On top of that, and related: almost no conversations are private or intimate. Conversations have a vast potential audience. So people are less concerned with co

On top of that, and related: almost no conversations are private or intimate. Conversations have a vast potential audience. So people are less concerned with communicating their point or changing the mind of the person to whom they're speaking; instead, the goal is often to impress points on the implicit audience. That leads to a sort of competition for 'audience' mindshare, where conceding a point or acknowledging complexity feels like giving ground to the other side. In other words, it's not just about tribalism and a sense of belonging, it's also about lobbying for the positions and attitudes you hold and pushing out those you disagree with. You don't actually care much about the specific person you're talking to: you're performing for an audience. In a sense, we've all become politicians.