So glad to see that others are noticing this too... The hive mind effect also feels even stronger than it used to on Reddit, probably because the audience here is less diverse.

Without knowing the data, I'm pretty sure I'm politically and ideologically quite aligned with much of Lemmy's overall user base. Still, often when I point out misinformation or misconceptions even if they "don't fit the narrative" of what I broadly believe, I get downvoted without anyone even responding with a counter argument. It's extra frustrating because I know I probably agree with the opinions of those people downvoting me, it's just that I believe there's more nuance to many topics that I would like to discuss, but unfortunately the Lemmy audience acts as if everything is a black & white situation.

Lemmy is honestly a pretty awful intersection of censorship and extremism. Reddit is shit because of the monetization push, but Lemmy is honestly far worse when it comes to just normal discussion being randomly removed for stepping outside a very particular orthodoxy.

As admitted by some, Lemmy is a haven for outcasts who are insecure and in need of some sort of validation. They're clingy about the things that provide it and touchy about things that threatens it, thus projecting an intensity in their interactions.

I see it as coping with helplessly living within an unfair reality. We need more zen in our lives.

I do appreciate posts like those.

My objective when I look through a comment thread, especially in a topic I don't know much about, I'm looking for the well reasoned posts. I admit I'm a human (confirmed via captchas) and love to have my opinions validated, but I also like to read a different take on a situation or issue. And because I am not in a situation where I don't feel like I have to defend my opinion I'm more open to seeing a different perspective.

So thank you for taking the time to write those out - and to others that do that thank you as well.

This! You can never "win" or get the last word, but you can get the other person to show how bad their arguments are. You just have to trust that others will decide on what is right correctly.

You know who else liked apples? Hitler. Coincidence? No.

Same here when it comes to food/taste. I criticised vegan mortadella(mostly water and oil) at some point and people absolutely lost it. Got some angry DMs by vegans explaining the concept of enjoyment to me. Not doing that again.

People perceive food very differently. Reheated food tends to have very different texture than fresh, which some people don't mind (or even prefer), especially people who grow up eating lots of frozen food and leftovers.

One of the things I used to love about Reddit (obviously pre-enshitification) was the openness and willingness within the community to listen to other perspectives and the calm and intelligent discussion of ideas. That became less and less and I miss it. Lemmy gets that herd mentality and if you don’t 100% agree on all points with certain ideas here then you’re just wrong and downvoted away. So I just choose not to engage

I think most of us are tired of the vocal minority that exist IRL that are actively harming others (especially lgbtq+, women, and minorities) and the silent majority that are complicit with it, especially in the US.

Religion also seems to have a hatred of every other belief, explicit or implicit, e.g. if you don't believe in Jesus, you deserve to be tortured eternally. Why would I be tolerant of people that think that's capital g Good?

Plus, how can you have a debate when one side won't keep to the basic rules of evidence.

One last thing you might notice is that it's probably not Buddhism or Daoism that get hostile reactions. That might be worth inspecting.

That kinda sucks. I'm an odd one myself in that I'm extremely interested in history and as an extension war since it has been a huge part in shaping.... Everything. I am simultaneously very anti war politically because of the horrors of course but I do also want to think about strategies etc. Are there any good communities that discuss this without just descending into who's side people should be on. For example I'm on Ukraine side but I can totally enjoy thinking about the question "what do Russia need to achieve to take region X, why is it important to them, what's the timeframe and what equipment is needed". I have read/watched plenty about war strategies up to WW2, maybe a bit of Vietnam etc. Nothing modern really.

The people that need to "win" drive me crazy. It's not enough to them if you concede on some points, it's not enough if you agree to disagree, they just have to be right 100%, and you realize they won't be happy unless you say "Sorry, I was wrong and you were right." and bow to their superior intelligence.

I've made the mistake of engaging with people like this before and it was a nightmare. Like you said, they wouldn't just drop it, even after I explicitly said "Sorry, but we are going in circles here, we should just end it." after an hour long discussion, where they could've easily taken their "W" from me walking away.

Oh really? Name every topic.