I'm pretty much the same anywhere I go. the only real difference I know of is that I'll stick to an argument longer on the net than I will in real life. mostly because here there is no physical issue, just what you have to say. in real life I usually state my case and if the other guy gets it fine if not, oh well, it's not my job to wise up every idiot out there.
the main reason I wont push too hard in real life is my size, I'm a bit over 6'2" and closing in on 300lb (quite a bit of fat but I also do heavy physical work for a living so I'm not exactly a sloth). I never really used to think of myself as big (my size seems normal to me), but while talking to a guy at work about 10 or 12 years ago he says "of course Dave agrees with you, he's afraid you'll rip his head off if he don't"
after that I started paying a bit closer attention to body language and the like while arguing with people. and I noticed that when I start to get a bit passionate about my argument (I do love to argue) I was really starting to scare some of the people. not a very satisfying way to win an argument.
not that I haven't used my size to my advantage at times (intimidation can cut through a lot of BS when necessary) but I always feel like I let myself down afterwards. that I gave up, because if I where smart enough I would have been able to make them see my point without going that route. it doesn't exactly take a genius to scare the hell out of someone.
that’s one of the things I really enjoy about the net. my ideas can stand (or fall) on their own merits and not on what someone perceives as a threat.
