I don&#x27;t think it has anything to do with &quot;Western society&quot;, but rather the nature of internet discussions. They&#x27;re impersonal. They&#x27;re amenable to favoritism and the echo chamber effect. You can&#x27;t interrupt somebody in the middle of a soapbox lecture to ask for clarification or offer counter-arguments. The atomic unit of discussion is the paragraph, at best, and your audience numbers in the hundreds. Basically, it&#x27;s Permanent Debate Club.<p>In my experience, people in the real world are far more kind and open even when discussing the most controversial of topics.