Huh? You think I am talking about me in specific? C’mon now. This is about communication in general…
In a case like this, a link to the original thread would be very helpful.
Also, attacking the post and not the poster is a well enforced rule here. It seems odd that you were “insulted and mischaracterized” without a mod response.
Sometimes people deserve to be called a piece of shit. Sometimes it’s okay to call a piece of shit a piece of shit. In general.
I see… the snark-well must be running low. Nice try!
Well, look, for what it’s worth, I’m not snarking; I’m entirely serious, and blandly straightforward, when I ask: if you for some reason think it’s not mere sincerity, then how would it look if it were mere sincerity?
How can you ever know intent? You can guess but you can’t prove. It’s just in an environment like this which is overwhelmingly monolithic in thought on a variety of subjects who would the intended audience be?
So it’s sincere? Perhaps it is. It’s just my observation, unprovable of course, that social ostracism and bullying are tools that have been encouraged to be used here to enforce ideological conformity.
No, I’m being serious – and I wasn’t referring to you. It’s okay to call out shitty behavior and shitty people. I’m not saying Dopers in the Pit always get it right, but I am saying that usually that’s all it is – an attempt to call out shitty posting and such.
Alright, I misunderstood. My apologies.
I remember we’ve mocked your “hive mind” accusations by acting like we were a secret cabal whose sole purpose was bringing about your downfall, but I wonder if you ever understood we were pulling your leg.
Have you ever found a forum where your views were actually in line with the userbase? It’s nice that you welcome diversity of opinions, but your posts in this thread imply some lingering resentment over past pile-ons. You may not have cared for the language of your detractors, but there’s a reason for the hostility, and it’s not because we secretly convened and planned to destroy you.
Now he knows!
Consensus is not Conspiracy. If a large group of people look at a piece of shit and say “That’s a piece of shit!”, no wagons are being circled and no hive has been created.
Well, you could have told me that before I showed up at the meeting hall to find no one else there. I even brought cookies and lemonade!
A setting such as this where the in-group has been successful at running off most dissenting views or finding contrived ways to ban folks with dissenting view then hive-mind or hive in the cases where the mind is not present or functional is relatively accurate.
You can have most any view you want here…but you can’t be an asshole about it.
Underneath all this bluster and bloviating, are you really just an advocate for assholes?
The hive-mind finally experiences Colony Collapse Disorder.
Thanks, as always, Your Highness, for your selflessness and dedication to your kind.
My original point in this thread was that this place could be better at informing folks if the hostility was dialed down a bit but unfortunately the hostility is a deliberate feature of this place.
But, somehow, they haven’t banned you…
Incidentally, “ASSHAT” was in the NYT crossword last Sunday, 62D. It made me think of this place. 
And accusing the board of being a “hive mind” and championing assholes is your way of calming things down?
I haven’t read much of your body of threads, @octopus
The only place I see you is in this forum.
I don’t think what has been said to or about you was of the “pulling your leg” type posts.
I’m not real sure of much about what you’ve said more broadly on the board or if you’re incendiary or vexious to the point of disgust for your opinions. (I will be looking)
I, for one found the cruel name calling and filthy demeaning cursing to be very painful and such an unnatural way for adults to converse. It is very offensive and off-putting. It does make people think twice about posting in the pit. It looks bad for the board as a whole and can lead to many things that are worse.
I’m sorry for you that this has been your experience.
I’m sorry, as well @k9bfriender has suffered because of it.
The pain and mental suffering is real.