Are We All Cyber-Savages?

[½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ®]

Forums, What a wonderful idea they are in theory. A virtual meeting place for people from around the world with similar interests. If you're interested in writing, or science fiction, or movie stars, or horticulture, there's a forum for you. A number of forums, actually. You can meet people who share your views, who are interested in the input you bring, and who will welcome you to the group.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Nearly every forum is filled with bristling savages waiting to pounce on newcomers to the group and whip them into virtual submission. Interactions between members of a group are tense and filled with admonishments, insults, and indecency.

Why is it like this?

The answer is simple: no consequences. The dynamics of a forum can be likened to a miniature society. After all, a society is a group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture. Most forums I think qualify as a society.

In order to ensure the smooth and effective interaction between members of a society, rules are usually imposed establishing what is acceptable behavior and what is not. The consequence of violating those rules is punishment of some kind. For instance, in our society it is illegal to murder someone. The consequence of murdering a person is jail or possibly even death.

Consequences for inappropriate behavior are all that keeps mankind civilized. The fear of the consequence must outweigh the desire to commit an inappropriate action. If the fear is less than the desire, the crime is committed.

It's a sad thought to realize that civilization is possible only through fear of retribution. Many people, myself included, would like to think that the inherent goodness of man is all that is needed for civilization. We want to think that intellectual discourse should be able to convince people to behave in the best interests of the whole society.

It doesn't work that way, though. Many forums prove the point beautifully. even here at *****, there are no consequences for uncivilized behavior. If you rant, scream, curse, defile, and annoy there is very little anyone can do to you it seems.

The people you upset and offend are probably not even in the same state/province as you. Heck - they may be in a different country altogether. You don't see them. You don't know them. They are nothing to you. They can do nothing to you. The group has no power over you. Even if you are banned, all you need do is come back with a different alias.

Because there are no consequences for behavior in most forums , the lowest common denominator inevitably sets the tone for the entire group. The veneer of civilized behavior falls from everyone and it quickly degenerates into pomp, bluster, and infantile behavior from supposedly adult and educated people as they all try to establish themselves as "top dog."

That is what happens when there are no consequences. The ultimate goals of any group degenerates into a battle for supremacy against others in the group. A pecking order is established and places in that order constantly change as one person achieves victory over another. Newcomers are on the lowest rung of the ladder and are lashed out at by nearly everyone.

Primitive subgroups appear in the forum. To gain some kind of validity, like-minded individuals gather to confront common foes, who likewise group together. Cyber-Savages. That is what we humans become when we meet in cyberspace and there are no rules. We create elitist groups and staunchly defend our turf by attempting to make others appear less intelligent than we are.

The dream of the Internet being the ultimate playground of the mind - where race, color, religion, nationality, and creed do not matter in the common goal of pure knowledge is a faulty dream.

That dream will never be realized because mankind must have consequences to behave in a civilized manner.

[sunmaiden]

Very well thought-out piece. I enjoyed reading it. We had a similar discussion in my English class. The whole no-consequences theme, but I never really put pecking-order into thought. Something to reflect on, eh?

[amber]

Nice post.

[Hawkeye]

OMG, I've never thought of it that way That was really an amazing article. We are like our own civilization. But I also think if this was a civilization, we'd be just fine in the end.

[SuzeQuze]

I guess I had to check the Bush thread for the intro to the post, who knew?

[½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ®]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I guess I had to check the Bush thread for the intro to the post, who knew?

I did that on purpose SuzyQuze. It’s a tactic I use to create a smoke screen. I’d explain it but I won’t. It served what I was trying to accomplish verrry well.

[GypsySorcerer]

I don't think it has so much to do with the Internet per se, but groups. Research has shown time and time again that people will "bandwagon" with groups and will do things they normally wouldn't do when part of "the crowd."

Take the food fight in the cafeteria. Little Johnny, the "bad boy" starts it, but soon everyone is joining in. Even little Kimmy, the straight "A" student who never gets in trouble. Kimmy would never start a food fight on her own, but she will participate when she sees others doing it.

I don't think, though, that most people act differently on the 'Net than they do in "real life."

[ontheEdgeof17]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I don't think, though, that most people act differently on the 'Net than they do in "real life."

I don't either. I act exactly the same. I don't have a 'net personality and another for daily living.


iamwhoiamamwhoiamamwhoiam.....

[dissention]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I don't think, though, that most people act differently on the 'Net than they do in "real life."

Agreed. It would be pretty sad if someone acted completely out of character when posting on a message board, of all places. People are who they are, hopefully they don't try to pass themselves off as someone different just for kicks.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by DeadliestPoison

Well, damn.

Now everyone knows I don't have cancer.

[estranged4life]

with you see (That I type) is what you get...

[SuzeQuze]

This is from http://www.iscifistory.com/forums/fo...25&whichpage=1

Did you post this to make it up for debate? What are your thoughts on this article?

Originally Posted by ½ ¡Ñ§ÅñË ®

Forums, What a wonderful idea they are in theory. A virtual meeting place for people from around the world with similar interests. If you're interested in writing, or science fiction, or movie stars, or horticulture, there's a forum for you. A number of forums, actually. You can meet people who share your views, who are interested in the input you bring, and who will welcome you to the group.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Nearly every forum is filled with bristling savages waiting to pounce on newcomers to the group and whip them into virtual submission. Interactions between members of a group are tense and filled with admonishments, insults, and indecency.

Why is it like this?

The answer is simple: no consequences. The dynamics of a forum can be likened to a miniature society. After all, a society is a group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture. Most forums I think qualify as a society.

In order to ensure the smooth and effective interaction between members of a society, rules are usually imposed establishing what is acceptable behavior and what is not. The consequence of violating those rules is punishment of some kind. For instance, in our society it is illegal to murder someone. The consequence of murdering a person is jail or possibly even death.

Consequences for inappropriate behavior are all that keeps mankind civilized. The fear of the consequence must outweigh the desire to commit an inappropriate action. If the fear is less than the desire, the crime is committed.

It's a sad thought to realize that civilization is possible only through fear of retribution. Many people, myself included, would like to think that the inherent goodness of man is all that is needed for civilization. We want to think that intellectual discourse should be able to convince people to behave in the best interests of the whole society.

It doesn't work that way, though. Many forums prove the point beautifully. even here at *****, there are no consequences for uncivilized behavior. If you rant, scream, curse, defile, and annoy there is very little anyone can do to you it seems.

The people you upset and offend are probably not even in the same state/province as you. Heck - they may be in a different country altogether. You don't see them. You don't know them. They are nothing to you. They can do nothing to you. The group has no power over you. Even if you are banned, all you need do is come back with a different alias.

Because there are no consequences for behavior in most forums , the lowest common denominator inevitably sets the tone for the entire group. The veneer of civilized behavior falls from everyone and it quickly degenerates into pomp, bluster, and infantile behavior from supposedly adult and educated people as they all try to establish themselves as "top dog."

That is what happens when there are no consequences. The ultimate goals of any group degenerates into a battle for supremacy against others in the group. A pecking order is established and places in that order constantly change as one person achieves victory over another. Newcomers are on the lowest rung of the ladder and are lashed out at by nearly everyone.

Primitive subgroups appear in the forum. To gain some kind of validity, like-minded individuals gather to confront common foes, who likewise group together. Cyber-Savages. That is what we humans become when we meet in cyberspace and there are no rules. We create elitist groups and staunchly defend our turf by attempting to make others appear less intelligent than we are.

The dream of the Internet being the ultimate playground of the mind - where race, color, religion, nationality, and creed do not matter in the common goal of pure knowledge is a faulty dream.

That dream will never be realized because mankind must have consequences to behave in a civilized manner.