We all know the importance of interpretative charity in online discourse.

Ehee, I think some critters missed the memo. I’ve struggled all my life trying to get people to understand me but somehow people often seem (to me, at least) to make mind-pretzels instead of trying a “charitable” interpretation. I’ve always felt like many just want to lash out and hurt others, even when there’s a perfectly reasonable interpretation that takes less effort to make.

mumblegrumble, et cetera

This is some good stuff.

Reading it I was thinking, “bad people can exploit it”. But then you addressed it near the end in a really great way, highlighting that compassion is not naivete.

It’s interesting that if you apply this in general, not just to what people say online, you end with something really similar to presumption of innocence: “don’t blame people unless proved that they should be blamed”.

I wrote this some time ago. It is rather personal, but maybe some readers will find this useful.