[sweetliberty]

"I'd think that the individuals who are most likely to be ignored are the ones that generally render a thread incoherent anyway"

Can't you just see it now...these poor folks will have to go to their therapists:

FReeper: Doc, I just don't get it. I post on FR all the time, but nobody ever answers me. It's like I don't even exist. Doc? Doc?

[Willie Green]

Can't you just see it now...these poor folks will have to go to their therapists:

LOL! Yep, that's the general idea!
Of course, their posts would still be there if you don't want to put them on your ignore filter.
But their impact would be muted for those who don't want to bother with those individuals.

Sounds like a nice feature to me.
I think it may help improve civility.
(maybe not much, but some.)