Just did some research for a reply to “someone who is wrong on the internet”, drafted the reply in detail, then discarded it. It doesn’t matter! Have to keep reminding myself that not everything is an invitation to debate.

@manton Exactly. It’s so hard to remember.

@manton I’ve learned to open up @AngeloStavrow’s Thought Detox for this exact situation and it works wonders every single time.

@manton sadly, the internet is probably the worst place to have a debate. There are some “corners of the internet” better than others… but… yeah.

@manton reminded of this story https://www.coursehero.com/file/p4bq2c8/The-writing-of-these-stinging-letters-made-Mark-Twain-feel-better-They-allowed/

@manton @tantramar well played.

@rayckeith @citizen428 But then *you* become Wrong On The Internet to someone without @manton’s restraint

@manton Is too!

@rayckeith @citizen428 @manton All it takes is one persistent “ackchyually” guy to ruin your day

@manton yes! nice work.

@manton And we can see only 5 percent of what’s going on on the web; the rest is deep or—shudder—dark. Of course, the web is only part of the Internet of interconnected computer systems, and not even the biggest part.

Correcting the entire Internet with its humongous reach and compute seems a daunting task, like a battle between an ant and a Tyrannosaurus. Bits are flipped by cosmic rays and error-corrected constantly, while on top of its layering people are plotting evil, and anything in between those layers going wrong. Try correcting all that; you can’t.

@rayckeith This is my go-to. Sometimes I just want to let the clouds, grass, and walls know what’s up at least.

@manton it’s good to remember that we can also be friends and have fundamental differences of opinion.

@manton “Are the Trojans wise or foolish? If they are wise, do not quarrel with them; if they are fools, ignore them.” - Epictetus, Discourses, 3.22.37

The Stoics approve of your decision.

@SimonWoods I’m so glad that use case works for you! You’ve mentioned before and I’ve tried it and yeah, it really does help blow off some steam. 😅

@manton i disagree