The Freedom of Ignorant Banter
The winter and spring months typically bore the living hell out of me. They start out with numerous projects and activities that can be accomplished without leaving the house but eventually the dedication subsides and boredom sets in. For me, this is not a good idea at all.
This past winter I took it upon myself to conduct an incredibly unscientific experiment. My goal was to focus on political discussions that take place on various message boards and blog spheres across the internet and see if there was any possible way to come to something close to a consensus as far as any topic was concerned. After registering at all of the sites under false credentials (except for one) and sticking with it for several months, my intention was to try to use a few different arguing techniques to sway others to my side. The sites I targeted are as follows:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ - The official rag for the state of Iowa. The only website that has worse grammar and spelling is the one you are currently visiting. For this site, I tried using simple, common sense staying as politically neutral as possible. I quoted books of history and simply stated a belief that government works for its people. I backed all of my facts by using the laws of the land.
I was met by mostly liberal, obstinate banter. Most responses had absolutely nothing to do with law but more a sense of inconvenience and lack of understanding of how government is designed to work. I was even receiving hate mail from 4 different users on a daily basis although I had at least 3 accomplices that helped me become the internet troll I always knew I could be.
http://desmoinesmusic.proboards.com/ - A website that I was formerly a moderator for (you can’t moderate speech; you can only guide it in a desired direction). Good people and musicians. Since most of the people on this site are dear friends, I decided to use all tactics at my disposal. These people know me and my views so I went with bi-polar. I was occasionally challenged but there was never a compromise or resolution. A little disappointing but that what you get for using your friends as guinea pigs for an insignificant social experiment. I would constantly contradict myself and regurgitate other users posts directly back to them. In the end I just looked like a penis.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/ - Morons from both sides of the fence try to comprehend the chess match taking place on our tiny, little rock. They are deep and seemingly wise and ready to debate at the drop of a hat. You must have your knowledge straight to argue with these people. It is both liberal and conservative sometimes turning on their own. They are vicious, unrelenting people with way too much time on their hands and contribute little if anything to a sustainable governmental ideology.
http://www.slamomaha.com/ - A neat community website that caters to the Omaha area. I stuck to a very sound moderate rhetoric and quoted as much constitutional material as I possibly could with each defense. While find them quite accommodating in most areas I failed to make a virtual connection. It bored me to tears so I gave up after a few weeks.
http://www.dcjunkies.com/index.php - Pretty viscous little site at times. Nothing special. I just tried to be a dick and was very popular with most of the others trolls on the site. I used the bi-polar approach with great success launching several waves of pretty annoying dissent. My diatribes left no stone unturned and had a bit of fun offending just about everyone.
So exactly what was this any of this supposed to prove? With no doubt I was truly bored but there might have been more. I find speaking with most people in person is less strenuous than trying to sum up your thoughts in 1000 characters or less. Trying to keep up dozens of opinions all at once and not taking the time to truly research, comprehend and elucidate an idea or path. You can’t see the face and eyes that provides millions of little clues as to how deeply the words are cast.
I remember about 20 years ago sharing books pertaining to government, history and philosophy between peers and actually taking the time to absorb the material before discussing it. I remember being swayed quite a few times from my previous line of thought. As I sit here and remember, I now realize how things have changed.
The internet, while a potentially amazing tool, has turned society into a bunch of uneducated, raving lunatics. Countless times have I witnessed Wikipedia, http://politico.com and other web information used as the background for the debate's underlying source. It would seem that people are skimming through the tainted info, grabbing the section that suits those best and using it against others. No one takes the time to sit down, read the book the web content was pilfered from, contemplate and then decide. Instant gratification is the norm.
I supposed the point of the experiment was to see if I was crazy. Can a person replace human and physical interaction as well as things that are on a video screen and function unaffected. The answer plainly put is no. Not one poster agreed with the next. They might concede or give kudos but heir minds are never changed. They still believe they were right.
I felt myself being caught up a few times and I admit, it was kinda of fun. If you can't make friends, make chaos... works for 2nd graders. Maybe we should all just read a book.
This past winter I took it upon myself to conduct an incredibly unscientific experiment. My goal was to focus on political discussions that take place on various message boards and blog spheres across the internet and see if there was any possible way to come to something close to a consensus as far as any topic was concerned. After registering at all of the sites under false credentials (except for one) and sticking with it for several months, my intention was to try to use a few different arguing techniques to sway others to my side. The sites I targeted are as follows:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/ - The official rag for the state of Iowa. The only website that has worse grammar and spelling is the one you are currently visiting. For this site, I tried using simple, common sense staying as politically neutral as possible. I quoted books of history and simply stated a belief that government works for its people. I backed all of my facts by using the laws of the land.
I was met by mostly liberal, obstinate banter. Most responses had absolutely nothing to do with law but more a sense of inconvenience and lack of understanding of how government is designed to work. I was even receiving hate mail from 4 different users on a daily basis although I had at least 3 accomplices that helped me become the internet troll I always knew I could be.
http://desmoinesmusic.proboards.com/ - A website that I was formerly a moderator for (you can’t moderate speech; you can only guide it in a desired direction). Good people and musicians. Since most of the people on this site are dear friends, I decided to use all tactics at my disposal. These people know me and my views so I went with bi-polar. I was occasionally challenged but there was never a compromise or resolution. A little disappointing but that what you get for using your friends as guinea pigs for an insignificant social experiment. I would constantly contradict myself and regurgitate other users posts directly back to them. In the end I just looked like a penis.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/ - Morons from both sides of the fence try to comprehend the chess match taking place on our tiny, little rock. They are deep and seemingly wise and ready to debate at the drop of a hat. You must have your knowledge straight to argue with these people. It is both liberal and conservative sometimes turning on their own. They are vicious, unrelenting people with way too much time on their hands and contribute little if anything to a sustainable governmental ideology.
http://www.slamomaha.com/ - A neat community website that caters to the Omaha area. I stuck to a very sound moderate rhetoric and quoted as much constitutional material as I possibly could with each defense. While find them quite accommodating in most areas I failed to make a virtual connection. It bored me to tears so I gave up after a few weeks.
http://www.dcjunkies.com/index.php - Pretty viscous little site at times. Nothing special. I just tried to be a dick and was very popular with most of the others trolls on the site. I used the bi-polar approach with great success launching several waves of pretty annoying dissent. My diatribes left no stone unturned and had a bit of fun offending just about everyone.
So exactly what was this any of this supposed to prove? With no doubt I was truly bored but there might have been more. I find speaking with most people in person is less strenuous than trying to sum up your thoughts in 1000 characters or less. Trying to keep up dozens of opinions all at once and not taking the time to truly research, comprehend and elucidate an idea or path. You can’t see the face and eyes that provides millions of little clues as to how deeply the words are cast.
I remember about 20 years ago sharing books pertaining to government, history and philosophy between peers and actually taking the time to absorb the material before discussing it. I remember being swayed quite a few times from my previous line of thought. As I sit here and remember, I now realize how things have changed.
The internet, while a potentially amazing tool, has turned society into a bunch of uneducated, raving lunatics. Countless times have I witnessed Wikipedia, http://politico.com and other web information used as the background for the debate's underlying source. It would seem that people are skimming through the tainted info, grabbing the section that suits those best and using it against others. No one takes the time to sit down, read the book the web content was pilfered from, contemplate and then decide. Instant gratification is the norm.
I supposed the point of the experiment was to see if I was crazy. Can a person replace human and physical interaction as well as things that are on a video screen and function unaffected. The answer plainly put is no. Not one poster agreed with the next. They might concede or give kudos but heir minds are never changed. They still believe they were right.
I felt myself being caught up a few times and I admit, it was kinda of fun. If you can't make friends, make chaos... works for 2nd graders. Maybe we should all just read a book.
