In the article "Off a duck's back" that I wrote today I was talking about the personal attacks that are becoming more and more commonplace on the internet. I see these attacks as a weakness of argument or argumentative skills but many people seem to tune in and will even use the popcorn🍿 emoji to indicate they are settling into enjoy the show. If we look at it from a Steem perspective, there is even an automated account to bring in a popcorn gif.
When did the public popcornification start?
I am sure someone will have done a thesis on it by now but I figure it has its roots somewhere in the schadenfreude region, where we take pleasure in others misfortune. We enjoy watching the drama and spectacle unfold and seeing people breakdown and lose it as they succumb to various pressures.
Online, this is much easier to do from the safety of behind a screen and largely anonymous as the arguments unfurl through the conversation chains. It is a voyeuristic pleasure that many tune into, even of they don't have a position either way, they watch simply for entertainment purposes. Some however like to poke sticks into the discussion to rile it up a bit or t stick the boot in while one is down.
It is not an overly healthy approach to building a strong community or society as it rarely leads to anywhere improved but that is not the point of it is it, it is purely to watch a fight take place. The difference being that it isn't a fight of professionals who enter in knowing the terms, it is a street fight and often includes a great many blindsides.
No matter what one writes, it can almost always be construed in multiple ways or cherrypicked to give highly uncharitable perspectives to the words. These can then be cut and inflated beyond the proportion they deserve and meme-ified and spread widely. Online, this is very common and once the piece has been cut and spread, it loses all context and nuance making judgement and subsequent polarization of views easy, lazy.
And then the crowds pile on, masked identities throwing punches at people they don't even know and are judging based on the narrow view of a few sentences or less. In some way, the internet has taken average people with very low influence in their world, and empowered them to have a say in matters even if they have no background on the topic at hand. There is a wisdom in decentralized group decisions but, there is a stupidity in mob mentality.
Imagine watching two people on the street fighting, really going at it for a reason you do not really know as a crowd circles around them, some attempting to land blows if they have a chance. Do you take pleasure in that? Do you take pleasure seeing them bloody themselves, hurt each other? Do you like seeing the crowd enjoy the show? Do you have your popcorn bucket handy?
Now, imagine one of the people is someone you care about, your partner, your parent, your child and they are getting beaten senseless while the crowd cheers. You know their history, you know who they are, you know that even if they made a mistake, they are undeserving of such brutality.
How does that popcorn taste?
I am someone who thinks that people need to control their emotions and detach themselves from the physical reaction and triggering of words, especially from strangers online but, look at the world we have created. Look at the behaviors we exhibit when others are suffering and we facilitate it and condone it through inaction or pouring fuel on the fire.
Civil discourse is being lost in the public sphere because more and more fear being misrepresented and attacked for their views. Rather than open discussion of all ideas both good and bad, they sit to fester in the darkness until they find echo chambers of support and grow. There is no such thing as a stupid question but there are definitely some very stupid ideas. However, even bad ideas can be transformed into valuable additions if given opportunity to develop, but not if those who have ideas are continually attacked and ridiculed.
While we might enjoy the spectacle of the fight, the potential value of the argument is lost.
Popcorn is cheap pleasure, but leaves one thirsty.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]