re: #137 Renaissance_Man

… I’m a big believer in the idea that ‘character is who you are in the dark’. In other words, character is the sort of person you are when nobody’s there to see you, when nobody will ever know what you did. The internet is the ultimate in anonymity.

It’s often said by people that ‘he’s not really like that, just on the net’. On the contrary, I think how people are on the net is exactly who they really are. They may not act that way in real life, where consequences exist and there’s no anonymity, but that’s the sort of person they are deep down.

In general, humans have failed the test of character the internet has asked of us. And that’s very, very sad.

I agree. The internet allows people to manifest what is going on in their minds directly …they operate on the internet without their verbal filters on.

I would go further and suggest that not only do most people have a dark streak to them, but they also have a deep sense of self hatred. They wear masks of pride and puff themselves up to cover-up how miserable, weak, and cowardly they feel about themselves. Hitting other people verbally is just transference – makes them feel powerful while smacking in others that which they don’t like about themselves.

Tis a shame really what it says about the human condition.