It is one of life's little ironies that the best way to appear "dishonest" to some people is to do your very best to tell the truth. Many people don't have a lot of patience for nuance, or for situations in which there are neither easy answers nor obvious heroes and villains.
Yeah, I've noticed.:-) It's one of those things that really scares me because I always have this stupid idea that if you could just sit down and talk with people eventually you'd reach a compromise. I figure even somebody said something rude that can be gotten over. People say stupid stuff--it's unfortunate that on the Internet it's in writing. But then you see how people are happier to spin things to create more trouble, or read things in a way that makes them more inflammatory, or bringing up stuff to get people angry. What's weird is that somehow the culture of the 'net is perfect for people to stir things up because, like we said, there's that whole culture of showing how loyal you are to different people, even if you don't know them.
I feel like emotions in general get exaggerated on lj--even stuff like {{hugs}}--saying that to someone is actually a different gesture than giving them a hug. Things get exaggerated to the point where you can even feel a pressure to be more emotional and demonstrative when you think you're dealing with a space that's all about the mind and words, you know? Would the Spin Meister really be able to cause quite as much trouble in the real world if people could talk to each other or maybe see expressions? It just seems especially strange that with the msscribe thing, where people were played for what side they were on, doesn't change that. There are people who are now reconnecting, apparently, who fought back then, but it still seems like a common enemy thing. It's like another shuffling of alliances.
I was thinking today about the whole suspicion of people not seeing something in black and white and I thought hey, yet again I picked the right lj name--magpies are black AND white. (And if you look at them closely they're really blue and green as well.) They're supposedly cursed for only wearing half-mourning at the crucifixtion. Talk about spin!
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Date: 2006-06-27 01:53 am (UTC)Yeah, I've noticed.:-) It's one of those things that really scares me because I always have this stupid idea that if you could just sit down and talk with people eventually you'd reach a compromise. I figure even somebody said something rude that can be gotten over. People say stupid stuff--it's unfortunate that on the Internet it's in writing. But then you see how people are happier to spin things to create more trouble, or read things in a way that makes them more inflammatory, or bringing up stuff to get people angry. What's weird is that somehow the culture of the 'net is perfect for people to stir things up because, like we said, there's that whole culture of showing how loyal you are to different people, even if you don't know them.
I feel like emotions in general get exaggerated on lj--even stuff like {{hugs}}--saying that to someone is actually a different gesture than giving them a hug. Things get exaggerated to the point where you can even feel a pressure to be more emotional and demonstrative when you think you're dealing with a space that's all about the mind and words, you know? Would the Spin Meister really be able to cause quite as much trouble in the real world if people could talk to each other or maybe see expressions? It just seems especially strange that with the msscribe thing, where people were played for what side they were on, doesn't change that. There are people who are now reconnecting, apparently, who fought back then, but it still seems like a common enemy thing. It's like another shuffling of alliances.
I was thinking today about the whole suspicion of people not seeing something in black and white and I thought hey, yet again I picked the right lj name--magpies are black AND white. (And if you look at them closely they're really blue and green as well.) They're supposedly cursed for only wearing half-mourning at the crucifixtion. Talk about spin!