Arguments on the Internet

Let's see if I can phrase this in such a way that it doesn't trace back anywhere...

Arguments on the Internet can be futile for many different reasons, and those have been listed and commented on many times. But there's one that I don't recall seeing, which came to mind while thinking about some recent scuffles.

No matter what your cause or debating standpoint is -- no matter how obvious and clear it may seem to you -- there will be people you encounter on the Internet who disagree. Not just about your side of the debate, though you'll find them. There will be people who disagree, vehemently, that you're even talking about the issue in the right terms. Or that what you think is the issue actually means anything.

It's not just the "how can you be fighting about X while people are dying in Y" argument, either; there are commonly fundamental disconnects about what the debate is actually about. The obvious overlays are sexism/racism/class privilege, but there are many more -- and they often lead to people yelling at top volume completely past each other for days on end.

So: if you get caught up in an argument on the Internet, and every blow of your Cluestick is going awry, take a step back, and try to figure out what else the fight might be about. And then give up, because the person you're arguing with probably thinks it's about Martian Mind-Control Rays or something equally inarguable.

(This is not quite the same as the "Any random person on the Internet can be assumed to be insane" postulate, but it's close.)