“I prefer butter on the bottom side of my toast.”

“TO WAR!!!”

This subject got me curious so I read up on dueling. Apparently in the sword era most duels were to “first blood” not to the death, and even after pistols became the preferred weapon the object wasn’t to kill an opponent or even to win. It was more important to demonstrate courage by showing up. Both parties upheld their honor simply by going through with it. Most deaths that occurred were from infections, not from the wound itself being fatal. It was also common and acceptable to try to avoid a duel through negotiation or an apology.

What OP meant by petty disagreements is unclear, but duel challenges were often made over matters of honor. Some of the issues might seem petty to us today, but in the dueling community reputation and image were vital social currency. For a rough comparison consider modern celebrities losing fans and jobs because of bad tweets (or even for liking the wrong tweet).

I have never seen a more easily offended person as a person who calls others snowflake.

It’s an interesting comparison because it seems to me dueling comes from times and places where personal reputation was much more important to life destiny than now due to a lack of protective legal and other institutional infrastructure that dampens the risks in living and working with strangers.

So maybe any rising sensitivity in the present is due to the feeling that this infrastructure is weakened.

“I’m insulted enough that we’re going to shoot at each other over it” in a time where anesthesia was “drink a few swings of liqueur before I use these pliers to dig out the bullet and hope it hit only mostly unimportant things inside” still seems pretty ballsy.

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with the point, but all those duel things were mostly about honor and usually among the elites. A lot of them “had” to do it even if they didn’t want to, because of the social norms and stuff.

i think if someone spilling the “people didn’t used to be so offended…” agenda, that basically means they were bullied into being jerks

At the same time men in the past had a thicker skin then “men” today, they could (and did) crossdress while still being confident in themselves as straight men (Specifically common in the military). Today “men” will see someone wearing a pink shirt and get pissed at them for “trying to make them gay”.

People don’t change, just the time they live in

Sir, you have insulted my ancestors, and I cannot allow this insult to stand. I challenge you to a duel!