[oblio]

No, trolls have not existed in the form they exist since the emergence of the internet. Self-censorship is a wonderful thing. And the way it works is: you say dumb things (especially as a kid), you get slapped by your parents/friends/people around you. By age 18 or 21, you know instinctively that what you can and cannot say around other folks. At least the vast majority of folks do.

On the internet however, there's no real sense of human interaction and the repercussions are usually minimal.

Real life trolling is probably 1/10k of internet trolling.

[ScipioAfricanus]

Ok so some random person is saying something you find offensive or hurtful. You can block them so you don't have to see what they post.

It's a decentralized solution to a decentralized problem.

[oblio]

Not everyone finds the blocking option in time.

Not everyone has the self control to avoid the comments in the first place.

Not everything you've seen can be erased and forgotten (there's a reason NSFL exists).

[DanBC]

You don't seem to have any clue about how prolific trolls can be, and how persistant their threats are.

[s73v3r_]

I would encourage you to look up the GamerGate scandal from a few years ago, and update your knowledge on the topic of online trolling/harassment.

[thomastjeffery]

So your answer to people you don't like is corporal punishment.

Do you honestly believe that is the best method to improve discourse?

[oblio]

> So your answer to people you don't like is corporal punishment.

A) Who said it's my answer?

B) Just because I listed corporal punishment, it doesn't mean it's the only one form of punishment used.

That how society works, especially for kids. Kids are jerks to each other. After a childhood of interacting with jerks, we learn what we can and cannot say. We react to stimuli. A huge chunk of these stimuli is negative, i.e. a form of punishment.

Does it improve discourse? I believe it does, not all of it is negative. It forces us to learn and to better ourselves.

Obviously it shouldn't be the only form of interaction. You also need the carrot, not only the stick.

But the internet proved that the "stick" is there for a reason. You either have a "carrot" for everything (impossible, and also doesn't work, since people get used to rewards and become desensitized to them after a while) or you need at least the threat of a "stick".