"I didn't post this to start a debate about..."
You posted on a public forum, the other users are going to engage with it how they will within the rules of the forum. You don't have to engage them back but you don't really get to dictate how they engage initially.
If you just want a public digital space to post your thoughts without any feedback you can just start a Twitter and mute replies, or a blog.
Not exactly related but I also find it funny when someone posts an anecdote to make a point, then someone posts their own anecdote to make a counterpoint, and the first person is lie "well that's just an anecdote!"
data is what happens to me, anecdotes are what happen to you.