IDK, I've become sort of embittered talking with people on lemmy.world. I think my comment history overall can speak for itself in terms of whether I'm looking for a conversation or an argument most of the time... but I've also had many interactions where it's very clear the other people are simply not operating on a level of "let's talk about it because we're both interested in the truth." I've noticed that over time I've tended more and more towards jumping to the conclusion that the person I'm talking to is not operating in good faith.

That's not to excuse this instance. You're honestly 100% right, and even my "polite" initial message in this case is basically looking for a fight, which isn't helpful whether I'm right or wrong. IDK, maybe the answer is for me to go to some community where I won't need to feel this cynicism at people I'm talking to right out of the gate. I don't think me being embittered when talking to anyone is good for anything, no.