This was a good read. It frames and illuminates the state of public discourse well-- the state of which is very discouraging to me as well. We need to reason more carefully given current issues (covid, climate, etc) and so many people seem to want to reason less.

Do you have any thoughts on why this is happening? Human nature is presumably a constant. Perhaps the increasing complications of the world overwhelm people and they retreat into what you describe? Perhaps (social) media has provided a megaphone that, with everyone using it, and being perverted by it, there's nothing to be done but yell louder than everything else? Perhaps the pace of life is such that the idea of thinking before speaking has been heavily discounted?

Thank you for stirring the pot.