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Two Minutes of Awesomeness: Tommy Emmanuel, "Son of a Gun"

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The Ghost of a Flea2/23/2020 2:42:16 pm PST

re: #51 LeftyRambles2413 (HappyWarrior)

You are catastrophizing, as are several other people on this board, and it is turning it a whirlpool of anxiety where it’s no longer about what is, but about the process of story-telling, having the story confirmed by others at the same level of fear and frustration, and then proceeding as though the story was true.

No, your social media experience should not be an index of anything, because it’s an incredibly shitty medium. It is literally the worst possible medium in which to have the conversation that currently has to happen. It is full of bad faith, hyperbole, and groupthink. Nobody is winning, everybody is hurting themselves. People hate and distrust Jack and Mark, complain about their services, and yet people uncritically import things found in those services—which we all know to be fundamentally flawed—into their worldview. This is chewing gum out of a drain.

It’s clear that social media leads to miscommunication. It’s clear that massed voices responding in unison is overwhelming, and terrifying if its negative. It’s clear that strong negative experiences leave a deep impression, and social media formats mean there’s almost always a negative response. It’s clear that a social media account is a point of vulnerability, where someone can be cruel in a very intimate way and still be anonymous. It’s clear that people will say things, and use tones, in online conversations that they would never use in real life because an account does not inspire empathy like face-to-face person. And yet I keep see people reacting like their negative experiences on social media are about the specific thing they’re upset about, not the general awfulness of the medium, or the inevitability of misunderstanding in a low-resolution communication format.

Or, for that matter, the admission that most of us are trapped in or heads, and when faced with ambiguity or lack of clarity will generate context and nuance from nothing but our assumptions. The thing that fucks up communication in general, but so much moreso when it’s divining the full meaning of one hundred-someodd characters and a fucking emoji.

ETA: Or, that social media is a paradoxically public and intimate space where it is easy to share but difficult to control who sees what is shared. Meaning that at any act of vulnerability is available to any person who wants to abuse someone’s vulnerability.

And the economics of social media are built on engagement, so there is ZERO incentive for these platforms to change. They sell themselves to advertisers as addictions—buy ads with us because we’re parasitically attached to people’s lives, they can’t quit. For anyone selling themselves as a brand on these platforms…they get the same way, by clicks. For anyone presenting “news” or “commentary on news”…they need clicks more than they need to communicate information accurately.

You are actively participating in a part of system designed to hurt and frustrate you, but also designed to make you accustomed to being hurt and frustrated so other people can extract value from you hurt and frustration.

But here’s the part that sticks with me: the same patterns exist on social media regardless of the subject. The same shitty behaviors and statements, the kinds of people who hijack conversation, the same tipping point from good enthusiasm to something sickly and narcissist, the same loss of perspective leading to feedback loops of ugly behavior as everyone feels attacked.

The same. Always. Consistent.

Where exactly am I supposed to set the pale of my discomfort when the same species of behavior is coming from people I know?

I have no especial fondness for Bernie Sanders, and his official and unofficial spokespeople are frequently vexing when I encounter them on social media…but…I’m supposed to be mad about “bend the knee,” but I see people use Brnch Dravidian references to described Bernie people on this board, because child rape and massive suicide aren’t an escalation of rhetoric, no. A thread ago, there’s a drop about the Bernie people “knowing” that his plans require a dictatorship.

At this point the ugliness and the doubling down is reciprocal, and the thinking black and white, and…no, I’m not taking your side. This is ridiculous and gloomy and self-harming. Nor I am I going to “both sides” this statement to sweeten it because…you are not on your own side, you are injuring yourself as a whole for the sake of a part of you that feels alliance to people who, frankly, don’t merit the escalation of commitment you’re showing. You’re trying to injure “the other side” who also don’t merit this much attention but also don’t deserve the level of vitriol.

And no it doesn’t matter what some of them are doing. Nobody wins the arsenic eating contest.

I’m sorry, I like everyone around here, but this is getting unhealthy in ways that I recognize. The seeking out of slights, the way hyperbole is accommodated as true and the used as a ramp to engage in greater hyperbole, the general miasma of blame and negativity. People being angry, but over and over seeking out the source of that anger to discharge. This is people trying to discharge anxiety, but doing so in ways that just create a loop of fear and catharsis…but the source of fear isn’t gone and the wellspring will refill, so there’s just a need for more and more catharsis.

And…don’t do it, guys. Find anything else to cope. That loop leads people into terrible places that I don’t need to describe because you can see them, interact with them, all across America. We are watching a section of our population bottom out, fully embraced the idea that they will hurt and fear, but it is right and good if they can just punch down…and at some point the flow reversed and they’re inventing targets for retaliation. Like behavior on social media, this isn’t something exclusive to one perspective or kind of culture, it can happen to anyone eventually.

You are what you rehearse.