Dan, interesting that someone else made the comparison to "road rage." Once, some months ago, I too posted a disquisition on what I called "internet road rage."
We have all noticed that drivers, safely isolated in their cars, are much ruder to one another than pedestrians are. The same thing is true of people on the internet, who at least are safe from the possibility of physical (if not verbal) reprisal.
And all the nuances are lost on the internet. When I am with family and friends, I love nothing more than a good, knock-down drag-out, argument. Because we can all read one another's body language, which remains friendly, for all the hollerin'. In fact, the hollerin' is part of the fun. On the net, however, you can't see the body language, and the hollerin' is anything but fun (at least where I am concerned).
At the same time, it's also no fun for me to talk only to people who agree with me. It's boring. Variety is the spice of life, in other words. And I would presume that anyone else who comes to a forum like this would feel the same way. But clearly many do not, or there would not be the kind of animosity that there is here. So my question has always been -- why bother posting? Why not just go to a site where you will meet only fellow-thinkers? It puzzles me...
jbe |
