For me, a shutdown is when I stop cataloging the complex bits of what I'm perceiving and just go 'listening to this is now unpleasant and I don't want to subject myself to any more of this'. I might smile mechanically or emit encouraging 'hmm' noises, but I am on autopilot, you're not going to be getting my higher brain functions applied to whatever you're talking about, if I remember what you said it's going to be as factual 'this person said such and such' memories that I have to actively recall instead of actual opinions on what you said that will already be integrated into our next conversation, and I will dither on the far end of human interaction range trying to figure out if I can flee 'right now' without being impolite.

A meltdown... I get those, but I am experienced at calming myself down, so they're basically 'flashes'. Every so often, I will have a flash of... absolute, raging frustration at something. Like (as an example that actually happened to me recently) failing to pick up my water bottle twice after dropping it by accident. The first fumbling was an accident, they happen, they're natural, I'm totally fine with that, I don't even give it thought, I just go to pick it back up on reflex. The second fumble/first failure, I'm like, oops, better actually give this attention, I'll be more careful the third time. Third fumble/second failure, my reaction is "REEEE I CAN'T PICK THIS THING UP! WHAT I JUST DID SHOULD HAVE PICKED IT UP! THIS SHOULD NOT BE!!!" (In internal monologue, not audible screaming. If it's audible, they're closer to the severe end of the spectrum.) And then I have to take in a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly (and yes, I have surprised myself by actually making the 'reeee' sound effect while doing this) so that I can be PRECISE and DELIBERATE about picking the water bottle back up. This will then be followed by a temporary shutdown because I have just blown a fuse on my emotional centers.

The common point is, I feel, that they're both reactions to something anathema, sort of. A shutdown is passive avoidance, a meltdown is active rejection.

The problem is, there's no immediately visible option to stop this crap; stopping said crap therefore takes time, which is an individual person's single most valuable resource. People have to go searching through settings or go googling 'how do I do this' in order to disable this, and even that slight inconvenience means there's going to be a lot of people that want to disable it, but end up not bothering, and that's not a good thing. Rule of thumb, if it's not absolutely trivial to do on a whim, it may as well be impossible.

Unfortunately true. Paradox of tolerance: Civilization can tolerate a lot of things, but it can't tolerate the intolerant. If it tries to tolerate the intolerant, it dies.

There's just something about 'you can throw the second punch but not the first' that Republicans can't seem to get through their tiny little peanut brains.

Don't tell me what to do.

They don't care if you're a leftist or not, they care that you're telling them what to do, precisely because they don't want to be told what to do, even if it's good for them, because if they're being told what to do, it means they aren't in power, and they want power at any cost. In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

Of course they mock you for washing your hands! Telling them to wash their hands and wear masks so they don't get COVID and fucking die, is still 'telling them to do something', and (/s) that's terrible (/s). In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

This is the actual Republican platform. They don't care a whit about what we consider to be 'problems'. The only thing they think is problematic is that they might not have power, and that we might have power. In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

You are absolutely correct. For Republicans, in the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

This is the actual Republican platform. The guy you're arguing with doesn't actually believe that protofetuses are worth trying to keep them alive. He just wants to be able to tell you what to do, and guess what? If he can force you to die over a nonviable protofetus, that means he has power over you, which is the entire point. He doesn't care about you, save that he doesn't want you to be able to keep him from killing you over a nonviable protofetus. In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

This is the actual Republican platform. It's absolutely about getting control, not about any particular ideology. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's why Republicans try their culture war junk, because WE care about ideologies, and it divides us. In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

Don't tell me what to do.

Did you read this? You comment makes me think you have. No one seems to be mentioning this despite how eminently reasonable it seems to be. Have you been sharing this link? I have been. I wish more people could read this.

Don't tell me what to do.

This is the actual Republican platform. The only thing they want, is to have authority over everyone, and for no one to have authority over them. We are the ones who fear being wrong. Republicans, on the other hand, won't lose a wink of sleep if lying gets them in power. In the pursuit of the 'right' people telling the 'wrong' people what to do, and in the pursuit of keeping the 'wrong' people from telling the 'right' people what to do, anything goes. Hypocrisy, lies, crime, election fraud, subverting courts, coups, false patriotism, false piety, terrorism, even outright murder... anything goes.

Know the enemy, spread the word to your friends and family (and maybe further).

You can have a democracy while having more than two parties. You just need a way of counting votes that isn't first-past-the-post.