Towards A New Online Ethics

1. I do not engage in online conversations which are in essence about whether a person is good or bad
2. For issues I am considering which are complex and important, I shun arguments in text, lest I fix my position too early
3. The more emotions I feel, the less willing I am to use text to convey them
4. I am at ease with being wrong about most things
5. I love, forgive, and forget isolated social mistakes. I remember, avoid, and ignore people and online places that reinforce harmful behaviors in themselves and others
6. I understand that science and politics play opposite roles in society. Mixing the two up does irreparable harm to both
7. It's vastly preferable to be easy to argue with than it is to be able to create good arguments (which, in fact, in many cases may be counterproductive)

I do these things to leave the world a better place than I found it. I look for these things in others to know whether or not they have similar goals

P.S. I first identified a problem with the interaction between technology and social communication back in 2008. It's taken a while, but this is my first attempt at fixing that problem, a personal set of online ethics.