4 ms·

I think this is a good read when combined with the Gladwell article from the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence?cur

I think this is a good read when combined with the Gladwell article from the New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-violence?currentPage=all http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/thresholds-of-v...). I'm not against gun control efforts or better mental health efforts (whatever that might mean) but I think that both articles suggest that a lot of progress can be made in figuring out how to arrest this kind of societal disconnect. In the days after Columbine, there was a huge reaction from people who wanted to paint with a really broad brush, along the lines of random kids being potential suspects just because they liked wearing trench coats. John Katz had a project called "Voices From The Hellmouth" over at Slashdot, that invited people that had similar difficulties to write in and share their thoughts and experiences of being bullied or ostracized. I'm convinced that efforts like that can save lives. http://news.slashdot.org/story/99/04/25/1438249/voices-from-the-hellmouth http://news.slashdot.org/story/99/04/25/1438249/voices-from-...

hga 11y ago
Hacker News discussion on the Gladwell article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10380513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10380513
mfoy_ 11y ago
That Gladwell article is a good read, it offers a perspective I hadn't come across before. Not that it really "solves" the problem at all, just casts a different light on it.
arthur_pryor 11y ago
I haven't thought about "Voices From The Hellmouth" in a really long time. I remember reading Slashdot a ton in high school and college (maybe 97 or 98 through 02?). Then, not so much. FWIW, HN, esp when I first found it a few years ago, reminded me a lot of what I loved about the discussion on Slashdot back in the day. Anyway, the actual point of this comment: much of what's described in "Voices From The Hellmouth" would now fit comfortably under the currently fashionable term "microagression." I'd bet that many posters on HN and elsewhere who think that microaggressions aren't a thing worth real concern, are also the sorts of people who were/are picked on in the way that "Hellmouth" catalogs so vividly. And for the record, I'm not saying that the prevailing view on HN is that microaggressions aren't real, or that most people who deny them were bullied geeks. Just that there are probably a lot of bullied or formerly bullied geeks who deny the significance of such social ostracism, even though they experienced it themselves. Ironic, but not unexpected: people without power often end up at odds with one another when they should be looking for common ground and empathizing with one another. Still, sad. I always find it really painful to watch minorities be racist, to watch geeks pick on other geeks for lacking social graces, to watch women be unfeminist, etc. Well, sometimes it's darkly hilarious. But still painful.
- deleted 11y ago
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- dropit_sphere 11y ago
  >Ironic, but not unexpected: people without power often end up at odds with one another when they should be looking for common ground and empathizing with one another From a certain altitude this is true, but what usually happens is the top plays the bottom off against the middle. From the perspective of the middle, both are enemies.

hga 11y ago

Hacker News discussion on the Gladwell article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10380513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10380513

mfoy_ 11y ago

That Gladwell article is a good read, it offers a perspective I hadn't come across before. Not that it really "solves" the problem at all, just casts a different light on it.

arthur_pryor 11y ago

I haven't thought about "Voices From The Hellmouth" in a really long time. I remember reading Slashdot a ton in high school and college (maybe 97 or 98 through 02?). Then, not so much. FWIW, HN, esp when I first found it a few years ago, reminded me a lot of what I loved about the discussion on Slashdot back in the day. Anyway, the actual point of this comment: much of what's described in "Voices From The Hellmouth" would now fit comfortably under the currently fashionable term "microagression." I'd bet that many posters on HN and elsewhere who think that microaggressions aren't a thing worth real concern, are also the sorts of people who were/are picked on in the way that "Hellmouth" catalogs so vividly. And for the record, I'm not saying that the prevailing view on HN is that microaggressions aren't real, or that most people who deny them were bullied geeks. Just that there are probably a lot of bullied or formerly bullied geeks who deny the significance of such social ostracism, even though they experienced it themselves. Ironic, but not unexpected: people without power often end up at odds with one another when they should be looking for common ground and empathizing with one another. Still, sad. I always find it really painful to watch minorities be racist, to watch geeks pick on other geeks for lacking social graces, to watch women be unfeminist, etc. Well, sometimes it's darkly hilarious. But still painful.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dropit_sphere 11y ago
>Ironic, but not unexpected: people without power often end up at odds with one another when they should be looking for common ground and empathizing with one another From a certain altitude this is true, but what usually happens is the top plays the bottom off against the middle. From the perspective of the middle, both are enemies.