Slashdot Mirror
Why Are We So Rude Online?
kodiaktau writes "An article in the WSJ discusses why internet users are more rude online than they are in person. The story discusses some of the possible reasons. For example, a study found that browsing Facebook tends to lower people's self control. An MIT professor says people posting on the internet have lowered inhibitions because there is no formal social interaction. Another theory is that communicating through a phone or other device feels like communicating with a 'toy,' which dehumanizes the conversation. Of course, a rude conversation has never happened on Slashdot in the last 15 years."
Why, it's the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory that explains it
Yes, you should be able to control your emotions, but that doesn't mean someone can't make you mad. You don't get to pick your feelings, you just have them.
When someone does manage to get under my skin that, the onus is now on me to figure out why. There'll always be lots of people who'll try to irritate me and therfore 'control' me, but only if I allow it.. Whether we know it or not, we are, with practice, fully capable of deciding if that person is going to decide our mood. If I react badly to each and every one that tries to 'rule' me, I'm gonna be an unhappy f@#k most of my life, not in my 'life plan'.
For me, I learned the trick to this is 1) Identifying the underlying cause for"why does this person piss me of so much?", then 2) Trying to put myself in that person's place. What made that person into the miserable @#%$ that they are?
Look, I'.m typing tired here, can't get my point across right. Even if you can't change the person, if you "understand" them, it goes a long way to help you realize why it's not that important what a poor angry fool thinks about you. Feel sorry for them. And I've heard that the key to happiness is... Forgive everybody everything. Across the board forgiveness. It's not really for them you do this, it's really for your peace of mind. Let that shit all go. Life is mostly little shit, and when you're 80 or 90 you can look back and see that easier.
Look, you're not gonna' get this overnight. Took me years to finally understand, others might 'get it' much quicker than me, I'm sure. It takes practice. Doing it over and over again. Some time down the road, it'll become 'second nature' for you. Do your best, that's all that's expected of us, that we're 'trying' to be a bit better than we were the day before. Peace to you, my friend. SF