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I know this probably is MOST pertinent to the Politics and Other Controversies thread -- and I think this applies to extreme liberals and extreme conservatives equally -- but it applies to many other threads as well; and if I posted it on the P&OC thread, I would be willing to bet that it would just result in each side accusing the other side of being more guilty of this!
Do they just don't know or care that this is non-productive way to argue or present their case? Are they just ranting/venting to get it out of their system? Are they preaching to their own choir, perhaps hoping for kudos or rep points? Do they enjoy being mean and attacking others? Do they just want to start a "fight" or a very heated argument as a kind of entertainment? Or what?
Because I am a moderate, I am almost always willing to listen to BOTH sides of an argument, and particularly about those issues that I either don't know much about or that I am "on the fence" about. However, when I read posts that call other people "morons" or "liberal looneytunes" or "Nazis", for example, I give no credence to whatever else the person has to say, unless the "Nazi" tag refers to someone who actually IS a member of that party. (And if a poster is particularly nasty on a frequent basis, they end up on my Ignore list.)
Last edited by katharsis; 11-15-2018 at 09:38 AM..
It's on other forums too, except Games area as everyone seems to get along just fine.
I don't put them on Ignore, I just ignore what they say. I know we don't/won't agree. Or say,
we'll just agree to disagree.
There are a handful who continually attack what I offer in my opinion of this or that, and they will never change my mind, but they can't resist to put in their two negative cents. Guess it makes them feel big or good or whatever.
Last edited by jaminhealth; 11-15-2018 at 04:21 PM..
Cranky seniors with easily pushed buttons? I don't know. Maybe it's a lack of positive feedback that supports their want it to be true narrative that makes them insult? There could be a lot of reasons or they could just be natural rectums. What are you going to do? Don't let it bother you.
It doesn't apply to 'extreme liberals' and 'extreme' conservatives' equally unless you can provide data showing that it does--my hunch is that one side (the latter side) uses insults more frequently, possibly much more frequently, than the former side. (I'm not speaking of the city-data politics forum, which I almost never visit, but of life in general). I've been a registered socialist for all 14 years of my voting life so label me as you will, but I won't abide your false equivalence born of your self-identification as a moderate.
Anyway, resorting to insults is typically not done out of an attempt to persuade but rather to belittle and to thus derive emotional satisfaction for oneself and for other members of one's group/tribe. All of the possible reasons you mention in your second paragraph can apply.
Why do many people seem to not know that they can't change or modify the opinions of others by insults?
There's a very simple answer to your question Because social media forums allows posters to be anonymous and safe from physical reprisal.
If for every insult someone threw out in in social media, the persons' physical address had to be added to the post, you'd suddenly see much kinder and gentler posts.
I don't know that showing a person's physical address would change their mindsets..some people are just plain mean. No one is going to go after them since the address is shown.
I've noted the further west a person resides the kinder they seem to be. Not always, but I see it here at C-D a lot. Of course many are very secretive as to what part of the country they reside.
I don't know that showing a person's physical address would change their mindsets..some people are just plain mean. No one is going to go after them since the address is shown.
I've noted the further west a person resides the kinder they seem to be. Not always, but I see it here at C-D a lot. Of course many are very secretive as to what part of the country they reside.
I usually simply stop responding to anyone who insults me anonymously online, then I put them on my ignore list forever.
Regarding people being kinder in the west, I probably agree if you mean west coast versus the east coast. The first instance where I recall seeing this was in the service some 50 years ago when I first encountered boys from the eastern U.S. I was at first astonished by these fellows' unabashed sarcasm when dealing with other people and I actually wondered how they had survived as long as they had. They told me I was too thin-skinned and perhaps I was having grown up on a Texas farm.
I now accept the fact that cultures will simply clash at times in a multi-cultural society and I deal with it.
It's called inferiority complex. They feel so insecure from not having control in their own lives, i.e. the boss telling them what to do, their spouses demeaning them, so they come to what they think they have control over others, by insulting anonymously.
Kind of sad, really.
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