I just discovered an effective disarmament for a flame war

i am embarrassed that it took from 1998 to now for me to try this.

if you are engaged in a pointless flame war, go to the persons profile and find something you genuinely like about them. artwork, capability for compassion, a love for animals, a talent. maybe the redditor is pretty or has a nice deck they built. Find something. It will disarm you first.

Then throw a complete wrench in the conversation with a compliment. Most people are not going to know what to do with that. I just discovered this and will be using it as much as possible. Both flame wars i tried it on stopped cold.

it also made me feel better about the entire exchange to be honest. Try it. Let me know what happens.