Comments: The Radioactive Waste of the Web

Ironically, this is the kind of article I would write if I wanted to troll the internet for a bunch of comments. And judging by the number of comments on that page, It seems like Mic Wright has won the troll of the year award...

;)
 
bucket said:
"Toxic waste" of honesty, that is. People will normally put up with all manner of bullshit in real life, it's only when they are free from these social constraints and safely within the pseudo-anonymity of the intramanets do they finally start voicing their true opinions and beliefs.
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Yup. My thoughts exactly. Counter-Strike was highly evident of this. IRC as well.

verteron said:
He does make a good point about people not spending time to have a thorough debate.

What is a debate for? Do you want to change someone's mind? Do you want to beat them up? Do you want to understand why their opinion differs from yours? Most don't know, they just do. And with ever increasing options to communicate, the quality continues to slide.

You cannot argue opinions and hope to accomplish anything. If you lack the desire to hang around and find out the facts behind the opinions, then compare and debate those facts, then you may as well STFU! :D
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Exactly, there are few bigger wastes of time than arguing about something obviously subjective.


Ashbringer said:
For me the comments are 10x better then the article. Majority of the comments are crap, but you gems every so often. Anything from being insightful to links to more interesting articles.
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This is the only reason I still instinctively click on the comments button on H's frontpage articles. I know it'll be nonsense and ego driven stupidity. But there is that chance you find a really good post or actually funny anecdote that makes it worth it.

Ashbringer said:
Try visiting the Best Page In The Universe and you'll want to either totally agree with him, or fire off an angry Email at him.
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I just lost 20 minutes of productivity after seeing this link. I almost forgot how I got there till I started closing tabs. Haha, Thanks, this post has justified me clicking the comments link.
 
Mic is correct. How many threads on this forum and others just turn into arguments by the same people about the same things and nobody ever budges, any attempt at intelligent dialogue is lost, the topic gets locked, and maybe someone gets banned? It's not a problem that the internet lets everyone have a voice. The problem is that too many people see that as license to be rude, and they will always feel perfectly justified in being that way. It will always be "your fault" no matter what you say or do, and unless moderators are attentive they tend to get their way too often. When someone does point out their bad behavior they start crying about censorship and their right to "free speech", etc. They never, ever admit any wrongdoing. I've seen every form of it, and it's pathological in the worst offenders.

I would say the only thing that prevents people from being rude like this in the real world is fear of consequence. Robert E. Howard put it right when he compared civilization to primitive cultures: "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split". The internet simply magnifies this tenfold.
 
The internet is where a person can get support for their misguided beliefs by seeking out and obtaining consensus with people who share their similarly misguided beliefs. That frees them up to adopt new misguided beliefs at a faster rate.
 
Well, the internet just helped to validate the famous quote from Albert Einstein, "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity ... and I'm not sure about the universe." :D
 
verteron said:
He does make a good point about people not spending time to have a thorough debate.

What is a debate for? Do you want to change someone's mind? Do you want to beat them up? Do you want to understand why their opinion differs from yours? Most don't know, they just do. And with ever increasing options to communicate, the quality continues to slide.

How many celebrities now have checked into clinics for depression or attempted suicide because of evil comments from Twitter? That's why I do not participate, and why I closed my FB account. I do not care about "nobody." And that's what all this social chat is geared towards. I care about friends and family, that's it. I only chime in here due to some common interests with others on here, so you guys are "acquaintances."

You cannot argue opinions and hope to accomplish anything. If you lack the desire to hang around and find out the facts behind the opinions, then compare and debate those facts, then you may as well STFU! :D
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Hmm... I have to agree. And I can't really add anything. :)
 
verteron said:
How many celebrities now have checked into clinics for depression or attempted suicide because of evil comments from Twitter?
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Can't tell if serious or...

And anyone that kills themself because of a comment posted on Twitter has done the world a great service by cleansing the gene pool and allowing our limited resources to be consumed by better people.
 
JoeUser said:
I think this is the true problem.

People need to be more vocal about their ideas and views. Talking more and being open to learning a thing or two and getting a different viewpoints can really help you in life.

People have a tendency to keep things like religion, politics, world views, etc inside and not let people know.

Me personally? I am who I am both online and off...got to keep it real!
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Yes you are Joe. I know you and that's a fact! Oh yeah, I totally agree! :D
 
BTW, how do people "attempt suicide". Save for very rare fluke circumstances (jump off a building and land on a truck loaded with down feathers and memory foam pillows), its really not that difficult to kill yourself. And if you can't even do that right, no wonder you are depressed because you really truly are a failure at everything.

But isn't that the beauty of the internet, that you can actually say what you are thinking quasi-anonymously?

After all, where else can you ACTUALLY say what you mean?
1) At home? No way, piss off your spouse and you'll sleep alone.
2) At work? Fat chance, you can get fired here just for talking about politics or religion (both are strictly banned).
3) At a bar/restaurant with friends? Pffft, in a public setting you can be overheard and have your food spat in, car keyed by disapproving guy couple chairs down or table behind you, or even outright punched in the face.

So internet comments provide more than just entertainment, they are a release valve for modern society, and in some cases one of the few less censored channels of communication.
 
Ducman69 said:
Can't tell if serious or...

And anyone that kills themself because of a comment posted on Twitter has done the world a great service by cleansing the gene pool and allowing our limited resources to be consumed by better people.
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I cannot find the original Fox article, but here is a piece of it:
http://www.x17online.com/celebrities/leann_rimes/leann_rimes_files_lawsuit_two_woman_invasion_of_privacy_083112.php

This is about Leann Rimes being bullied by a mother-daughter pair quite vindictively. There was also an Australian woman that was speaking out in support of another well-known actress/singer who went to the hospital, but I forget who it was now. I don't follow the celebrities, I just noted the callousness of people using Twitter.

Here is the twitter feed in question, people telling her to kill herself:
http://twitter.com/MsCharlotteD

Everyone needs some approval, just some more than others. Celebrities are always out there, they can't really hide, especially on Twitter. Most people have no idea that a constant barrage of hate can really get to you, but I have a similar experience. One day everyone was asking me if I was alright, as if I looked sick or something. After about the 6 or 8th time, I actually did start to feel bad.
 
Ducman69 said:
And anyone that kills themself because of a comment posted on Twitter has done the world a great service by cleansing the gene pool and allowing our limited resources to be consumed by better people.
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I hope this is a sarcastic troll post. If it's not, then you're one sick individual.
 
Phoenix333 said:
I hope this is a sarcastic troll post. If it's not, then you're one sick individual.
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And I can't tell if this is a sarcastic troll post. If it's not, then you're one bleeding heart liberal. <-- see what I did there :)

Though I would tend to agree with Ducman. If you are a celebrity and fricking Twitter makes you commit suicide, then oh well. Darwin: 1 | Suicided Victim: 0
 
XamediX said:
And I can't tell if this is a sarcastic troll post. If it's not, then you're one bleeding heart liberal. <-- see what I did there :)
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Thinking it's sick that someone wishes death on someone somehow does not equate me with a particular political ideology. If you would like to know what I think about politics just ask me.

Though I would tend to agree with Ducman. If you are a celebrity and fricking Twitter makes you commit suicide, then oh well. Darwin: 1 | Suicided Victim: 0
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I don't know the circumstances in this particular case, so I'll use a broad brush to paint this picture. Imagine this was not just some random celebrity, but your mother, or sister, or wife, daughter, or best friend. Now imagine they are suffering clinical depression and commit suicide because something pushed them over the edge. You would not be so quick to say "Yay Darwin!" then.

But why should I waste my words on the heartless? Tragedy will visit your life in its own time, and then you'll see the truth of it. Enjoy your callousness while you can. It's a luxury that I can no longer afford.
 
bucket said:
"Toxic waste" of honesty, that is. People will normally put up with all manner of bullshit in real life, it's only when they are free from these social constraints and safely within the pseudo-anonymity of the intramanets do they finally start voicing their true opinions and beliefs.
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Umm....more like they fling more B.S. back and forth with Trolls, because they can say anything online without repercussions because no-one reading it knows who they really are.

For the most part, I see more B.S. Troll posts, arguments over stuff because of miss-spelling words, and other crap than any real discussion.
 
Well first I will assume that the concept of double standards exists in your reality, Phoenix333. With that assumption, then obviously I would be more upset if it was someone I cared about. But I'd be upset that they just didn't have what it takes to live life. I would probably need the normal amount of grieving time to accept that fact and move on with my life.

So don't misconstrue my usage of the Darwin philosophy as something I'm cheering about. It's sad, but as a species we need the best to evolve.
 
Phoenix333 said:
I hope this is a sarcastic troll post. If it's not, then you're one sick individual.
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Why? Why should the species cater to members of its kind that are SO weak that they will kill themselves over hurt feelings? How is that in the best interest of survival of the fittest?
 
Monkey God said:
Why? Why should the species cater to members of its kind that are SO weak that they will kill themselves over hurt feelings? How is that in the best interest of survival of the fittest?
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One assumes that you are illustrating the toxic nature of comments through sarcasm ;) ... Darwinism or survival of the fittest is a theory to explain how animals react to their environment not necessarily how they react to each other ... Man as the most advanced species on the planet is currently outside the effects of evolution (except for some minor atrophying of the little toe and appendix and wisdom teeth) ... until we move into new environments or our environment undergoes a change so dramatic that it forces us to evolve we don't need to worry about the effects of Natural Selection ... and Artificial Selection might just make us stronger, not weaker :cool:
 
XamediX said:
Well first I will assume that the concept of double standards exists in your reality, Phoenix333. With that assumption, then obviously I would be more upset if it was someone I cared about. But I'd be upset that they just didn't have what it takes to live life. I would probably need the normal amount of grieving time to accept that fact and move on with my life.
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It's not so much double-standards as it is putting one's self in someone else's moccasins, so to speak. Compassion and empathy are supposed to be virtues of a civil society. They seem to be in decline as a rule.

So don't misconstrue my usage of the Darwin philosophy as something I'm cheering about. It's sad, but as a species we need the best to evolve.[/QUOTE]
Needing the best does not justify eliminating those who cannot live up to someone else's predetermined standards . Liberty dies when society starts deciding who does and does not deserve to live outside of extreme cases of criminal misconduct. If man lives according to Darwin, then man becomes less than an animal for man has the capacity to rise above Darwin, and to do otherwise is to squander man's unique traits. If evolution be true, it does not move backwards, so even by invoking Darwin, man should seek to overcome Darwin. If man is, as religion says, created in the image of God, then man has a duty to act better than a simple animal whose only duty is in trying to survive as both an individual and a species. Either way, man must do better than Darwin, or man has doomed himself to the eventual and inevitable outcome of Darwinian evolution for all species: Extinction.

Monkey God said:
Why? Why should the species cater to members of its kind that are SO weak that they will kill themselves over hurt feelings? How is that in the best interest of survival of the fittest?
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Who says only the fit should survive when more than just the fit can survive? Who measures fitness in a civilization? The rules of nature don't apply in a world with artificial rules and laws. The law of the jungle is for the jungle.
 
Phoenix, I see you have missed my point twice in a row. We'll just have to agree to disagree. :)
 
Compassion and civility are artificial human constructs that have jack shit to do with species viability. People love to embrace Darwin and evolution when it comes to explain how we got here, but refuse to accept the negative aspects of such a philosophy when we apply it to the future and where we are going as a species.
 
XamediX said:
Phoenix, I see you have missed my point twice in a row. We'll just have to agree to disagree. :)
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Even a weak willed person might come up with the cure for cancer. Who is to say contributions are invalidated by the sad decision to take ones own life?
 
Monkey God said:
Compassion and civility are artificial human constructs that have jack shit to do with species viability. People love to embrace Darwin and evolution when it comes to explain how we got here, but refuse to accept the negative aspects of such a philosophy when we apply it to the future and where we are going as a species.
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Again this assumes that species viability is strictly a function of physical functionality ... humans survive through the use of our brains ... we aren't stronger or faster than other species but we can build machines that are ... we aren't the most resiliant species on the planet but we can modify our environment to suit our needs rather than adjust to the environment (like a less advanced animal would) ... Social Darwinism is a concept even Darwin would have disliked (I think) ... Darwinian evolution is a tool to look back and understand how we got where we are from the less advanced state to the more advanced state ... it is not a tool to predict the future since we already have the ability to engage in Unnatural Selection ... we no longer need to follow the external rules of Natural Selection :cool:
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Even a weak willed person might come up with the cure for cancer. Who is to say contributions are invalidated by the sad decision to take ones own life?
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Nice strawman, but I never said anything about what you are talking about.
 
"Ghostery blocked the Disqus comment form."

That's right.. good Ghostery. Protect me from the "toxic waste". :D
 
Monkey God said:
Compassion and civility are artificial human constructs that have jack shit to do with species viability. People love to embrace Darwin and evolution when it comes to explain how we got here, but refuse to accept the negative aspects of such a philosophy when we apply it to the future and where we are going as a species.
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Idiocracy, love that movie! :D
 
XamediX said:
Phoenix, I see you have missed my point twice in a row. We'll just have to agree to disagree. :)
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It was not my intention to miss your point, though I can accept a peaceful difference of opinion.

Monkey God said:
Compassion and civility are artificial human constructs that have jack shit to do with species viability. People love to embrace Darwin and evolution when it comes to explain how we got here, but refuse to accept the negative aspects of such a philosophy when we apply it to the future and where we are going as a species.
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Since when did scientific theory become philosophy? The scientific method has no room for philosophy. On the other hand, philosophy is not obligated to operate according to the scientific method. If, however, you're content with reducing the human species to the status of mere animals and that's what you consider to be your philosophy then, by your own standards, all arguments for human superiority or greatness are rendered moot. Your species and its technological advancements is a singular anomaly of evolution. In fact, if you like movie quotes here's one that would apply quite well here.

I'd like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realised that humans are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every resource is consumed. The only way for you to survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern... a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet, you are a plague.

If you're content seeing life in this way that is your choice. I choose to believe that there's more to life than just a brute struggle for survival, and I've seen enough evidence in my own rather lengthy time on this world to confirm my own observations. Believe what you like, but I'd advise against trying to force those Darwinian principles on anyone. Living organisms tend to react badly to people trying to decide for them that they should no longer be allowed to live, and you might just end up on the wrong side of Darwin's equations yourself.
 
Phoenix333 said:
...the wrong side of Darwin's equations yourself.
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I hate being after the equals sign in most equations because if someone poked the wrong button on their calculator, then you're probably not even supposed to be there in the first place. :(

Well, I guess any equation starting as "yummy snacks + hot chocolate" really should end in "= SkribbelKat" but still, I'd hate to be in "old pizza + opera singer = SkribbelKat" :( That would be so lame and completely not true.
 
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