Just the facts, ma'am

Reading the tea leaves on FaceBook recently has me down.  I'm seeing the level of snark rise exponentially. . . simple posts about family activities, sports, reunions, or other very light topics suddenly earn snarky comments usually tied to one's politics or their particular "litmus test" social or religious issue.

My question is:  what is the goal?  What is the motivation to hurl snark?  Does anyone really believe that interrupting someone, debasing them, or embittering their online experience will convert them to one's way of thinking?  Has anyone thought that these tactics may just harden the resolve of the person?

Look, here's a fact:  we all don't agree.  Vilifying or dismissing those who disagree can cut off opportunities to learn, to build relationships, perhaps to co-discover workable solutions.

I've spent most of today thinking about this topic, did a fair amount of reading, and tripped over some quotes that I find amusing. . .I hope you do too.

“Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve got a closed mind.” - U.S. Rep. Earl Fredrick Landgrebe while testifying at the Watergate Hearings 

"'Señor d’Anconia,' declared the woman with the earrings, 'I don’t agree with you!' 

'If you can refute a single sentence I uttered, Madame, I shall hear it gratefully.'  

'Oh, I can’t answer you. I don’t have any answers, my mind doesn’t work that way, but I don’t feel that you’re right, so I know that you’re wrong.'" - Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition) (p. 385). Plume. Kindle Edition.
 

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”  - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

"I don’t care what the facts are! I know what I believe!" - Ann ____________ (one of those first dates I mention in an earlier post).

 

"I don't want facts to get in the way of opinions expressed here...(some of which I agree with)" - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3962996&mesg_id=3964613

"The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion." - Arnold Henry Glasow (1905 -1998).

"Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963)

"We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

"Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." - Bernard Baruch (1870 – 1965)

Image of Jack Webb reported to the in the public domain