This is twice in the last 30 minutes I've been called "old" on this site!

I don't think it's a cop out to just turn away. Talking with people is a great way to learn a lot, but it also saps a lot of time an energy (I'm sure no one knows that better than you). So when you're met with the Internet as it exists right now, it's sometimes just a better use of time to say, "I'm going to do something else today." I left this site for almost 2 years because it was taking more out of me than it was giving back (lots of reasons for that, some of which are, frankly, unique to me and so not generalizable). In that case you're doing yourself a disservice to stay on board. There's an old New Yorker cartoon of a dude on his computer. His wife says, "Come to bed" and he replies with, "But someone on the internet is wrong!" It sums up a lot. Most people want to be validated. They don't want to teach and be taught.

I've made real life friends on this site, and I'm happy about that. That (and covid) is what finally brought me back. I missed it in a way I didn't realize I did. I'm not an old-hand at internet forums, so my perspective on that does not exist. What I do know is what I enjoy, which is talking about history, current events, science, etc., and also admiring all the cool things that people do and then share. So long as that's happening, I can say I'll probably be around. But if and when we get to a point where sharing a well reasoned (or at least some reasoned) opinion is met with attacks on your person and not on your words more often than not, that's when I'll fuck off again. Don't give a fuck whether the kids do that all day. It's not for me.