I never said anything about agreeing or disagreeing. I suggested unfollowing/blocking someone if you dislike their tweets. Your timeline only has posts written by or endorsed by people you choose to follow. If you don't like what they are writing or endorsing, you don't have to keep them on your timeline. There's no rule that says you have to listen to "people tak[ing] to words and... yelling at each other"; you have the option to stop listening. You are in control of your timeline.
Also, if you want to get rid of posts people you follow liked, most (if not all) 3rd-party apps don't show them. Some apps like Tweetbot and Twitteriffic even allow you to remove tweets with specific words from your timeline, or filter retweets.
On HN there is a downvote button, but no block button, so its not a great comparison. If you just dislike someone on twitter, you would still see the user's new posts. If you dislike what they are saying in the present, do you still want to see what they're saying in the future?
There definitely is a down vote button. It's the negative sign next to the [username]|[time]
You're thinking of this in too black or white. What if an author I follow posts something dumb? Do I then unfollow them? Why is it too much to ask to simply click dislike just like I would for something I like?
> There definitely is a down vote button. It's the negative sign next to the [username]|[time]
I said the opposite: "On HN there is a downvote button, but no block button"
> What if an author I follow posts something dumb? Do I then unfollow them?
If they keep posting posting content you don't like, then yes. Your timeline isn't going to change unless you change it.
> Why is it too much to ask to simply click dislike just like I would for something I like?
Because it won't do anything. A dislike would just be another number on a post next to the like and retweet counters, which are (supposedly) a major cause of the toxicity on Twitter.
Also, if you want to get rid of posts people you follow liked, most (if not all) 3rd-party apps don't show them. Some apps like Tweetbot and Twitteriffic even allow you to remove tweets with specific words from your timeline, or filter retweets.