Forums & Nature

[Volatility_rivals135605]

I was taking some time this evening and flipping through various threads. The majority of which are initially discussing sports to various degrees, however they all also quickly devolve into argumentative nonsense.

This made me wonder, what is it about forums( all forums in general, not just this one) that are a breeding ground for vitriol.

Would it be that forums remove individual accountability, the decorum of a subtle smile with bitterness beneath. How in reality and in person, we show common decency, nodding yes heads with "dumbass" under the breath.

Forums remove the penalties of what would normally be an agreeable mind. We have all bit our lip at some point, shown a smile to someone we didnt like, have been agreeable simply to not upset the balance or to incite drama. For the most part, that does not exist in forums.

Are they a more honest reflection of who we truly are as a society, as a species, our real thoughts, the things we think of in the car that you wanted to say, but didnt... When the fear of atonement is no more, human nature goes to a dark place. IN many respects, along with how the world has changed the past couple of years, it shows the fragility of civility. We are all just a few steps from dining with the wolves.

Perhaps we can all choose to combat that darker nature, by putting as much effort into all that better men have strived for, set aside the need to be right, the need of a return on a emotional investment, and be a little kinder than you was the day before.

 

[Rootmaster]

Do you work hard to try to sound weird or does it come natural? Serious question.

 

[WVUALLEN]

I was taking some time this evening and flipping through various threads. The majority of which are initially discussing sports to various degrees, however they all also quickly devolve into argumentative nonsense.

This made me wonder, what is it about forums( all forums in general, not just this one) that are a breeding ground for vitriol.

Would it be that forums remove individual accountability, the decorum of a subtle smile with bitterness beneath. How in reality and in person, we show common decency, nodding yes heads with "dumbass" under the breath.

Forums remove the penalties of what would normally be an agreeable mind. We have all bit our lip at some point, shown a smile to someone we didnt like, have been agreeable simply to not upset the balance or to incite drama. For the most part, that does not exist in forums.

Are they a more honest reflection of who we truly are as a society, as a species, our real thoughts, the things we think of in the car that you wanted to say, but didnt... When the fear of atonement is no more, human nature goes to a dark place. IN many respects, along with how the world has changed the past couple of years, it shows the fragility of civility. We are all just a few steps from dining with the wolves.

Perhaps we can all choose to combat that darker nature, by putting as much effort into all that better men have strived for, set aside the need to be right, the need of a return on a emotional investment, and be a little kinder than you was the day before.

Good luck with that.

 

[deedoubleyou]

I was taking some time this evening and flipping through various threads. The majority of which are initially discussing sports to various degrees, however they all also quickly devolve into argumentative nonsense.

This made me wonder, what is it about forums( all forums in general, not just this one) that are a breeding ground for vitriol.

Would it be that forums remove individual accountability, the decorum of a subtle smile with bitterness beneath. How in reality and in person, we show common decency, nodding yes heads with "dumbass" under the breath.

Forums remove the penalties of what would normally be an agreeable mind. We have all bit our lip at some point, shown a smile to someone we didnt like, have been agreeable simply to not upset the balance or to incite drama. For the most part, that does not exist in forums.

Are they a more honest reflection of who we truly are as a society, as a species, our real thoughts, the things we think of in the car that you wanted to say, but didnt... When the fear of atonement is no more, human nature goes to a dark place. IN many respects, along with how the world has changed the past couple of years, it shows the fragility of civility. We are all just a few steps from dining with the wolves.

Perhaps we can all choose to combat that darker nature, by putting as much effort into all that better men have strived for, set aside the need to be right, the need of a return on a emotional investment, and be a little kinder than you was the day before.

Forums have evolved to become this way much like society has been heading the same way with division and judging. Its mostly the media's influence over peoples minds, honestly. ESPN before Disney bought them was totally different, and their message boards reflected it where people stuck mostly with talking sports. Now they dont even have message boards but if they did it would be 90% drama/politics and 10% sports. I have no doubt.

Everyone is divided these days. Message boards are just a good place to vent it all out whether its about your teams, or other things like Covid, Trump, Biden, cancel culture, BLM, Antifa, Proud Boys, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. Pick your poison and go to your favorite message board so you can trigger Allen and Tylenol, I mean Tannerite or whatever. It doesnt matter if we all like the same team, its just takes one political or cultural difference to make us not like each other, at least for most people especially libs.

 

[MichiganHerd]

Awesome. Welcome to the forum, Doctor Phil.

 

[Volatility_rivals135605]

Good luck with that.

Ha Yeah, I know its a stretch, the optimist in me I suppse. It is fascinating to see the differences in how people behave/respond/treat others though. Would make for a good topic for study/paper for a Psych student.

It is somewhat indicative of if the fabric of society were to not exist, how quickly small factions/tribes would form, and the path to conflict would be an 8 lane Interstate Highway.

 

[spartansstink]

Vol,

First, you have to realize who and what you're dealing with here. As you should be able to tell, you're dealing with a lot of intellectually inferior people. You're trying to do deep analysis and expecting folks whose knowledge evolved from starting their senior year for Coach Jackwad at Podunk High School and graduating middle to end of their class to keep up. Therefore, you're only going to get snide remarks that truly show their intellectual inferiority, as you've seen in both of your recently started posts.

Of course, they will all claim to make 6 digit incomes and have fancy titles and jobs. But, when they should be hard at work earning that money, they are on this site for 16-18 hours per day, responding to nearly every thread, everyday. As such, this facade is easily seen through.

What they are really are just losers. Always arguing against "mediocrity" and projecting their failures upon the team, whatever the sport. Always wanting to feel "special" when a team exceeds expectations. Always living their lives vicariously through the exploits of others. There really isn't any sugarcoating it - it is what it is.

Remember, these folks will attack you because your posts make them feel small. It will bring out their lack of understanding and they so desperately want to be in a place where they have "friends" and "enemies" and feel they are a part of something. Everything will evolve into an "us versus them" mentality and as soon as one of the so-called "enemies" posts the thread will go right off the tracks.

They key is just to ignore it. Once you realize who and what you're dealing with it makes it all the easier. There are folks on here, while not many, who do appreciate good analysis, even when its something they don't necessarily agree with, and can respond in kind. Keep posting your views and ignore the ignorance and immaturity.