Why I Block People

I use more than one social media service. Some, like the magnificent Mastodon, impose short limits on posts (which, of course, you can get around with a picture, but screen-readers can't easily handle those). So, to avoid those limits and also to avoid repeating myself, I put this page together as a centralized location for some stuff I would otherwise probably end up saying over and over.

For decades in online life, I never blocked anyone. I had this misguided idea that, somehow, if you reasoned with someone long enough, they'd see sense. Or, conversely, maybe if you engaged them long enough, you might see sense in what they said. Either way, it seemed kind of cowardly to block someone in a context where they can only reach you with information, not physical abuse.

Well, that all changed about the time I turned 60 years old. Looking back, I saw that hardly anyone I was tempted to block ever saw sense, no matter how long I reasoned with them. And, admittedly, it was pretty rare that any such person persuaded me to change my own view on whatever it was we disagreed about. So, realizing that life was getting short, I started blocking people. Wow, what a great moment that was! Suddenly, I stopped wasting a lot of time on people who were, well, getting me to waste a lot of time. Let me tell you, when you turn 60, you start thinking about time in whole new ways.

So, here they are, the reasons I block people:

1. You assert a fact without offering supporting evidence and, when I ask you for supporting evidence, you either tell me to "do your own research," or you say something about having common sense. See, I'm a science teacher and I'm also a lawyer. In both of those disciplines, we expect anyone who asserts something to either back it up themselves or admit they can't prove the assertion. The burden is on the person who asserts something to prove that something. And, no, your common sense is not proof. I have common sense too and, if I ask you for supporting evidence, it's because common sense alone wasn't enough. So, if you react to a polite request for supporting evidence this way, you get blocked.

2. You are a bigot, a MAGAt, a flat-Earther, a conspiracy theorist, a gun nut, an anti-vaxxer, a Bernie bro, or think climate change is a hoax, you get blocked. Note that "bigot" includes, but is not limited to, being anti-LGBT+, anti-POC, anti-women, or if you are pretty much any other kind of person who exhibits invidious discrimination, you get blocked.

3. You tell me you think the laws of nature are subjective, or that your ability to accept the possibilities of things like faster-than-light travel, mind-reading, astral projection, communication with the dead, or psychokinesis is because you have not been educated in science and, unlike me, are therefore at greater liberty to entertain thoughts of the impossible, you get blocked. (You are free to think these things, just don't tell me my science classes cost me any freedom of thought that you still have and I don't.)

4. You are insulting, annoying, threatening, demeaning, condescending, or otherwise deliberately being a jerk and don't shape up after having it pointed out to you, you get blocked. I usually say something the first time. Anyone can have a bad moment at the keyboard. But do it after a warning and I block you.

5. You waste my time, you get blocked. (I'm old goddammit. See above.)

Remarkably, even though I block people now, the overwhelming majority of folks I meet online do not get blocked, including most of those I passionately disagree with. I love conversing with that majority. Blocking the tiny percentage that are dicks, pricks, whacks, or jerks gives me more time to do so. Overall, I'm finding it's a trade that pays me. Hope that helps.