Why does everyone hate?

[r4ndom]

Hate. We all know that familiar feeling, as it wraps it's hot, clammy hand around your brain and squeezes out all the sensible-juice, leaving just bile and spitting rage behind.

But why bring this particular feeling to the forums? In my opinion, it all comes down to our oh-so-human ability to be lazy. When a conflict, or a question regarding personal opinion is presented to us, the brain could go one of two ways. The first (and most commonly used) route is our old friend, Anger. This route means that you truly unleash any anger, or hatred you may feel (some of which might not even pertain to the problem at hand), meaning that whilst you may feel better for having vented, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's the right (or clever) thing to do, and whilst it may make you feel good about yourself for having told some total stranger that his favourite band sucks, it only succeeds in making you look silly for having reacted in such a visceral fashion. The second way, is reason. Reason is what seperates us from any other species on this earth, as it is a tricky combination of calmly considering all relative points and making a decision based upon a combination of those points, and personal preference.

Nowhere is reason used less than the internet.

Anger is so much more easily accessed than reason, and especially in the world of forums, where objectivity is as rare as giraffe eggs and hatred comes to the forefront to show us truly how ugly (and stupid) humans can be. To ask someone an opinion of the latest game/album/car/haircut/etc is an invitation to the nigh-on 90% of the internet community that have the laziest brains to turn up and wax idiotic. I am aware that that might be an overstatement, but to all those people out there that try to speak objectively, no matter whether they enjoy or deride the subject matter, it certainly feels like more than 90%. Of course I understand that total objectivity is tough, because from the day we are born, we are indoctrinated in hundreds of ways, from something as simple as right and wrong, or the standard of 'beauty' that society feels is acceptable. This makes total objectivity impossible. But there be hope.

As the old saying goes "Arguing on the internet is like...." (I don't care to finish it), but one could argue that ANY argument that uses the internet as it's forum has no winner. BUT...

If you can sit back when hate grips your brain, and apply reason, and objectivity, you've pretty much won.

*Rant sponsored by... nobody*

EDIT : Please feel free to offer supportive/dissenting opinions...

EDIT 2 : I am not abhorring the feeling of hate, or saying we shouldn't hate things, rather the way in which people use it (in regards to the internet)

 

[Gxas]

There isn't all too much of that here. I mean, sure, it happens, just not as much as on other forums.

 

[curlycrouton]

Hate is caused by laziness.....
I actually like that analysis, very well thought through.

Have a cookie.

 

[r4ndom]

There isn't all too much of that here. I mean, sure, it happens, just not as much as on other forums.

Yeah i'm aware that this is one of the better forums, just thought i'd put my opinions out there, see if anyone agreed.

 

[AceDiamond]

Hate is caused by anger which is caused by fear.

And believe me, humanity seems to have fear in massive quantities more than anything else these days.

Add that to the anonyminity of the Internet and...well there you go.

 

[improbable]

This is the internet. It's a place for bespectacled, neckbearded basement-dwellers to get together and dissent, not for soft-skinned drama queens to seek validation in the form of agreement. If it weren't for argument, the internet would really be filled with only porn, and it's just not as funny when you phrase your half of the argument in carefully reasoned statements that would probably get the teacher overseeing your high school debate club to smile and nod approvingly, cementing your position as biggest ponce in the school. (Is this how debate clubs actually work? Will need to research before publication.)

 

[r4ndom]

This is the internet. It's a place for bespectacled, neckbearded basement-dwellers to get together and dissent, not for soft-skinned drama queens to seek validation in the form of agreement. If it weren't for argument, the internet would really be filled with only porn, and it's just not as funny when you phrase your half of the argument in carefully reasoned statements that would probably get the teacher overseeing your high school debate club to smile and nod approvingly, cementing your position as biggest ponce in the school. (Is this how debate clubs actually work? Will need to research before publication.)

Congratulations, you are in the 90%. And to consider the fact that I used carefully reasoned statements a bad thing proves just how knee-jerk and cynical the internet is.

 

[Sombra Negra]

Hating people is more fun than loving them and accepting their opinions. Knowing that you beat that foo' DOWN over a totally worthless issue gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[Saskwach]

Hate is caused by anger which is caused by fear.

Which leads to suffering! I sense much fear in you...

 

[runtheplacered]

Do people really think there's more hate and less reason on the internet then in reality? If so, I'd say we need to step back from our computers and look at the people around us. There's plenty of hate out there. A lot of people may keep their hate inside of them due to their introverted nature, but there's hate in their actions nonetheless. I see it at work, I see it when my girlfriend is behind the wheel (ok I'll admit, or when I'm behind the wheel.), I see it in long lines or at school. I see it everywhere. Hate is not exclusive to the internet.

Nor do I think it's some weird jedi line of thought that hate stems from anger and anger stems from fear. That sounds great, but I think it's much simpler then that. It's a part of human nature, or rather, a part of our natural defense mechanism. We're constantly stereotyping, judging, and analyzing everyone we meet. If someone rubs us the wrong way, we begin trying to find reasons to justify that said rub.

I don't even think venting anger is necessarily a bad thing. I've seen the results of pent up anger in a person and it's not a good thing.

 

[r4ndom]

Do people really think there's more hate and less reason on the internet then in reality?

I didn't say that, I was stating that the internet gives people that would never be brave enough to react in such a way in real life a forum to be as hateful as they want.

We're constantly stereotyping, judging, and analyzing everyone we meet. If someone rubs us the wrong way, we begin trying to find reasons to justify that said rub.

I agree, and this is what the section on indoctrination was basically saying. Nice use of language too

I don't even think venting anger is necessarily a bad thing. I've seen the results of pent up anger in a person and it's not a good thing.

I agree with this also, but it's missing the point I was trying to make. All I am saying is that the internet has become a minefield of people willing to argue over anything and everything, but if there is a genuine anger inside that you want to vent, you can do it calmly and think about exactly what you want to say, and feel happy (once you've said what you wanted) that you did it in the most concise way possible, not just spew the old standards of "stfu fag" or "homo". I wasn't saying that you should repress your anger, but rather allow it to flow out in a thoughtful manner.

 

[Jazzyluv]

I hate stupid people... Nothing wrong with hate, actually nothing wrong with anything, but that's another debate.

There is nothing wrong with hating things, I hate a lot of things, i really do, and i have no obligation to think i should not "hate". As long as my hate doesn't drive me to physically hurt someone, then i shouldn't have to change.

And we SHOULD hate.

I hate people on the internet that don't let me to use "hateful" and "mean" language.
I hate people that think life is complicated, I'm doing fine thank you, on only 20,000$ dollars a year, and I'm as happy as anyone i know, if not happier

Not hating is against human nature, and we should try to create systems that attempt to benefit all of us while utilizing our less than appealing nature.

GO CAPITALISM!

 

[reaper_2k9]

I think hate stems from fear if people fear something that they know nothing about that can turn into resentment and anger but thats just part of human nature and hopefully as time goes on a person will be able to move past whatever it is that they hate or fear.

 

[axia777]

It is human nature and quit possibly genetic. That is where higher brain functions come in to curb and dissipate the hate a person may feel, if they are so inclined that is.

I hate stupid people too, it is just how I feel and I doubt it will ever change.

 

[runtheplacered]

I wasn't saying that you should repress your anger, but rather allow it to flow out in a thoughtful manner.

Very well said and true. There's definitely a lot of physiological reasons why some people just can't get that to work, such as high blood pressure or heart rate. It's also part of the fight or flight response that I'm sure everyone's heard of at some point. Cats certainly get angry too. Just before I wrote this I accidentally stepped on my cats tail, he hissed at me, and growled as he ran off. So that got me thinking that I also believe some people just have trouble articulating what they're trying to express. Some people only know, "stfu fag" or "ur gay" for one reason or another. My cat, if he knew some English, may have said, "I really HATE it when you step on my tail, would you please try to be more careful around me?", but instead he only knows a few basic noises, so he comes off as a bit of an asshole himself.

Two different people can have the same level of anger flowing through their veins, but vent it in two completely different manners. One which seems acceptable to us, and another that just makes them seem like an undesirable person.

Although the internet may make the undesirables more ballsy to spew out their hate, it also helps fellow introverts like myself to have good quality discussions like this one. Just have to take the good with the bad, I suppose.

 

[Souplex]

Hate is caused by anger which is caused by annoyance which is caused by the incompetance of others. In your face George Lucas.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Hate stems from seeing injustice, whether real or imagined. It's fueled by the media who exaggerate events specifically to sell more media.

 

[opium of the people]

thanks for the posts "runtheplacered"; you have genuinely changed the way i view hate/anger/prejudice from that of the old Jedi ethical malarkey.

also thanks for TC for this insightful topic

 

[John Galt]

There's nothing wrong with hate. In my case, whenever I start to hate something, it's not generally caused by fear but more of disgust. Whenever I see something that disgusts me to the point of intense loathing, the only fitting reaction is to develop a hatred towards that object. Hate's a perfectly natural reaction to something you don't like.