The core of discord

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   Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years ago

   What I see happening with politics on social media is people carrying on not about what they actually think about a particularly complex problem, but what they think other peoples thoughts are on the issue and then infer some sort of character flaw from it. Its the only resort for the profoundly ignorant.
   
   [My thing has always been to look at the problem at the center of all these problems. So, allow me to play the devil's hypocrite. Its no secret that I'm an a**hole too]
   
   I've kept myself from engaging here for the sole purpose of not lowering myself to the level of disgust with people I consider friends. Because that's what this big charade does to us. It encourages people to speak and behave in ways that resemble nothing like our actual selves. We aggregate into these stupid groups, regurgitating the same pundits over and over again, then assume some moral or intellectual superiority.
   
   I know people who would like to think they are moral exemplars of the community but their conduct on Social Media is pure malevolence. Malevolence tends to hide within the shells of people with the biggest halos. Bill Cosby was a great example of that...
   
   Best way to win is to play your own game. Not this collective circle jerk of a game we've created the moment we were given the power to compete for attention on a global scale.

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      GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Well damn Jessie, is this some kind of test?
      
      To your whole comment I have to say bullshit! But wait, was that your purpose, to bait someone into addressing a generalization instead of an issue?
      
      Why is it that you think you can't respond on these forums without "...lowering myself to the level of disgust...?"  Sure there is plenty of nutty partisan bullshit here,  but your contention that you can't address it without 'lowering yourself' sounds pretty damn arrogant to me.
      
      Have you ever considered that your interaction with the disgusting bullshit, as you see it, might actually bring the conversation up a level or so? Like maybe graduating from bull shit to bat shit?
      
      Sorry bud, I know I jumped in hard, but that was a pretty arrogant comment you made.
      
      GA

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         Aime Fposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         You just dropped a lot of shits there my dude.

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            GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            yeah, I thought of that as I typed. But what the hell, in for a penny - in for a pound. At least I have the courage to say shit instead of hiding behind "shyte" or "sh@t."
            
            .and maybe I should have also signed off with my party flag
            
            - instead of just "GA" ;-)

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            Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Aime, my biggest fan! Great to have you with us. lol

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               Aime Fposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I don’t hold grudges. It’s been long enough, clean slate.

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         Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         XD
         
         Yes to all of that   Gotta get in the mud to wrestle.

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         Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         But I will say....what I meant about disgust was that I try not to put myself in positions where I reach the end of my rope with people. I have explicitly codified my own weaknesses and bias all over here.
         
         Thanks for sharing, GA. Sorry for the fuss

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            GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Hold on Jessie, there is no "fuss."
            
            But, there does seem to be an issue. This response has drawn questions from several angles.
            
            First, it sounds like an alarm going off when you say that responding to such comments, (as previously defined), would drive you to the end of your rope.
            
            I see your other posts as coming from an academic or philosophical, or, epistemological perspective. Is that because that is where your interests lie, (at first I thought it was because you are in a mentioned course of study). or could it be because, as your "end of rope" comment indicates, you are uncertain of your perspectives on a real, (as in reality), level?
            
            I haven't had a lot of interactions with you, but, I don't recall a perception of weakness or bias, so what do you mean by that?
            
            But look at this, what the hell do I know about you. Carry-on Jessie. I think you can be more confident in your interactions with the mud wrestlers - I have found such exchanges to be more beneficial than detrimental, but if if you have a mud phobia, and can live with it... so be it.
            

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               Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               To clarify: It's not a matter of responding to comments or feeling like I'm not equipped to deal with them. Let's see if I can think of an example....
               
               Okay, so the other day I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed and saw things like....
               
               "Well, if YOU don't think Kavanaugh is a (fill in the blank) then YOU must be a (fill in the blank)...."
               
               There's another person I'm referring to who is in their 50's who acts like a total creep with women half his age while simultaneously blathering on about bringing down "rape culture". A wolf in sheep's clothing.
               
               So, disgust feels like an appropriate response to people who act this way but I just have to not pay attention to it - lest I lose my own sanity over it.
               
               It would be my hope that the same rule would apply for anyone who sees something edgy or unconventional (as many of my posts seem to be)
               
               I wrote a second article with this one talking about the function of free expression
               
               https://hubpages.com/politics/forum/341 … cial-media
               (see addendum in the thread)
               
               So, by my own ruling in that article, I have presented my idea and it has clearly not been well received. Assuming the 4 people here are quasi-representative samples of the population, LoL.
               
               I'd like to think what I said in my OP had at least some merit. But perhaps my strategy was too obtuse.
               
               If there is a "groove" to be found by talking about tough ideas without everyone coming unglued, I'm looking for it.

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                  GA Andersonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Oops, looks like I misunderstood your OP Jessie. Sorry.
                  
                  From your analogy, it looks like you are talking about chuckleheads. And lamenting the fact that there are chuckleheads.
                  
                  That's much easier to explain. I generally don't address them. No feelings about myself either way. Just experience enough to know that nothing productive can come of it.
                  
                  But, I must admit that sometimes, just for the hell of it, I do address them. But when I do, it is for my own benefit, not theirs.
                  
                  However, I would think that your description of of your first reaction when running across them as "disgust" might be a 'Freudian Slip'. Tell me how you feel about your childhood with your mother. (No don't! It was a joke!
                  
                  As for you puzzlement that your OP might not have been understood to have merit - that is another easy one. That's life among us humans. Most folks, (except those you speak of), already know this. So your OP was like telling conscious people that the sky is blue.
                  
                  Unless of course I have misunderstood you comment once again. ( a distinct possibility)
                  
                  GA

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2. 0

   Ed Fisherposted 6 years ago

   As you say social media ,perhaps even before,   has removed the need for individual thought ,  I wonder just how dangerous that is for the required individual involvement in the american political system .  Is the problem born of both parties or simply the obvious left?

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      Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      It's a general human problem, for sure.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 6 years ago

   So, you have observed that people who converse on social media:
   
   A. React to other people's political opinions, without offering their own.
   B. Pinpoint the character flaws of those revealing their political viewpoints.
   
   You say Social Media encourages people to:
   
   A. Communicate in ways that are not true to their own opinions or characters.
   B. Chose one of two sides.
   C. Regurgitate the same pundit's (learned person's) opinions over and over again.
   D. Assume attitudes of moral / intellectual superiority, as if I the opinions they expressed were their own.
    
   You know people who "like to think they are moral exemplars of the community," (How do you know what they think?) but on Social Media they behave badly. (How? Name calling?)
   
   You have witnessed that the worst offenders hide:
   
   A. "Within their shells"
   B. "Have the biggest halos."
         1. You site Bill Cosby as an example, (Was he behaving badly on social media?)
   
   You advise that the "best way to win" (How do we "win"?) is to "play your own game." (What would that game look like?) and not play the "collective circle jerk game ... " which began "the moment we were given the power to COMPETE for ATTENTION on a global scale."
   
   Is that what we are doing? Competing for attention? Are you advising us as to how can win the game of competing for attention? You say we win when we think for ourselves and reveal our own true opinions. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but that IS exactly what I do!!!
   
   I think you are addressing everyone else but yourself, and even then, you admit you are guilty. Do you really think it is fair to lump every one of us together and accuse us of doing what maybe only you, and you alone, is doing? Actually, I suspect you just wanted an excuse to use the term "circle jerk."
   
   Well, thats gross and thanks for nothing.
   
   PS. My poor innocent son at age 15 or so, (can't remember exactly when) was with some guys hanging out at one of their homes. I heard that they all learned how to circle jerk in some manner that involved the TV screen.
   There you go. Hope it helps.

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      Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 6 years ago

   You have actually brought up a monumental issue.
   I think it would be interesting to pursue it.
   
   Maybe we could start if you answer the questions I asked.
   No?

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      Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I'll return to your talking points when I get a good minute. Sorry, Kathryn.

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         Kathryn L Hillposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         nevermind.

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5. 92

   IslandBitesposted 6 years ago

   Yizuz.
   
   

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      Jessie L Watsonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Haha, yep. That captures the feeling succinctly.

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6. 0

   Ed Fisherposted 6 years ago

   Perhaps those who consider themselves morally or intellectually 'above the fray '  refrain from any response at all.     Whether social media  or 'real 'media  I have always been able to discern  the ideological bias , even a slight bias.     The Cord of Discord  of today is obvious, no rules , take the gloves off .  Any sense of morality , maturity , decency or manners is lost to the cause.
   Why delve into the swamp circus of social media at all  ?   It all either feeds something within you or it doesn't  , it is that simple.

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