So timely. In another HN thread, I simply raised a point that drunk driving wasn&#x27;t the largest threat to road safety based on statistics, and was labeled an apologist drunk driver.<p>The real problem is that if you put your ideas out there, and someone says something like that, and you don&#x27;t respond, they&#x27;ve gotten the last word, and your silence is a patent acceptance of their point (as it would be in a face-to-face debate). So we try to guard our opinions with &quot;This is just my opinion&quot; (duh, whose else opinion would it be?), or try to beat others to the counterpoints, and when you are constantly setting up defenses to your ideas, your idea loses a lot of potency and clarity.