I think this is a useful article. The bit that struck me as most important was the bit about Clarifying - I think many pointless online discussions, including

I think this is a useful article. The bit that struck me as most important was the bit about Clarifying - I think many pointless online discussions, including most straw-men, could be rescued by that practice. More specifically, if I were dang for a day, I'd edit the third guideline ("Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.") to add, "When in doubt, try paraphrasing the other side's argument in a way that they would agree with before responding to it."