Re:Linus: People take me much too seriously, I can't say stu...
by everdrive on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @02:04PM
(#19565631)
I feel pretty caught between two extremes. Loudmouths still exist and bother me from time to time, but it's also getting easier and easier to accidentally run afoul of SJWs.
I wish people would just relax, but I don't think mass-communication works this way. In a small group, people negotiate the morals and the social values of a group. (and then, of course, push those boundaries and re-negotiate values, etc) I've often felt that this process breaks down in larger groups. Moral values are seldom "settled," since the group is too large and disperse for any given values to really propagate. The outrage and accusations don't stop, they simply aren't resolved. There's more to it than this, but it's a bit like getting angry at someone in a road rage incident. You're never going to meet that person again. Even if you "won" the debate and "taught" them a lesson, you won't ever encounter them again. It's possible you've modified their behavior, but you'll never be able to notice a difference in the environment. The scale is too big for your anger to have been useful.
Of course, even this poor example is pretty optimistic. Often the conflict makes things worse, and not better, whether or not you could measure the difference of your singular action.
I wish people would just relax, but I don't think mass-communication works this way. In a small group, people negotiate the morals and the social values of a group. (and then, of course, push those boundaries and re-negotiate values, etc) I've often felt that this process breaks down in larger groups. Moral values are seldom "settled," since the group is too large and disperse for any given values to really propagate. The outrage and accusations don't stop, they simply aren't resolved. There's more to it than this, but it's a bit like getting angry at someone in a road rage incident. You're never going to meet that person again. Even if you "won" the debate and "taught" them a lesson, you won't ever encounter them again. It's possible you've modified their behavior, but you'll never be able to notice a difference in the environment. The scale is too big for your anger to have been useful.
Of course, even this poor example is pretty optimistic. Often the conflict makes things worse, and not better, whether or not you could measure the difference of your singular action.