While perusing fidonet echomail conferences, I discovered something I though was of critical importance. One side used primarily facts, history, and logic while the other side got all emotional, used feelings for arguments, and wound up calling names and ad hominem attacks as their technique for arguing politics. Took me a while of reading to discover even what “ad hominem” meant, and I had to do research myself to see that the logic side was actually using facts and reason. I found myself often on a side of a discussion I had no clue I would be on. Who knew?
And someone posted a little test so you could find out just what your political ideology really was. Where you really stood on political issues.
I wound up being conservative, leaning libertarian. Who knew?
I didn’t even know what a libertarian was! So, more research!
All told, it was a real learning experience. What I learned besides the issues, was myself. I learned about me. I learned I wasn’t what I always thought I was. It was an eye opener. An education. Well worth the time and effort. Exploration! We were on the cutting edge of online interaction, and all even before the internet! Stunning. Loved every minute!