I've met some people in real life who are possibly even worse than some of the people I've met online, but I've learned not to argue with them (except about work-related stuff, since several of them were/are co-workers - just because somebody is racist or whatever doesn't mean that I'm just going to concede to them how a program should be written). The problem with arguing with people in real life is that they might never go away. For example, I had a co-worker who was virulently anti-vaccination (harrrrr) who I made the mistake of engaging in his favorite discussion - after about five minutes I got sick of the discussion ("welp, this guy's stupid and/or crazy, whatever"), but it took him about six months to get sick of the discussion ("I'm so goddamned stupid and/or crazy that I don't know when to shut up!"); had the exchange been online then a. I could have put him on ignore or closed the browser tab or whatever, and b. some other schmuck would have engaged his attention (what helped save me was when we got a new hire who made the mistake of talking to the guy about vaccinations). So in real life I'm much more reserved because I absolutely detest arguments that don't have any sort of escape route. (That was a major part of my relationship with my older brother for many years. loinbro: let's have an argument! loin: Sure, you win. loinbro: Hooray!)
I've sometimes wondered the same thing about the other people I see arguing online - some people's online personas are outright fabrications, but for the rest how much are they an exaggeration? To take two extreme examples: are MrFun and Ben Kenobi really like that in real life, or are they intentionally exaggerating what they are, or are they unintentionally exaggerating what they are, or are they fabricating what they are? How about you?
I've sometimes wondered the same thing about the other people I see arguing online - some people's online personas are outright fabrications, but for the rest how much are they an exaggeration? To take two extreme examples: are MrFun and Ben Kenobi really like that in real life, or are they intentionally exaggerating what they are, or are they unintentionally exaggerating what they are, or are they fabricating what they are? How about you?
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