The right way to be and the wrong way to be

[Belacqua]

As olb says , it’s honing a social skill. That scale is expressing outrage, and frequently the release of tension, adrenaline and dopamine that entails. It does feel good to express your negative feeling often. We’ve all done it. That doesn’t make it right , or just or productive. The overall point I was making was what feels good to you doesn’t always feel good to everyone else. A consciensous  person will weigh their words. , but it’s damn near impossible to be that way 100% of the time. [/2 cents]

I think olb's answer is instructive. 

The purpose isn't to reform or even to punish Ahriman. The purpose is to demonstrate that one is a tough guy. It's creating and maintaining an image.

[Ahriman]

As olb says , it’s honing a social skill. That scale is expressing outrage, and frequently the release of tension, adrenaline and dopamine that entails. It does feel good to express your negative feeling often. We’ve all done it. That doesn’t make it right , or just or productive. The overall point I was making was what feels good to you doesn’t always feel good to everyone else. A consciensous  person will weigh their words. , but it’s damn near impossible to be that way 100% of the time. [/2 cents]

I think olb's answer is instructive. 

The purpose isn't to reform or even to punish Ahriman. The purpose is to demonstrate that one is a tough guy. It's creating and maintaining an image.

There are a lot of tough guys on the Internet. I don't pay any more attention to them than I'm forced to.

[onlinebiker]

I think olb's answer is instructive. 

The purpose isn't to reform or even to punish Ahriman. The purpose is to demonstrate that one is a tough guy. It's creating and maintaining an image.

There are a lot of tough guys on the Internet. I don't pay any more attention to them than I'm forced to.

Nobody really cares a swut to that which you pay attention to....

You really have not figured that part out yet?

[Belacqua]

There are a lot of tough guys on the Internet. I don't pay any more attention to them than I'm forced to.

Internet tough guy is kind of a strange role to play. 

It demands that a person assert "I don't give a fuck what you think of me!" But this runs into a paradox pretty quickly, because if a person feels the need to express this it means that he wants others to believe it of him, which means that he cares what they think. 

Then there is the Button Pusher, who types things to get a rise out of other people. He or she enjoys getting a predictable reaction out of people who pretend they are too cool to care. 

One of the reasons people here insult you is because you are better than them at both roles. Your trolling seems effortless in comparison with others who have to work harder at it. But the buttons you push always get exactly the intended response. 

Personally, I would like everyone just to be up front about everything. But I admit I'm boringly sincere about Internet use, and it never occurs to me to use the medium in a creative way.

[Fake Messiah]

One of the reasons people here insult you is...

People here don't insult Ahriman but play with him because he is AF's pet troll and he knows it.

[Belacqua]

I think this leads us back to the OP. We can add a little more about the right way to be.

Since I can't control other people's trolling, it is good for me not to allow myself to become vulgar and rude over every little offense that passes by. It is good for me not to get jerked around like a marionette when someone attempts to push my buttons.

This is because it is good, in and of itself, to refrain from being vulgar and rude. And it's good, in and of itself, to be in control of oneself, and not give that control over to those who would play around with it.

For one thing, allowing the trolls to darken our day leads us away from the magnanimity and appreciation that makes for a good life. It is good to have our eyes open, as much as possible, to the good in others. The richness and beauty of the world, even that which occurs in people unlike myself who believe different things than I do, is to be loved and enjoyed.

[purplepurpose]

Its hardwired in us by alot. Our neighborhood, friends, parents.

[tackattack]

@Belacqua I tend to disagree. I don't think it is necessarily good to not be vulgar and rude. I think it's a common part of any social contract but I can't say that it's necessarily good or bad. I think it is just how some people have normalized, and it's an indicator, but I wouldn't say good/bad. Unlike "the world" or the "whole internet" this is a community. I have specific entry criteria and rules that are clearly layed out. We are very seldom allowed that same comfort in the real world. If a bully approaches you on the street, there's little you've done that could have prevented that. There are tons of rape victims and social injustice victims that deal daily with unwritten and immoral perceived rules and attitudes, that are followed by immoral actions. Unlike the real world, we have the ability to filter who is allowed into this conversation, so the bully isn't even on the street. In fact the power was given down to the individual to mute people. This was never a completely free space for all and I don't think anyone here is under the impression that it ever was.

What about this, if we treated trolls like preaching bible thumpers are treated here, would that change their behavior or this environment? Of course it would. This place would be more dull and the troll would just move onto somewhere else and not change. Is that a better community? What if they were all just booted? I don't think that would be much better? Maybe the solution likes in a new color indicator or tag and an auto mute of anyone deemed troll, and then shunting them someplace away from the norm... oh wait that's Ryl'eh which is hardly ever used anymore. IDK, just spit-balling here.

[Ahriman]

But then there's the very common issue of the hivemind writing someone off as a troll when in fact the person is not actually a troll. Happens all the time.

[The Grand Nudger]

Just not to you, eh......eh?