I do disagree on that! The internet is a self-selecting group, and I’m gonna blame Meta, Alphabet, et all for creating algorithms that reward asshole behavior and caused an over-representation of assholes online.
Furthermore, I believe that non-assholes have the capacity to temporarily act like assholes when exposed to stress. Everybody can have a bad day, but that a few isolated incidents of assholery doesn’t make you an asshole.
Good point. Social media has done a lot of damage to the human psyche, both on the individual level and the societal. I wish people and governments could recognize this for what it is: tech companies altering the course of human evolution; and take proactive regulatory steps accordingly. But that’s clearly not going to happen any time soon. There might have been a time when it could have been done, but that ship has sailed.
Also yeah, you raise a good point that transient behaviors don’t necessarily define one’s personality. Moods are ephemeral and effect behavior, and just cause a person has an off day every now and then doesn’t make them an inherently bad person. I wish more people could recognize that, while also not losing sight of the harmful nature of people who are consistently jerks. That level of nuance doesn’t exist in the era of viral ragebait and reactionary sensationalism, however. Sad to see it so…
Unfortunately, I think non-assholes are the deviation…
The mean, median, and mode are all squarely within “asshole” range…
I do disagree on that! The internet is a self-selecting group, and I’m gonna blame Meta, Alphabet, et all for creating algorithms that reward asshole behavior and caused an over-representation of assholes online.
Furthermore, I believe that non-assholes have the capacity to temporarily act like assholes when exposed to stress. Everybody can have a bad day, but that a few isolated incidents of assholery doesn’t make you an asshole.
Good point. Social media has done a lot of damage to the human psyche, both on the individual level and the societal. I wish people and governments could recognize this for what it is: tech companies altering the course of human evolution; and take proactive regulatory steps accordingly. But that’s clearly not going to happen any time soon. There might have been a time when it could have been done, but that ship has sailed.
Also yeah, you raise a good point that transient behaviors don’t necessarily define one’s personality. Moods are ephemeral and effect behavior, and just cause a person has an off day every now and then doesn’t make them an inherently bad person. I wish more people could recognize that, while also not losing sight of the harmful nature of people who are consistently jerks. That level of nuance doesn’t exist in the era of viral ragebait and reactionary sensationalism, however. Sad to see it so…