Re:Outrage culture is out of control
by skohan on Friday February 22, 2019 @09:35AM
(#19225623)
> life is so easy, to the point that others' opinions and emotions can appear hostile.
I have a different take on this. I think part of the reason people seem more hostile and or threatening to one another is because we have more access to each-other. 30 years ago, you probably didn't have too much of an idea what other people really thought unless you knew them personally or they were some kind of a public figure. Now you can go online and have immediate access to in-group conversations you're not a part of - including the conversations of groups who might consider you their enemy. I think we might need a few more decades to develop the social tools to handle this without being at each other's throats all the time.
I suspect another element, at least in the US, is the subtext that the explosive growth in terms of the material well-being of the middle class which was enjoyed in the post-war period through the 90's has slowed. I think in times of scarcity, or perceived scarcity, people tend to emphasize devision and find more reasons to bludgeon the groups they're not a part of.
I have a different take on this. I think part of the reason people seem more hostile and or threatening to one another is because we have more access to each-other. 30 years ago, you probably didn't have too much of an idea what other people really thought unless you knew them personally or they were some kind of a public figure. Now you can go online and have immediate access to in-group conversations you're not a part of - including the conversations of groups who might consider you their enemy. I think we might need a few more decades to develop the social tools to handle this without being at each other's throats all the time.
I suspect another element, at least in the US, is the subtext that the explosive growth in terms of the material well-being of the middle class which was enjoyed in the post-war period through the 90's has slowed. I think in times of scarcity, or perceived scarcity, people tend to emphasize devision and find more reasons to bludgeon the groups they're not a part of.