Brain damage from reading someone's post?

[Tom L.]

To answer the original question: Well... no. I might have less respect for someone for posting something mean-spirited that they wouldn't dare say to someone's face... or even if they're nasty enough to SAY it to their face. But then again, I probably wouldn't have met them in real-life anyway.

I get the impression that the feeling of anonymity the Internet gives sometimes lets people feel they can get away with expressing stuff they would normally feel inhibited from expressing. I tend not to give it much weight in that case. There was a message board I visited briefly that had a huge amount of nastiness going on, and I just stopped going there years ago.

I can't say that I have experienced this. But I often see/read things that hurt my heart. Perhaps because I'm not particularly intellectual, but rather run by emotions.

Actually, FWIW, you've always struck me as having a good balance between emotion and intellect.

 

[Mark Mywordz]

It's already buried and in the past.

I wonder sometimes, whether the world was a better place pre FB ?

I don't do FB but the world was always a wonderful place and a horrendously bad place at the same time, I think. I believe that we learn as much from the bad posts as from the good ones. By exposing bad ideas to the gaze of others, there is at least an opportunity to discuss them and think more deeply about them.

 

[VegFred]

I won’t say brain damage but I use to get very confused when reading in forums; everyone has their opinion and backed it with what they knew or believed to be true. When these opinions varied, or even opposed each other, it could be very confusing which one to accept or believe.

But now I understand that it is important or maybe even healthy to have varied opinions, that way we learn from each other and perhaps grow together.