failure of reason. This smells of “participation trophy” type thinking and rewards / protects those who demonstrate a lack of willingness to have a conversation.
It conflates foot stomping with actual discussion or at the least, recognizes it as a legitimate retort to a discussion.
These are the people who need be moderated and encouraged to go troll elsewhere.