How to disagree on the internet

I just came across this old Paul Graham essay about how to disagree on the internet. It’s old, and many people have probably already read it, but I found it very constructive.

The main idea is that there are different quality levels to a comment on the internet that expresses disagreement. From calling names, to offering a different perspective and an according argument, to refuting the main point.

This idea is constructive both in how you express disagreement yourself as well as in evaluating the quality of other people’s disagreement when skimming the comments on an interesting article.

I’ll see if it’s enough to keep in mind in the back of my head or if I should have a practice session at some point to ingrain the concept into my subconscious. If I come up with something interesting for the latter, expect a follow-up note.