Short-form-ification of debate Why does it feel like you're seeing the same phrases over and over again when reading the comments under a video, or a Twitter thread, or anything else online these days? Online debate and discourse has become memefied, and at the core of every common discussion you see the same throwaway lines being used. Take any kind of environmental debate and you'll hear: "There is no ethical consumption under capitalism", and "the planet is dying anyways". Catchphrases consisting of a double-shot of anticapitalism with a fatalistic mixer, a dash of dread, and a lime wedge. You've probably heard one of these lines before; they're so commonly used as a retort to criticisms of individual choices of any kind, whether that is eating meat, taking regular flights, or buying fast fashion [link to previous article]. The attitude these phrases represent sit neatly alongside the extreme pessimism of 'doomerism' as it relates to clim...