[keyserj]

> I would put visuals (images, videos, diagrams) at the center of that forum and overcome the biggest issue with visuals -- that they are often hard to make for many people.

> Rather than responding to comments, you could organize comments around the associated component of the problem as it is described visually.

> This might even help avoid defensive behavior since the problem is the focus rather than a particular person's comment.

These comments echo my feelings exactly. I think that building a structure that represents the concepts being discussed is critical to improving how we discuss and improve our understanding of complex issues.

I'm working on a tool[1] that hopes to make it easier for people to build and work with such a structure, though it's focused specifically in the context of solving problems, and it's still missing some important features for collaborative usage (comments are particularly relevant here, they're coming soon^TM). The core ideas[2] seem to align with your comments, though the tool further distinguishes auxiliary concepts (questions, facts, sources) from primary ones (problems, causes, effects, tradeoffs, solutions, etc).

[1] https://ameliorate.app/ [2] https://ameliorate.app/docs/getting-started/core-ideas