This is a shot I took from the cafe I am sitting at and I think that the largest out of focus one looks like a cat's eye staring back from the screen. I used to not use phone photos very often, but since I got a new phone with a decent camera, I have let more slip into my posts, but not too many, as I still have that constant voice of, "I could do better if..." in the back of my head, like a devil on my shoulder, my conscience.
I sometimes wonder whether people have some sense of conscience in regards to their online behavior, or if digital behavior (especially the anonymous) has meant that the moral compass of right and wrong has been too far removed from consequences of action. In some way, the internet is like a mob mentality where everyone is wearing a mask, in a culture where looting and violence is socially acceptable.
Perhaps because of the disengagement of action from repercussion, the need for self-reflection has also been removed as there is no longer the "slap on the face" for inappropriateness that life would deliver when there is physical proximity to each other. That screen between interaction has likely saved a lot of broken noses, but it has also potentially lessened the degree that we need to think of the reactions of others. Instead, we are encouraged to lose control emotionally no matter the damage we may do, or whether our emotional reaction is justified or at an intensity that matches the circumstances.
The internet is like the extremes of roadrage, where people are killed because they cut someone off on the highway - the punishment doesn't fit the crime. It seems for a little bit of fun and relevance, people are willing to take part in destroying someone's career or life, because they don't like what they are wearing. I remember reading stories of shootings in ghettos because someone looked at another person wrongly, or was wearing the wrong colors - Is the internet a ghetto?
Well, perhaps not in the same physical sense, but the global online community acts very much like a very large city with all kinds of people, who spend their time worrying about things according to their background. Yesterday I was looking at Hive personas and was wondering what it would be like to look at the typical demographics of the internet in general, based on content. For example - What is the general income level (localized) of someone who reads investment content - High, medium or low?
Of course, all of this data is collected, sorted and used for targeting, but from a social discussion point of view, I am a pretty strong believer in the "we are what we eat" approach to life, and I think that a lot of us are conditioned to enjoy eating shit, as if it has nutritional value for our lives. It is up to each of us as to what we eat, at least as adults, but our childhood has a heavy influence on what we are likely to put in our mouths, with many of us primed to lean one way or another, making changing predilections difficult, as we have held the preference for so long it feels natural to satisfy it.
Like food, I think there is a generalized "anything in moderation is okay" when it comes to information, as there is no information that is likely to cause an immediate shift in habit. But, keep eating from the same sources or kinds of content and it will start to affect thoughts, attitudes, processes and actions so that our habits change and depending on our starting point, the rate of change can be highly variable. Conditions affect our emotional valence, making us more or less susceptible to influence.
It seems that the internet has managed to lower the emotional barriers to outrage, while increasing the barrier to being charitable toward others. We don't care if someone is just having an off day, we are ready to tear them apart at the slightest slip-up. We of course expect other people to give us the benefit of the doubt when we are not in form ourselves - and feel victimized when they don't.
But, this is the world we have created and if it is ever going to improve, it is going to take time for a paradigm shift at a social level, but that takes us to make a shift at the personal level first. After all, we can only affect what we can influence and the place to start is with our own behaviors. I wonder how many people think about their own moral or ethical position these days - or is it something that is just no longer considered in this world where "right and wrong" doesn't matter, as no one has to commit themselves and there is no consequence of a lot of the behavior we partake in.
I wonder what it would take me to loot a store and steal a television and I wonder what I would feel about it after it was done, as I would assume I would have to be very emotionally charged or desperate. Once the emotion fades, would I still be able to justify my behavior? Does the roadrage perpetrator regret killing a person for not indicating across lanes, or do they continue to maintain that the person deserved it, that the response in action was justifiable, even in reflection?
Some acts can't be taken back, but we still have to live with the consequences.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]