Incivility by another name: O.D.E.

Here, I've been fortunate, blessed with commenters of uncommon intelligence. But elsewhere ...

"There you are, peacefully reading an article or watching a video on the Internet," writes the Times today in the amusing "Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt." "You finish, find it thought-provoking, and scroll down to the comments section to see what other people thought. And there, lurking among dozens of well-intentioned opinions, is a troll....

"Trolling, defined as the act of posting inflammatory, derogatory or provocative messages in public forums, is a problem as old as the Internet itself....

"Psychological research has proven again and again that anonymity increases unethical behavior. Road rage bubbles up in the relative anonymity of one’s car. And in the online world, which can offer total anonymity, the effect is even more pronounced. People -- even ordinary, good people -- often change their behavior in radical ways. There’s even a term for it: the online disinhibition effect.

"Many forums and online communities are looking for ways to strike back."

Really? Should "trolling" ever become an issue here, I've the perfect and apparently too-obvious(?) too-simple(?) solution: I'll just close the comments section. 

I once wrote for a progressive Web site infested with hardcore specimens of this retrogressive, Darwin-unvisited species. I never understood the merit of tolerating them. They not only added nothing to the discourse, they routinely, almost universally failed to even comprehend the theme of the article they were commenting on -- oblivious comments drenched mostly in ad hominems.

Within a few weeks I stopped reading them altogether, as I imagine most evolution-blessed readers did.

But largely my abstinence came from the unbearable realization that so many "progressive" commenters harbor disturbed personalities indistinguishable from those of right-wing Beckian types. In my opinion, the underlying cause? Ideology. Left or right it makes little difference; it warps the mind, lessens the intellect, and degrades the vital virtue of, simply, thinking for oneself.

Comments

[Tennessee Catfish :-)]

Why did we ever embrace the of nom de plumes on the net. I have because it seems to be the modus operandi of the culture. I am considering using my real name on all posts everywhere in the future. I suppose I need to run it by my daughter and other net savvy friends first. It is kind of odd that I even think it is an issue.

[Marc McKenzie]

@Tennessee Catfish: I've used my real name for the past couple of years simply because, well, I'm sick of the stupid names most of these trolls use (or most people use, for that manner). Using my own name also requires me to make damned sure that whatever I write represents an _informed_ opinion, not an endless stream of blather.

Granted, most people feel that they can spew whatever nonsense they want on the Web due to anonymity...

But I agree with PM about the twisted nature of ideology--he pretty much nailed it.

[Robert Lipscomb, aka Catfish]

Mark, you are right.