No, I don't think it's anonymity. You can see absolutely rabid, hateful, unhinged things people post under their real names on Facebook, LinkedIn, nextdoor.

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rapnie 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

There is a kind of 'bubble effect' where people are wrapped in their own world. A similar effect can be seen once people drive a car and there's a behavior change towards other people on the road, and 'road rage' becoming a thing.

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mordechai9000 7 days ago | parent [-]

I think people (myself included) have a mental model of the other driver that seems to default to the worst possible interpretation of their motives.

If I was in a grocery store and someone "cut me off" and forced me to slow down because they misjudged the timing, I would think nothing of it. I certainly wouldn't make an obscene gesture and shout at them.

	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		Also, when we are driving, we're in a pretty high state of anxiety; just as a baseline. I find it amazing, that, when I'm driving, and some knucklehead does something that almost makes me crash (and thus, maybe kill me), I get incandescent with rage, but, five minutes later, I've all but forgotten the incident. I could easily see myself fanning that rage into something that could result in self-destructive road rage.

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ChrisMarshallNY 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I agree. I think that it's the removal of an emotional connection, and that happens naturally, after a certain pause (an interesting study, would be to find out how long, and I'll bet there are people who can explicitly prevent the analytical part of their mind from taking the wheel).

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altruios 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

I disagree that removing an emotional connection removes emotional responses of hate and wild dehumanization. I would categorize all such interactions as emotional. I argue that it is in fact the opposite: Having no analytical consideration for how another human might respond enflames emotions, not dampens them.

It's called flame wars, not analytical wars.

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ChrisMarshallNY 7 days ago | parent [-]

It’s emotional connection that I’m talking about.

I feel that you are referring to the inwardly-focused thing that happens when we lose connection.

The analytical thing is the loss of emotional connection.

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altruios 7 days ago | parent [-]

Do you mean empathy, by emotional connection?

If that is the case: I disagree that rage is the natural response to a loss of empathy AND switching to an analytical mode of thinking. I don't think rage (an emotion) stems from analytical thinking. Loss of empathy may be a required precursor to rage comments, but I don't see how analytical thinking fits anywhere in there. And if analytical thinking is a function of time: I would expect to find calmer comments after deliberate thought.

It would be testable - if you had the data - if it was the case that rage comments are thought out, or spur of the moment. I'm betting on the latter. Rage never seems well thought out to me.

If I misread your comment, I am sorry in advance.

	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		I don't know if it's as "advanced" as empathy. I think it's "reptile-brain" level stuff. Herd/Pack instinct. Anyway, that's not my wheelhouse. I've spent a lot of time, around a lot of pretty damaged folks, and this is just an observation that I've come up with, on my own. I've just noticed that direct, realtime communication, has a lot more emotional connection (for both good and bad), than ones where there's a "handshake," so to speak. It's not always bad. I think we've all been told to "Think about what you're going to say in response." "Count to ten", etc. If we want to be angry, then the pause allows us to ramp it up, but if we want to be reasonable, it gives us the chance to defuse it, but, at the same time, maybe leach some of the emotional warmth from it.

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SoftTalker 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Also, you see other people doing it, and it rapidly starts to seem "normal." At least for some.