the other guy isn’t really trying to learn anything or even to change your mind. He’s acting for an audience of people who already agree with him.

This is why I argue that votes should be hidden from everyone. Audience capture is one of the biggest issues on platforms like Lemmy. Many users feel like they’ve “won” an argument simply because their broad, nuance-free generalizations get upvoted by the masses.

To add to your point about avoiding engagement with certain types of users, one thing I’ve noticed that really sets some people off is when they take something I’ve said, draw their own extreme conclusions from it, and then start accusing me of something completely untrue. Instead of defending myself against these ridiculous accusations, I now either ignore them or stick firmly to the original point.

What’s fascinating is how often they double down, repeatedly trying to get me to explain why I’m not, for example, a Nazi. When I refuse to entertain their absurd line of reasoning, they seem to lose their minds.

I’m sure you’re never wrong about anything. Maybe you should start a podcast.

Who decides what the facts are?

He has never claimed to be a legitimate journalist. He has said repeatedly that you shouldn’t take him too seriously - he’s a cage fight commentator after all.

Elon’s argument for why we need to spread to other planets holds true even if everything on Earth were going perfectly.

It’s not about getting everyone off Earth - it’s about creating a backup for humanity on other planets. This ensures that the only known flame of consciousness in the universe isn’t extinguished by a nuclear war, pandemic, supervolcano, or asteroid impact. It’s about not having all your eggs in one basket.