> Your worldview is based on the assumption that offense is pleasant
With respect: I believe you have misunderstood me. Offense doesn't feel good; it's unpleasant. Whether something that feels bad is bad is context-specific. Pain, for example, can be caused by neuron misfiring or by having your hand on a hot stove; you definitely don't want to just tell yourself "Oh, this pain is something I'm feeling because I've been conditioned to; I should self-reflect on why I feel this way" if it's the hot-stove case.
When we feel offended, sometimes it's inappropriate (i.e. the signal isn't telling us anything useful). But sometimes it's quite appropriate. In online interactions with strangers? It's often appropriate and the appropriate response is to just silence the stranger rather than getting into an ultimately-fruitless back-and-forth over fundamentally opposed worldviews.
With respect: I believe you have misunderstood me. Offense doesn't feel good; it's unpleasant. Whether something that feels bad is bad is context-specific. Pain, for example, can be caused by neuron misfiring or by having your hand on a hot stove; you definitely don't want to just tell yourself "Oh, this pain is something I'm feeling because I've been conditioned to; I should self-reflect on why I feel this way" if it's the hot-stove case.
When we feel offended, sometimes it's inappropriate (i.e. the signal isn't telling us anything useful). But sometimes it's quite appropriate. In online interactions with strangers? It's often appropriate and the appropriate response is to just silence the stranger rather than getting into an ultimately-fruitless back-and-forth over fundamentally opposed worldviews.