Trolling, Bullying, and Flame Wars
Apr 13, 2018Are trolling, bullying, and flame wars an inevitable result of online communication? Does the anonymity and invisibility of cyberspace lead to toxic speech and behavior? How can we create more toxic-free environments online?
Comments(9)
Harold G. Neuman
Monday, March 26, 2018 -- 10:12 AM
People who regularly spew在我看来,经常在任何话题上吐槽的人都没有谦卑的感觉。有几年时间(在“社交”媒体出现之前),我有一种观念,我们当中有些人实际上相信这样过时的格言:管好你自己的事;和平共存的;如果你说不出好话,那就什么也别说;站在我的立场上走一英里。可悲的是,互联网媒体的功能和便利,以及这些渠道提供的匿名程度,似乎鼓励了不法行为和不满行为。Everyone's a bad ass.
I also noticed this, in some comments posted on this blog, in the earlier years of my participation (circa 2014-2016). But, having thick skin, and the ability to disregard the disrespectful, I let the snide remarks and buffoonery pass, while continuing to assert my two cents worth on a variety of topics/issues. To lay blame for this on social media alone would be simplistic. There are so many other contributing factors that entire books have been written on the incivility of modern society. No, there are what used to be called a TOTALITY OF CIRCUMSTANCES, a compendium of influences which are cumulative and accumulative, Individuals are no longer concerned with self-restraint: they cannot be easily traced or outed, and are mad as hell about ,well, whatever they personally are mad about. As for bullies (or trolls, or whatever other adjective one might wish to employ), I posit a two-tiered explanation: 1. They were bullies when they were younger, or 2. they were bullied themselves. Sure, this too is simplistic. So, I'll add a third postulation: 3. They've had some bad luck. So, join the club!
Gerald Fnord
Sunday, April 15, 2018 -- 11:49 AM
Arrogance我大体上赞同所谓的“60年代”,但反-élitism和对专家的不信任与保守的反智主义很好地结合在一起,创造了一种氛围,让人们无法区分“我知道得更多,因为我工作和学习过。”以及“我比你强……就这样。”我很惊讶,人们居然不要求他们的飞机驾驶员或心脏外科医生“只是个普通人”。
Gerald Fnord
Sunday, April 15, 2018 -- 11:53 AM
ErraturmI neglected to thank you for the Professor Elemental cut…and me with a proper cup of tea brewing.
Laura Maguire
Sunday, April 15, 2018 -- 5:17 PM
Professor ElementalSomeone actually knows the good professor!!
Gerald Fnord
Sunday, April 15, 2018 -- 11:59 AM
BarsOne last comnent:
Etiquette in bars was mentioned. In real life, there are neighbourhood bars, dive bars, biker bars, gay bars, cop bars, gastropubs…and much of the etiquette varies between them. Maybe we're waiting for and evolving clearer signals of which were which on the Web, and what will be tolerated in each, and with what sanctions enforcing those local norms.
RepoMan05
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 -- 5:31 PM
What we have here is an angerWhat we have here is an anger caused by an incorrect assertion. You presume no one should express themselves if you find it offensive. Seems you can't do that in a format that's expressive in nature. How is it that anyone should think people shouldn't express themselves on the internet.
"Troll" is short for "control." see Billygoat's Gruff for details. Somehow tho, the authoritarians managed to subvert the original storyline completely. What they turned out to be was a west coast coalition struggling to gain a foothold on how cyberspace was used.
Artifacts of pure intellectual property were being pirated every where.
最近在互联网上推行的“文明”只是这个特殊财团的一个诡计。是好莱坞为了获得政府监管互联网的权利而试图引入思想警察。好莱坞,正是那些对审查制度哭得最大声的人。
I think it's disgusting. I think anyone would find it disgusting. I think Hollywood should be put out of its misery before anyone should lose the right to tell you on the internet that you're a fucking goddamned douchbag.
RepoMan05
Saturday, November 9, 2019 -- 1:18 PM
"Anyone's spirit can be"Anyone's spirit can be broken with love" ~ The Other Mother ("Coroline").
"your spirit can't, however, be broken by anonymously calling your online persona a 'turdlicker' can it. And even if it could, should it then not? Grow up!!" ~ The Phantom of a Dropout. ("philosophy talk dot org")
Tim Smith
Tuesday, February 16, 2021 -- 6:40 PM
Certainly humility isCertainly humility is possible everywhere and just as certain is growing more rare by the day. To achieve humility is to strive toward truth in the name of Habermas, in a world that supplies alternative facts.
So much of what we do comes from within. The best approach would be and is to question ourselves first. I'm learning that more and more as the unfathomable becomes fathomed.
If I am reading the science on this right it looks like the classical regions of the brain that map to language use, Wernicke’s Area and Broca’s Area are both double purposed to interoceptive control of the body. This is an indication that body budgeting, which is by far the more primal purpose of the brain can be greatly affected by words.
Here’s something else from science with bearing here… if you suffer from long term verbal abuse this actually warps your brain, reduces effectiveness of common vaccines, slows wound healing and in developing minds can lead to physical and mental illness.
One last thing from another study… that if you are exposed to social stress within 2 hours of a meal the relationship of language and body budgeting is such that this can add 104 calories to your meal. Which isn’t so much an argument for football coaches to yell at their offensive linemen as it is an explanation for chronic obesity in victims of abuse.
These studies were pointed out in a book I finished a couple months ago and only now am re-reading and thinking back to this show.
本着这种学习和展示的精神,今后我的批评将更加成熟。我怀疑我再也不能像过去那样轻易地抛却阴影了。I am amazed at the complexity of the world, my persistent ignorance of that complexity and the immense power of words.
I am humbled.
Harold G. Neuman
Saturday, February 27, 2021 -- 7:31 AM
My take on this now isMy take on this now is simplistic. I do not participate in social media, unless this blog might be so-characterized. I have also corresponded with the Sam Harris organization, inasmuchas they are of a piece with philosophy. As to the social folks, there are good reasons to avoid then, seems to me. Petty squabbles are a waste of time and rhetoric. Also, there are some who misunderstand on purpose, just to be contrary. I have only rarely read such ire here, which is why I choose this forum when exoressing notions/opinions about matters important to me. Constructive discourse trumps turmoil everytime.