I might add that insulting people might not provide a way to encourage “intellectually mature discussion” either.
I, for one, do not feel insulted and even feel that his post is a useful elaborative warning along the path to "truth", which in the real world may have many traps, wrong ways and pitfalls.
A kind of semi-automated lint for discussions.
Clippy could come out and say, """
I see you are insulting someone's mother in a discussion about Ayn Rand taking social security payments, are you sure this furthers the conversation?
"""