> I don't see how speaking the truth and being polite could ever rule each other out.

Saying something negative or critical can be interpreted as being being impolite. It happens all the time.

There is a spectrum of civility and we're ascending that spectrum towards political correctness, not away from it.

How I know this is:

If you articulate your premise, don't use abusive language, but still are attacked for taking a bite out of something, then there is a bias.

This is natural. I have it. You have it. We all have it.

The social world is in constant conflict with reality. In fact it seems like some kind of game for people to increasingly be in denial of the extremely obvious so they can score points and be social climbers.

The result is a world where you have to have Straussian interpretations of everyday speech.

> In fact, HN is the one place where i've seen the phrase "I disagree" the most often. Not because people are so disagreeable, but because they openly, and politely, state their disagreement if there is any.

I disagree!

Well not quite. HN is better than most places where geeks gather to ponder thoughts. It is still heading in the wrong direction.

This is a testable proposition.

Make a list of five to ten statements, right now, that contravene majority held opinions. You don't have to agree with the statements and indeed you probably won't. Poll somebody to check if you're doing it right. Then post those statements on an active current thread on HN and see what happens.

You are likely to find that tone policing goes way beyond merely preventing spam and maintaining some kind of civility.