by Neil Slade
Author of The Amazing Brain Music Adventure
www.neil.slade.net
As the web master of a reasonably popular web, as well as being a
moderator of both an email list group and a bulletin board, I get a lot
of email both business and personally related. What I have noticed is
what I believe is a new psychological phenomenon given birth along with
the phenomenal growth of email. This is Computer Rage.
Like Road Rage, Computer Rage seems to be the result of a
technological environment that allows certain individuals to
suddenly let forth a burst of hostility that would be normally held
under control or suppressed. In Road Rage the modern shelter of the hard
steel and glass automobile gives an individual a sense of security and a
sense of power. The modern car provides an illusion is that one is
safely removed and alone to do what one likes in this personal universe.
And in this safe environment, one can fire off a salvo of pent up
frustration and anger, sometimes boiling over into physically
destructive expression- Road Rage. It is an explosive venting of deep
levels of emotion. The target of rage is pelted with insult and injury
far greater than can be truly rationalized. It's Apes on Crack.
Similarly, Computer Rage is the child of technology. In the environment
of the computer screen and keyboard one can also feel detached, and
safe. The computer allows one to feel like "This is my universe, I am
alone, and I control what I see and what I send". And similar to the
Road Rage scenario, the illusion of detachment can allow one to express
pent-up rage and frustration because "You can't get at me from here".
The extreme side of this is computer users who deliberately vandalize
and destroy web sites and even distant computers and their programs. But
this is a fairly rare phenomenon given the vast numbers of computer
owners in the population. What I am referring to here is when the
seemingly calm and reasonable person suddenly uses their computer to
launch insult and hateful commentary across the net, and for little
logical or rational reason. It's just easy and convenient.
I have been the target of such Internet lashings more than once, And
each time it occurs, I marvel at the remarkable way in which a person,
so obviously under some level of personal stress, blames me or verbally
assaults me with such unabashed fervor. It reminds me of the portion in
Orwell's 1984 where people gather for the "2 Minutes Hate" and viscously
scream and carry on like rabid dogs at the "enemy" on the screen. The
image on the screen is the target of resentment and fury, and of course,
unable to strike back. Screaming and raging at this two-dimensional
image is a seemingly efficient and safe way to get the sewers in the
brain unclogged. (Of course, it's all pointless. Orwell is showing us
that his repressed society is missing the real problem/target
altogether; their own political and social powerlessness.)
"Like 'Road Rage,' the perpetrator finds
a temporary sense of release and relief,
but a deeper examination will show
nothing is really solved..."
In my case, I write and publish regular and numerous articles and email
list bulletins. I of course never sign anybody up to my email list, they
must voluntarily do it themselves. And, it should be very clear from my
web site what type and style of articles I write. Naturally, one need
not stay at my web site nor even visit it to begin with. Never the less,
every once in a while a person either dislikes my opinion or an article
I publish, and rather than just change the "channel", this person feels
that "Yes! I will tell this person (me) they are so completely full of
s-it, and I will tell them in a way that deliberately hurts them and
I'll feel better and POWERFUL!" It is rage that technology has made
safe. Computer Rage.
Using a computer, people will say things and say them in a way that they
would never say person to person. It is the venting of frustration,
disappointment, and failure that suddenly finds a target that apparently
can't strike back: One is raging at little dots on a glass screen--- so
it's "okay". As in the "2 Minutes Hate", a computer rage delivers a
temporary sense of release and relief, but a deeper examination will
show nothing is really solved and the source of anger lies within the
individual with his/her inability to cope or guide one's life situation.
Today I read in the paper, that a young man had recently pleaded a
defense of feeling "Internet Safe", for having made threats over the
email towards a student at Columbine High School. His lawyer pleaded the
defendant felt "It's just on the computer, so it isn't real." Computer
Rage strikes.
Out of thousands of emails I receive, only a minute fraction are indeed
Computer Rage. The odds are probably the same as Road Rage; you pass
thousands of people on the road before you come across a temporarily
insane character out of control. And of course, the best course of
action is just to go on your way. "Don't Poke A Skunk" is very good
advice.
Unfortunately, no matter how detached you try and be, when someone is
negative towards you, even on a cold computer screen, you feel it. And
in society, there is so much thrashing about, it's nearly impossible to
stay completely out of harms way. Add to this instant access to millions
of individuals on the Internet and you're in a technological pool of
humanity where it is inevitable that angry people will hurl eggs at
you for no reason. Additionally, if you are an email list moderator, you
are an especially vulnerable target, since thousands of people get your
email address with every post. And, if somebody has a bad day, nothing
easier than for someone to curse you out since your email address is
like a big billboard advertising "Kick Me!"
The same modern technology that allows Computer Rage also allows us to
easily get drawn into pointless fighting that feeds on itself. One can
quickly click back into reactive self-defense/counter attack as you
type- the keyboard clicks along as your brain clicks downward into fight
or flight neurocircuitry.
Involving yourself in such computer hijinks instantly shuts off all
higher intelligence that your brain is capable of, rational evaluation,
creativity, intuition, and even access to your brain's paranormal
activity. You can feel the higher centers of the brain shut down as you
get dumber and dumber, adding insult to insult. It is all too easy to
instantly get involved in a computer generated firefight than goes on
and on and on like a microchip cat fight with no end in sight. The
reality is that you can't rationalize with an wild and irrational
emailer. Experience will show that if someone throws a barrage of
insulting verbal stones at you the best revenge is just a simple
automatic click forward................. "Delete".
There is nothing very modern about any kind of Computer Rage at
all. It is just the primitive reptilian portion of the brain expressing
itself through a measly sliver of modern brain. Our new space age tool
of computer mail allows us easy expression and communication across the
entire globe in an instant. But we must remember that especially this
kind of communication requires mutual respect from the very beginning
and throughout. If not, we have just devolved into apes throwing
electronic rocks at each other.
-Neil Slade
The Amazing Brain Music Adventure
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