Why good people become bad online trolls

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aflatun
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by aflatun »

I work in a field with a tremendous volume of face to face interaction and email interaction. I often encounter people who are combative, insulting and obnoxious on email who are quite meek and passive in person. Perhaps this is related. In any event its very entertaining. :tongue:
"People often get too quick to say 'there's no self. There's no self...no self...no self.' There is self, there is focal point, its not yours. That's what not self is."

Ninoslav Ñāṇamoli
Senses and the Thought-1, 42:53

"Those who create constructs about the Buddha,
Who is beyond construction and without exhaustion,
Are thereby damaged by their constructs;
They fail to see the Thus-Gone.

That which is the nature of the Thus-Gone
Is also the nature of this world.
There is no nature of the Thus-Gone.
There is no nature of the world."

Nagarjuna
MMK XXII.15-16
chownah
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by chownah »

Trolling is fun! Like aflatun says, it is entertaining.
chownah
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retrofuturist
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,
cjmacie wrote:"Gamer-gate" scandal (handling on-line abuse of women players)
That's not at all what Gamergate was about.

Gamergate occurred because third-wave feminists like Anita Sarkeesian were objecting to the representations of women in computer games... either in terms of under-representation, or in terms of their one-dimensionality. That concern was then met with a counter-concern about the humourless way in which political correctness and cultural policing was strangling computer gaming, and more broadly, art and literature in general.

In a lot of ways, this battle between cultural libertarianism and cultural authoritarianism was the precursor of what things to come...

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
binocular
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by binocular »

Maitri wrote:Why are we assuming that they are good people? Maybe they are just normal people who like to heckle?
Consider the "official" interpretation of the Milgram experiment or the Standford prison experiment: the "official" interpretation goes along the lines that it is under threat of authority that people do nasty things; that it is under the threat of authority that good, normal people can turn into sadists.
A social or cultural scientist from before the age of the Enlightenment (or the 1960's) would probably think quite differently!
Maitri wrote:Is anyone surprised that people like to goad and give others a hard time?
Yes: hippies.
(And the offical interpretation of the Milgram experiment probably reflects the values of the hippie culture.)
There are lots of assholes in the world, but most trolling behavior has to do with society's suppression of speech and impulses in everyday society.
Well, if we look at things from the perspective of a medieval religious scholar or social/cultural scientists of that time, then we'd say that people are just prone to be bad, that it comes naturally.
In fact, if we embrace the Theory of Evolution, then Social Darwinism, in whatever form it may manifest, is something we must embrace too.
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
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cjmacie
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by cjmacie »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,
cjmacie wrote:"Gamer-gate" scandal (handling on-line abuse of women players)
That's not at all what Gamergate was about.

Gamergate occurred because third-wave feminists like Anita Sarkeesian were objecting to the representations of women in computer games... either in terms of under-representation, or in terms of their one-dimensionality. That concern was then met with a counter-concern about the humourless way in which political correctness and cultural policing was strangling computer gaming, and more broadly, art and literature in general.

In a lot of ways, this battle between cultural libertarianism and cultural authoritarianism was the precursor of what things to come...
Thank you for correcting my reference to the circumstances surrounding Gamergate...which just happens to fit in with one your pet peeves...

And thank you for the vivid demonstration of the relationship between moderation and trolling :thanks:
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retrofuturist
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings CJMacie,
Perhaps along the lines of an observation I saw once in a discussion of "Gamer-gate" scandal (handling on-line abuse of women players), to the effect that "moderating" (i.e. discussion groups) can be seen as a form of "trolling".
Thank you for correcting my reference to the circumstances surrounding Gamergate...which just happens to fit in with one your pet peeves...

And thank you for the vivid demonstration of the relationship between moderation and trolling :thanks:
Are you making grudgeful and passive-aggressive aspersions here, or are you attempting to achieve something beneficial through this behaviour of yours?

(It's a sincere and honest question, and I'd appreciate a response in keeping with that.)

I look forward to the clarification ...

Metta,
Paul. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Maitri
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Re: Why good people become bad online trolls

Post by Maitri »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,
cjmacie wrote:"Gamer-gate" scandal (handling on-line abuse of women players)
That's not at all what Gamergate was about.

Gamergate occurred because third-wave feminists like Anita Sarkeesian were objecting to the representations of women in computer games... either in terms of under-representation, or in terms of their one-dimensionality. That concern was then met with a counter-concern about the humourless way in which political correctness and cultural policing was strangling computer gaming, and more broadly, art and literature in general.

In a lot of ways, this battle between cultural libertarianism and cultural authoritarianism was the precursor of what things to come...

Metta,
Paul. :)
Paul, you are absolutely correct. The gamer gate controversy truly ignited the online "wars" considering identity and gave rise to personalities such as Sargon of Akkad and Milo online. It was really the catalyst of the online rebellion against PC politics.

In reference to my feeling of :coffee: reading the "theory" posted above on trolling, I see the same habit of castigation of a group that Leftists (aka cultural authoritarians) simply do not understand and thought would be a soft target to trample. They did not understand that these individuals truly speak the language of the internet far better than they and would rise to the challenge to defend their community.

The false notion that gamer-gate was about standing up to the abuse of women in gaming communities is peddled by the regressive left to stoke a fight in their favor. It's simply not true. Sarkeesian and the others are simply carpetbaggers looking for loot.

This power to counter an entire narrative with meme magic can be seen during the campaign last year. Hillary's entire point got shattered by a troll simply shouting Pepe in the midst of her speech. Not only did it highlight the pervasiveness of the meme, it shows the systems total incompetence to challenge or even understand this language. It was an IRL troll moment that launched the Alt Right into the mainstream and undermined Hillary's authority.

"Upon a heap of rubbish in the road-side ditch blooms a lotus, fragrant and pleasing.
Even so, on the rubbish heap of blinded mortals the disciple of the Supremely Enlightened One shines resplendent in wisdom." Dhammapada: Pupphavagga

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/
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