So let me start off by saying that I recognize that there was initially a genuine problem with people who didn't want NSFW content being exposed to it.
Some of this was due to the fact that not all content was being correctly flagged as NSFW, and some of it was because a lot of users didn't realize that individual users can choose to completely block an entire instance - which is not only a very easy and fast solution, but also does not require an all-or-nothing approach of defederating from NSFW instances.
A number of changes were made, but some of those lingering changes have meant that people who do want to see NSFW content are not because:
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Even having subscribed to several NSFW subs, they are effectively completely missing from my feed.
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Most NSFW thumbnails are blurred.
Both of these behaviors should not be occurring if a user has chosen in their settings to NOT hide NSFW content.
However, I will also say that the blurred state is something that deserves its own user setting (i.e. so that a user can choose to NOT hide NSFW, but still want them blurred or not) - preferably with the granularity to set it for various sub-types of NSFW (e.g. porn, gore, etc...).
A person's perception is highly informed by how well or poorly they understand the subject or situation in question.
Let's say you got stood up by a first date because they got hit by a car on their way to you. Your perception of them is going to vary wildly depending on whether or not you know the facts behind why they didn't show up.
Similarly, knowing how you actually fit into things at your job - i.e. your importance to your working group, the company, it's customers, society itself, allows you to have a more accurate set of facts to base your perception on.
So yes, the truth matters.