Let's call it a guilty pleasure. Well, no, not a "pleasure" per se, really more of a vice? Hmm, words are failing me.
Either way, I really can't help but scroll through comment sections following online articles. To the point where I find myself skimming the article itself just to get to the angry, vitriolic, spiteful opinions people spew toward just about anything and everything: refugees, guns, Islam, the minimum wage, Planned Parenthood, guns, the presidency, guns, Catholicism, guns...
It's just astounding. The level to which people seem to hold themselves higher, that they, in fact, know exactly what's best for everyone else and what everyone else deserves. I often myself at a loss for words. The internet more and more is becoming simply nothing more than a platform for people to laud themselves and create this delusional and egotistical idea of self-importance. Moving beyond simply comment sections, look through any form of social media. Facebook alone seems to have predominately only served as a forum for people to carefully craft the person they want other people to see.
(I touched on this once upon a time: http://mielkewaylearning.blogspot.com/2015/02/generational-gaps.html)
And for a bit more background, here's a fun study: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-happier-life-facebook.html. After just one week without Facebook, people reported greater levels of happiness and lower levels of self-dissatisfaction.
It's not the real world.
We get to hide behind the safety of our screens, slowly encasing ourselves in the safety of self-segregation, reading only that which we agree with, "defriending" people that don't, and building these virtual walls around ourselves to avoid any and all thoughts, ideas, or perspectives that in any way challenge our beliefs. And, I believe an outcome of that, then, is that these beliefs become more and more cherished and embodied, becoming not just something we believe, but a foundation on which we build our identity. There is no critical thought, no open-minded dialogue. All conversations become a debate, at a time when "debates" are yelling matches, and the end goal no longer becomes a search for greater understanding, but an attempt to make someone else see it our way. Schoolyard tactics - yelling, taunting, name-calling, bullying, and racing to embarrass the other person into submission - is the now the norm among adults. And how do we suppose this affects our kids, as their old strategies are being annexed more and more by their supposed role-models.
It's frustrating to see. In 1960, around 5% of parents polled indicated that they would be displeased with their son or daughter marrying someone of a different political party. In 2010, it jumped to around 40%. (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/really-would-you-let-your-daughter-marry-a-democrat/262959/)
So what happens next? I have no idea. But I can't say I'm particularly optimistic about it.
