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I would contend that: (a) everyone universally fantasizes about nonconformity at one time or another (go ahead, disagree), (b) almost everyone has too much of

I would contend that: (a) everyone universally fantasizes about nonconformity at one time or another (go ahead, disagree), (b) almost everyone has too much of a stake in their life to actually follow through on it, so they bottle it up, (c) a number of hobbies exist to "blow off [that] steam" or otherwise find catharsis, but not everyone finds these, (d) those who troll like this have found their hobby that works for them and are actually more psychologically healthy than those who have not. Just a theory. I've known some trolls who are easily among the smartest, sanest people in the world, and who are totally normal in all other aspects of their lives. Some are dear friends. This activity has been described in these terms by more than one of them. Countercultural behavior is practically a rhythm throughout history, and trolling is the Internet's counterculture, which can be mean because of anonymity. Some people go too far with it, yes. Some people go too far with anything, though. My point is be careful ascribing psychological illness to something you do not understand. That is crazy. Trolls don't care what you think. If you and many others respond by calling them crazy, what are you really saying? Think about it. Appealing to a good and decent society that ought to do something about this menace is pretty strange, too. I have trolled before. I'm not good at it, but I have. I can vouch for the positive feeling it produces and I've come to terms with what that means about me and my self. This is the thesis of numerous psychological works as well as, say, Fight Club (it's uncanny how well that story fits the big points I hit on, including taking it too far and plurality of self, and I don't think anyone disagrees that Palahniuk was onto something).

bobby_9x 11y ago
"Just a theory. I've known some trolls who are easily among the smartest, sanest people in the world, and who are totally normal in all other aspects of their lives. Some are dear friends. This activity has been described in these terms by more than one of them." If trolling was in a vacuum, I would say go for it. But it's not. The trolling described in this article have real consequences and hurt real people. It's pretty well known that really smart people suffer from mental issues more often than the rest. "My point is be careful ascribing psychological illness to something you do not understand. That is crazy." It's not that I don't understand it. Frankly, I'm tired of dealing with it and wish more people would just exclude these trolls completely from society. psychological illness or not, it's causing real-world damage to many people. Trolling actually hurts many causes. For instance, it hurt gamer gate. Instead of just letting the facts sit, trolls have to make things up. "I have trolled before. I'm not good at it, but I have. I can vouch for the positive feeling it produces and I've come to terms with what that means about me and my self." That you're an asshole? "This is the thesis of numerous psychological works as well as, say, Fight Club (in a way)." Your entire post is glorifying trolling. I'm not entirely sure why. I actually see trolling as an act of someone with lower intelligence. If you don't have a real point to make, you need to cover it up. It also causes me to instantly ignore anything you say in the future.
- deleted 11y ago
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- EC1 11y ago
  A real troll you wouldn't even know. The idea is to get your entire mentality in the tip of their finger so they can wind you up and down whenever they need to.
  - hluska 11y ago
    What kind of healthy individual would gain any sort of pleasure from taking that level of control over another?
    - EC1 11y ago
      Executives.
    - unimpressive 11y ago
      I think taking any sort of behavior we don't like and saying obviously no decent person could enjoy it therefore it's only for those who are pathological[0] betrays a gross misunderstanding of decency. It is in fact fun for normal people to act like a dick, in the same way that it's fun to shoot roadsigns or piss on the sidewalk. The reason we don't do these things is a mixture of training (we all know doing these things will make society worse off, perhaps we personally don't like it when we're driving along and a roadsign has been shot up), consequences (people will probably think less of you for urinating on sidewalks, it's illegal, etc) and maybe a healthy dose of inbuilt aesthetic and moral standards, empathy (how much and to what extent these really end up resulting in object-level actions as opposed to determining on what axis object level actions will be inhibited doesn't seem clear cut to me). People who are willing to go around dominating and exploiting others for the sake of mere petty cruelty are unpleasant, the common term is 'bully'. Few people would want to be on the receiving end of it. Most people find this behavior less than charming. There is also the element of personal danger, who wants to be around somebody that might manipulate them for fun? So it makes sense to play up how different we are from such people, because that shows others how righteous and safe we are to be around. However as the child with the magnifying glass who burns ants shows, the capacity for petty cruelty is within all of us. [0]: There are some behaviors which are pretty much reserved for pathological people, but the set is probably smaller than we imagine.
6stringmerc 11y ago
>Trolls don't care what you think. False. Trolls derive joy from the grief of others that they have inflicted. That's what trolling is. See also: Sadism Being a 'Contrarian' is different than trolling, but that takes some mental work to see how it can be constructive rather than simply a knee-jerk habit to elicit a negative response.
- EC1 11y ago
  >False. Trolls derive joy from the grief of others that they have inflicted. That's what trolling is. See also: Sadism You are trying to frame something fundamentally illogical, logically. Trolling just is. It's narcissism at its peak. Trolling is the opposite of charisma. It's making your point in an extremely childish and negative way instead of educating someone on something and getting them to see your point of view. It's step 1 of persuasion, except most people have moved past this phase subconsciously (as in obviously name calling and acting like a baby won't get you what you want) and those who haven't, are branded as trolls.
- jsmthrowaway 11y ago
  I meant they don't care about your opinion of them personally; otherwise, you are mostly correct.
deleted 11y ago
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bobby_9x 11y ago

"Just a theory. I've known some trolls who are easily among the smartest, sanest people in the world, and who are totally normal in all other aspects of their lives. Some are dear friends. This activity has been described in these terms by more than one of them." If trolling was in a vacuum, I would say go for it. But it's not. The trolling described in this article have real consequences and hurt real people. It's pretty well known that really smart people suffer from mental issues more often than the rest. "My point is be careful ascribing psychological illness to something you do not understand. That is crazy." It's not that I don't understand it. Frankly, I'm tired of dealing with it and wish more people would just exclude these trolls completely from society. psychological illness or not, it's causing real-world damage to many people. Trolling actually hurts many causes. For instance, it hurt gamer gate. Instead of just letting the facts sit, trolls have to make things up. "I have trolled before. I'm not good at it, but I have. I can vouch for the positive feeling it produces and I've come to terms with what that means about me and my self." That you're an asshole? "This is the thesis of numerous psychological works as well as, say, Fight Club (in a way)." Your entire post is glorifying trolling. I'm not entirely sure why. I actually see trolling as an act of someone with lower intelligence. If you don't have a real point to make, you need to cover it up. It also causes me to instantly ignore anything you say in the future.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
EC1 11y ago
A real troll you wouldn't even know. The idea is to get your entire mentality in the tip of their finger so they can wind you up and down whenever they need to.
- hluska 11y ago
  What kind of healthy individual would gain any sort of pleasure from taking that level of control over another?
  - EC1 11y ago
    Executives.
  - unimpressive 11y ago
    I think taking any sort of behavior we don't like and saying obviously no decent person could enjoy it therefore it's only for those who are pathological[0] betrays a gross misunderstanding of decency. It is in fact fun for normal people to act like a dick, in the same way that it's fun to shoot roadsigns or piss on the sidewalk. The reason we don't do these things is a mixture of training (we all know doing these things will make society worse off, perhaps we personally don't like it when we're driving along and a roadsign has been shot up), consequences (people will probably think less of you for urinating on sidewalks, it's illegal, etc) and maybe a healthy dose of inbuilt aesthetic and moral standards, empathy (how much and to what extent these really end up resulting in object-level actions as opposed to determining on what axis object level actions will be inhibited doesn't seem clear cut to me). People who are willing to go around dominating and exploiting others for the sake of mere petty cruelty are unpleasant, the common term is 'bully'. Few people would want to be on the receiving end of it. Most people find this behavior less than charming. There is also the element of personal danger, who wants to be around somebody that might manipulate them for fun? So it makes sense to play up how different we are from such people, because that shows others how righteous and safe we are to be around. However as the child with the magnifying glass who burns ants shows, the capacity for petty cruelty is within all of us. [0]: There are some behaviors which are pretty much reserved for pathological people, but the set is probably smaller than we imagine.

6stringmerc 11y ago

>Trolls don't care what you think. False. Trolls derive joy from the grief of others that they have inflicted. That's what trolling is. See also: Sadism Being a 'Contrarian' is different than trolling, but that takes some mental work to see how it can be constructive rather than simply a knee-jerk habit to elicit a negative response.

EC1 11y ago
>False. Trolls derive joy from the grief of others that they have inflicted. That's what trolling is. See also: Sadism You are trying to frame something fundamentally illogical, logically. Trolling just is. It's narcissism at its peak. Trolling is the opposite of charisma. It's making your point in an extremely childish and negative way instead of educating someone on something and getting them to see your point of view. It's step 1 of persuasion, except most people have moved past this phase subconsciously (as in obviously name calling and acting like a baby won't get you what you want) and those who haven't, are branded as trolls.
jsmthrowaway 11y ago
I meant they don't care about your opinion of them personally; otherwise, you are mostly correct.

deleted 11y ago

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