Mute is post-facto. Some people get so many replies that they don't want that mute isn't enough for them. They don't want to see them in the first place. 

For this we can/should have community mute lists (which some people are calling 'block') that takes input from labelling/reporting (NIP-32, NIP-56) and has community moderators, which are subscribed to by like-minded people.  Those community mutes won't affect you and me because we won't subscribe to them, but for people who trust their in-group, they can have such group mute lists.  Most people in those groups won't see most offending posts, so it serves their purpose.

I just made a post going over many of the options:

nostr:nevent1qqsvl4ylsr46mw426hzyjlffuw67vz7vqf7x0w2klgt6pmsm87u59wqpypmhxue69uhkx6r0wf6hxtndd94k2erfd3nk2u3wvdhk6w35xs6z7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcpypmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuetfde6kuer6wasku7nfvuh8xurpvdjj7pvgtq8