The Chaotic World of Random Statements Without Context
Please don’t feed the trolls!
The fine art of ”trolling” seems to be alive and well, and reaching a fever-pitch, following the recent US mid-term elections.
The preferred strategy of trolls seems to be the act of posting a random (often real, in isolation) comment or quote, taken completely out of context, and usually with no heading or explanation whatsoever.
A bit like tossing a can of gasoline into a campfire surrounded by campers peacefully enjoying ghost stories… ”just to see what happens.”
I guess what I find somewhat alarming about the whole thing is the substantial portion of the general population that is (a) completely unable to emotionally self-regulate and (b) incapable of engaging in even a few seconds of critical thinking and research.
Which was — to many people’s way of thinking — likely an ”incendiary” statement to throw out there in its own right, because it casts shade on people’s ability to actually think.
Of course, many people — I have come to realize — don’t want to think, they just want to react. I guess it feeds their need to get constant dopamine hits.
What’s more, it often feels like they value strife and chaos above peace and harmony.
The sad thing about it — and perhaps I am "showing my age" now — is that we seem to be actively creating a world in which many aspects of the basic human experience have become reasons for someone to have a meltdown.
Relevance?
Making the bold assumptions that trolls would be less inclined to troll of they really didn't ever get any "bites" on what they put out there.
Perhaps we're also getting "dumber," as a species. Not in terms of our capacity to learn and understand things, but in terms of the reality that these days we can just "look it up" rather than develop any kind of wisdom from direct experience.
Something gets lost, in there. Not sure exactly where. But it does mean that the people coming upon the trollish statements don't necessarily veryfy anything... they just join the chorus of outraged voices.
Somehow, I can't help but feel like the apparent loss of civility represents a loss for all of us.
And that's a pretty sad tale.
Feel free to leave a comment — this IS "social" media, after all!
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I heard it's the first time the species generation are dumber than the last generation :/
We're definitely getting dumber, but I think it's primarily a reduction in the quality of education. A harsh (and politically sensitive) additional factor might be that improving medical technology means that those who are genetically disadvantaged or whose stupidity in past eras would have got them killed now live long enough to contribute to the gene pool.
But I think there is a huge difference between simple rage-baiting and actual trolling. True trolling is an incredible art form. I think Pavel Durov's X post today would definitely qualify, whatever you think of the guy his post was genius and complex on several different levels. 😁
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I think the lack of consequences to being an a-hole has lead to people way worse online than they maybe in person. And by consequence I don't just mean if folks are crappy enough in person someone hits you, I mean seeing other people's real reaction and how they're effected. It's so much easier to be cruel to a bunch of pixels vs a person right in front of you.
I also think the amount of people offload even coming up with basic opinions to AI is hurting folks abilities to think as well.
And lastly, a lot of people prefer being angry over accepting other emotions. And I say that as someone who is sometimes one of those people picking fights with people who are wrong on the internet instead of dealing with my own emotions.
Working in schools right now is so weird because I'll be in a grade 5 class and students are able to write small essays and then in highschools and folks are struggling to write coherent sentences. I think the job market is gonna be brutal for part of the current generation in school.