I just shake my head....

Mountains

On another totally unrelated "discussion" (aka: argument) forum I read, people had started going at one another in typical internet fashion simply because opinions about a certain topic were divergent. The upshot is, your opinion is different from mine, and I think yours is juvenile, so you need to just get over it and grow up (virtually in so many words).

So when I posted something to the effect that nobody's opinion is any less valuable than anyone else's, and that it's not about being "right" but rather about respecting one anothers' opinions.... yes, you guessed it... I got arguments. It's so utterly ridiculous I can't even read any more of it. It saddens me that there are SO many people out there who would rather be right than anything on earth. If they're not 100% in the right, then they must cease to exist (or so you'd think, given the way they act).

I know this is nothing new, but it dismays me when I simply try to inject a tiny modicum of civility and get spat on in return. Makes me just want to retreat to my little house in the woods and be a hermit some days...

person

Makes me just want to retreat to my little house in the woods and be a hermit some days...

Have you got a spare room?

Mountains

AMH

I hear ya, I have had to work to leave certain discussions on other forums because I just couldn't see anything reasonable working out.

Meanwhile we had our second thanksgiving at our friends who are vegan mormons. There was another Mormon family with 3 boys and the grandma we affectionately call 'Star Mom' for her new agey-ness. I walked into the kids table area and between discussions of how Avenged Sevenfold may suck but Rammstein is good they also discussed religion. 4 Mormon teens and my athiest son. they were so respectfual about it and one even said she was happy that no one got upset.

It is embarrassing that kids 13-17 can do this and adults cannot even be reminded and get it resolved.

ThailandTom

One word, 'ego'. That is what it boils down to isn't it, and forums can breed pretty huge egos, even buddhist forums..

Mountains

:om:

federica

In a recent public poll the one thing most people were irritated by - more than anything else - was the current trend for an almost complete social absence of manners.
I don't know if it was in the Devil's Dictionary, but I remember 'courtesy' being defined as;
"A form of polite behaviour practised by civilised people when they can be bothered to find the time."

People obviously feel that the time warranted to be courteous, is a sufficient infringement on their day.....

Floating_Abu

I know this is nothing new, but it dismays me when I simply try to inject a tiny modicum of civility and get spat on in return. Makes me just want to retreat to my little house in the woods and be a hermit some days...

Hi @Mountains

One of the things you and I already probably know is we cannot control or even necessarily influence how other people think, act and choose their lives.

What we can do is have domain over ours, including our own expectations and choices we make within the lives we found ourselves in.

Also, don't underestimate the positive influences you have as well the waves of web are unknowable to us but it does not mean that your words and presence don't change something.

Many thanks for your presence and courteousness

Abu

Dakini

I think the rudeness and hostility that can be found on internet forums has much more to do with the anonymity involved than with a general societal shift toward the absence of manners. Studies have concluded that the anonymity of the internet tends to give people permission (in their minds) to cut loose and allow abusive "speech". And along with that seems to go unbridled ego. Is this the same site you've complained about before, Mts.? Why do you keep returning for more punishment? I flee from forums like that, and I'm surprised how many are like that.

theotherlara

I think the rudeness and hostility that can be found on internet forums has much more to do with the anonymity involved than with a general societal shift toward the absence of manners. Studies have concluded that the anonymity of the internet tends to give people permission (in their minds) to cut loose and allow abusive "speech". And along with that seems to go unbridled ego.

Isn't that the truth...It bleeds into face to face interaction as well it seems, not just via the internet. But then, every once in a while, I see very courteous and chivalrous behavior that renews belief in good manners.

But admittedly, I am a bit of a hermit myself.

MindGate

I think the rudeness and hostility that can be found on internet forums has much more to do with the anonymity involved than with a general societal shift toward the absence of manners. Studies have concluded that the anonymity of the internet tends to give people permission (in their minds) to cut loose and allow abusive "speech". And along with that seems to go unbridled ego. Is this the same site you've complained about before, Mts.? Why do you keep returning for more punishment? I flee from forums like that, and I'm surprised how many are like that.

I'm a jerk IRL too.

Hubris

I think the rudeness and hostility that can be found on internet forums has much more to do with the anonymity involved than with a general societal shift toward the absence of manners. Studies have concluded that the anonymity of the internet tends to give people permission (in their minds) to cut loose and allow abusive "speech". And along with that seems to go unbridled ego. Is this the same site you've complained about before, Mts.? Why do you keep returning for more punishment? I flee from forums like that, and I'm surprised how many are like that.

I'm a jerk IRL too.

@MindGate, I do not think you are a jerk so much as too smart for your own good sometimes. I think you are likely bored and impatient with people who are not up to your intellect. They may think you a know-it-all.

Had you not stated your age in previous threads I would have thought you to be older, because you are well-read, inquisitive, and do your homework so to speak.

So, I would not be so hard on yourself.

compassionate_warrior

@MindGate, I do not think you are a jerk so much as too smart for your own good sometimes. I think you are likely bored and impatient with people who are not up to your intellect. They may think you a know-it-all.

Had you not stated your age in previous threads I would have thought you to be older, because you are well-read, inquisitive, and do your homework so to speak.

So, I would not be so hard on yourself.

Right on the money, Hube! So right on! Although I don't think anyone can be "too smart for their own good". But they can be too smart for the environment they're stuck in. So they need to seek out more stimulating environments and smart friends and mentors.