The internet is good for a lot of things. Videos of cats on roombas. Keeping in touch with friends when you hate using the phone.

Okay, two things.

The internet has not been good for arguing though. Who knew that not being in the same room with someone would make you exponentially angrier when they said something you disagree with? It's like the more people learned about the outside world, the more they hated all it had to offer. The internet didn't help us understand our neighbors, it helped us to yell at them anonymously.

I don't have any answers. I just outlined a few things because people assume you're shallow or you don't care when you won't join in a Group Hate or click "like" on the meme of the day.

We demonize those with different ideas

· _____ is Hitler

· _____ is Satan

· _____ is Guy Fieri with a law degree

· _____ is worse than, or as bad as the worst person on earth

· _____ is worse than a badly botched colonoscopy

We are belittling, condescending or straight-up insulting

· “You’re misinformed”

· “You’ve been conned”

· “You’re an idiot”

· “Let me explain to you why you’re wrong…”

· “When was the last time you read a book?”

We use anecdotes we find on the internet

· Almost none of them are true.

· All of them are irrelevant.

· Anecdotes are not data, or even an opinion. They’re nothing.

· I read about a guy who used anecdotes all the time. He lost his job, his health care and his kids were eaten by hippies, racists, etc. (This one is true.)

We use quotes we find on the internet

· Taken out of context

· Completely misleading

· They’re over twenty years old and make no sense in today’s rapidly changing world

· Those are actually the lyrics to a Sting song, and everyone knows it except you

We use memes we found on the internet

· None of them are true

· They’re pictures with words on them that someone made up

· They are all meant to provoke an emotional response (Trolling)

· We use them when they have no relevant input but want to appear clever anyway

· They are what social media sites like Facebook use to gather data about us

· Posting these things is the less literate equivalent of posting Sting lyrics

We use articles clicked through from Facebook, found on Facebook

· The articles have no facts in them

· The articles are not sources, and are not sourced

· They are all meant to provoke an emotional response (Trolling)

· The articles are there to sell advertisements when we click through to the site, and to gather data about us

· The articles are fed to us by a Facebook algorithm that knows what we agree with and gives us more to make us feel good.

· If we post articles from any of these impartial pinnacles of journalistic integrity, we are obviously going to great lengths to show how much research we are willing to do to back up our argument

1. usuncut

2. truthdig

3. uproxx

4. sourceplanet

5. vox

6. popsugar

7. frackfacts

8. thefederalist

9. equalisunfair

10. nationindistress

11. nrailafrontlines

12. occupydemocrats

13. rightwingwatch

14. liberallogic101

15. theintercept

16. popularresistance

17. leftroots

18. Any site that actually has a candidates name in the URL

19. Pretty much every site on the internet except The Onion

And finally

· Life is pretty enjoyable when you’re not thinking of how to respond to someone

· I like you a lot, and I’d rather not lose that feeling even for a minute when we’re locked in a death struggle trying to prove or disprove that someone is Satan or Hitler

· I agree with you. Why are you yelling at me?

· Have you looked in a mirror lately? You look like hell. Take a break from proving everyone else wrong and eat a meal. Wash up. The arguments will still be going on when you return

· I want to enjoy something. Anything. This won’t be it

· I’m right here in front of you, agreeing with you, and you’re still yelling at me

· Literally every single thing is more helpful to the world than generating more internet political rage

· Go get some hummus at Dizengoff, then go see a movie at the Roxy. Any movie. They’re all good.

*I have actually done every one of these things and probably will again.