Block others as you would like to be blocked

Which do you think would make the world a better place:

1. Giving people the benefit of the doubt and only blocking people after a pattern of sustained misdeeds
2. Blocking people easily, on any perceived misstep, and giving no path to understanding or reconciliation

Obviously 1, but unfortunately, social media culture tends towards 2

People are blocked for all sorts of missteps.

Or perceived missteps.

This leads to things worsening.

Either they did misstep, but they will never learn, because all of the people who think that they did something wrong never talk to them again.

Or they didn't misstep, and the conflict will never be resolved because the party that feels aggrieved can never get clarifying information or improve their own ethical system.

The solution to this in your own life is to cultivate a forgiving attitude.

To be slow to anger and quick to forgive.

To use blocking as big escalations that you do only after using lesser methods first, such as:

• ⁠trying to understand the other side
• ⁠civil disagreement
• ⁠ignoring
• ⁠muting

You can skill up in learning how to do conflict resolution. There are plenty of good books out there. Crucial Conversations is one of the best

Of course, some people are indeed bad actors and you should just avoid them.

But the false positive rate is massive, so you should always take a while before you exile somebody with no chance of reconciliation.

Do not succumb to current societal pressures to just instaban people from your life who you think are bad.

That is what it feels like on the inside to be contributing to polarization.

If you want peace and harmony, be the change you want to see.

Cultivate the habit of giving the benefit of the doubt

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