Re: The Wisdom Of The Dark Emotions
Posted: Mon 30 Oct 2017, 14:15:36
The problem is people have lost the ability to discern what constitutes grounds for outrage and what doesn't. And the feedback loop is that someone gets outraged at something and then the other side gets outraged that they're outraged and so on and so on. This phenomenon I think rests at the feet of the left for overplaying the victimization card. Does that mean there aren't genuine problems with race or gender relations in this country? Absolutely not. But the quality of the discourse has been polarized to such an extent that everyone adopts an endless siege mentality.
Speaking as someone who has been on the Internet since the first ISPs sprouted up, I really do think this is a sort of rewiring of the brain that has occurred thanks to the Internet and the perception of anonymity and invulnerability of the Internet as a bully pulpit in conjunction with the lack of restraint put on content (profanity, sex, etc...)
Remember this story?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Neda_Agha-Soltan
Remember this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Harambe
Or this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Cecil_the_lion
There are these viral empathy stories but they are overshadowed by the amount of petty dehumanizing bickering.
I just don't think the human brain is designed to be able to process an endless wave of opinionating from the peanut-gallery. I mean, in the past we had letters to the editor but newspapers could never publish ALL of them. But these days if you want to just sit there and get triggered by comments you can scroll and scroll through the ones directly underneath a news article.
The closest thing I can think of is it's like going through life being telepathic. Think of how many passing negative thoughts people have each day. They come and they go. But the Internet provides a dumping ground for these and you really get a raw taste for how much anger, hate, and just plain rudeness we carry around with us.
Speaking as someone who has been on the Internet since the first ISPs sprouted up, I really do think this is a sort of rewiring of the brain that has occurred thanks to the Internet and the perception of anonymity and invulnerability of the Internet as a bully pulpit in conjunction with the lack of restraint put on content (profanity, sex, etc...)
Remember this story?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Neda_Agha-Soltan
Remember this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Harambe
Or this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Cecil_the_lion
There are these viral empathy stories but they are overshadowed by the amount of petty dehumanizing bickering.
I just don't think the human brain is designed to be able to process an endless wave of opinionating from the peanut-gallery. I mean, in the past we had letters to the editor but newspapers could never publish ALL of them. But these days if you want to just sit there and get triggered by comments you can scroll and scroll through the ones directly underneath a news article.
The closest thing I can think of is it's like going through life being telepathic. Think of how many passing negative thoughts people have each day. They come and they go. But the Internet provides a dumping ground for these and you really get a raw taste for how much anger, hate, and just plain rudeness we carry around with us.