Throwing a bit of counter argument in the middle of the evidence he uses to argue his points that modern zoos may soon be a thing of the past. This counter-argument would be the exact idea I would ask the author. My general opinion is that zoos operating with the purpose of rehabilitating injured or sick animals, and zoos with a high release rate, are beneficial to society and the animals they serve.

Scholarly source.

Another non-scholarly source.

The assumption that mental disorders aren't present in wild animals is false. There have been documented cases of wild animals with PTSD and other related mental illnesses. It stands to mention , though, that the reason we don't see many of them might be because they simply can't survive with that condition. Animals in zoos may have an advantage, then, by receiving proper care and medication for it.

Using Blackfish as a source, which is hinky because Blackfish is hardly a scholarly source and has very, very mixed reviews. Also uses the opinionated term "sublime," which gives away his true stance on this issue.

Definitely seems to be the main claim of the argument, as the rest of the article is filled with examples and reasons to support both sides of the argument.

Empathy!

Maybe the internet is just the next step in our evolution?

Evidence for the community claim? The internet is great at boosting our intrinsic motivation because it gives the individual a lot of control over what they see, what they hear, and what they share.

Hashtags seem to be increasing In importance every day. I think of them as the “catchy jingle” of our time. Hashtags make an issue “trendy,” which comes with its own share of criticism. However, online, word travels much faster when summed up in a hashtag than it does written out in articles, such as this one. And this one isn’t even that long! There’s a lot to be said about how patience is dwindling and we’re becoming dependent on instant gratification, but there’s also a lot to be said for how much good has come of the hashtag.

Evidence that we have united as one community around the internet.

Subpoint.

"Solidarity" is a word we've heard a lot lately. Social media specifically has given us a completely new outlet to get involved in global issues.

Subclaim to support the main claim that the Internet is a worldwide community.

I think this is a very, very good point to bring into discussion. Education has insane potential to expand via the internet. Increasing availability and access to the internet could quite literally change the world as we know it.

Seems like one of his major points in writing this article. The internet has created a community of communities, in a sense. It's one of the few places where anybody (with access), regardless of race/religion/points of view, can come together and collaborate.

Somebody shared a link to an article about Essena O'Neil to our Diigo group, I think it was Alex? This phrase (and the article itself, really) sums up my counter-argument for Essena's social media comments. She spoke so heavily about how social media destroyed her life by making her restrict calories and retake photos a million times to get "the look," and from her perspective I can see how she says social media is a parasite. But it can also do so much good, because it unites the world. We wouldn't know nearly as much as we do now about what's going on with the BLM movement, with feminism. I don't think our would be nearly as involved in politics as we are now if it weren't for social media. I don't think social media is a parasite, but we need to use it for the right purposes.