A Flow of Thought, The Internet Problem

Got to love when people say they just want to express their side and are "not arguing" then they use a tone that is one of anger. They then get pissy if you actually respond with more of your side of the discussion. Then in your mind, you are a bad person. LOL The ability to just disagree is no longer an option it seems. Most people want what they think to be the only line of thinking. If you stand for something they see as "wrong" then they get all pissy.

The reality of my online social interactions is wide ranging and many of my friends do not agree with all I have to say. They say their side of things and that is that. No one gets angry and we can still have a lot of fun together. This is why they are my friends. They have respect for others and don't just demand it for themselves.

How many times have I seen someone literally flip out over a small detail online? The number is a big one. The simple fact that someone else differs from them in some way seems to make a lot of people angry. But this is not the reality of society. Most people actually want to get along and be happy. But online the ones who are on the most and crave the attention and affection of others tend to be, for the most part, radical in their thinking.

Society has lasted and developed to the stage it is in now, because we have different ways of seeing the world. People think different, sometimes this divergence is very profound. It is in that divergence that we find growth. If we all have the same thoughts and the same way of doing things, nothing would chance. We would stay in place.

The idea that we are becoming more isolated from others in day to day life and that we seek online relationships instead - is to say the least frightening to me. The survival of mankind may at some point depend on the ability to interact once again. In that time if we have lost the ability to do so, we are doomed. In a disaster the ability to come together for a common goal is paramount. The people who isolate can no longer do this. They shun society and are unable to work with others.

Each year more and more people are doing just that - isolating. We have a generation growing up now that would rather communicate to a person in the room on their phone than to speak to them. This is why jobs where people need to communicate are getting harder to staff and keep staffed. For the most part, these isolated people tend to be offended very easy and do not tend to get over it. Instead they will take what others pass off instantly to their grave and never let go of it.

Out toys that we think make life more worthwhile have instead turned us into a society of non-thinkers who over react to most things. We are divided now more than we were a hundred years ago. The standards of hate are different, but the expression is the same.

Furthermore, our online world has made it possible for the small number of radicals that would destroy all around them to organize. They find protests to gather at and cause problems. They group together in flash mobs and do damage to property. In some cases, they even descend on a store and rob it blind. They bully and harass the weak and the vulnerable in order to have “fun”. There are sites that are rallying points the angry and disaffected minds lost to the internet. They share information and photos and videos in order to make the lives of others a living hell. The isolation of our youth in this age of the internet, has also caused a rise in the emotional reaction to such things. In my youth if someone was acting in this manner, we passed it off for the most part as them being from a “bad family”. Now the reaction is one of utter devastation and sorrow. They go into a depression and need outside help.

It’s a double edged sword that cuts both ways. It enriches our lives with entertainment and instant access to information and also causes pain and suffering. Something needs to change.

Well that is it for this flow of thought. I have rambled on long enough. Have a great day all and go outside for a while. Peace – Dave.