-By Warner Todd Huston
The Internet can make you stupid and an exchange I had on a science fiction/comic book board is yet more proof of that.
The subject at hand was the effect mutants would have on humanity. I contended that people with mutant powers would end up becoming an oppressive force because their superior abilities would give them unstoppable powers against “normal” people who have no such abilities.
Even if they started out as a minority they’d eventually fight back and their enhanced abilities would not only allow them to win but they would then go on become a major threat to non-powered humans. This, I said, is human nature. Humans with power — even the figurative power of the majority-controlled political establishment that we’ve seen in history — always worked to oppress minorities to some extent and often to the worst extent possible. From royalty, to religious tyrannies, to communism, they all either used the power of the majority, the raw power of might, or a combination of both to oppress the undesirables.
I then used this example to illustrate my point:
We all know that the Nazis forced Jews into a ghetto and starved them out before moving in for the kill. But what if those Jews could melt steel with their eyes? Do you think they’d all be tame enough to let humans with no powers at all keep them caged in a ghetto and slowly murdered? No way. They’d have used their powers to fight back and they’d likely have won. Then they’d move to make sure it didn’t happen again and THEY would take over. Human nature says it cannot go any other way.
Now, because the sci fi/comics board is filled with young liberals who have been brought up imagining that mutants are the perfect example of the oppressed minority (because that is how they are portrayed in comic books that used “mutants” as an allegorical stand in for real minorities oppressed in our modern society) this idea of mine did not sit well with them. They almost to a respondent disliked my point and argued against it.
Since this article is not about my theory, I will not bother listing their retorts to my idea. I am not bothering with their counter theories because I am here to talk about how a herd mentality on self-segregated websites makes you stupid.
So, I continued to argue for my position and got some good retorts but one idiot proved how stupid the Internet can make what might be an otherwise smart person. And here is the response that did it:
Amazing, everyone who disagreed with you (which far outwieghed those who did), seem in your estimation to be all wrong and suffering from logic problems. What’s one to do? You are tuly the superior intellect here and we were all wrong ever to doubt you. We bow before you.
His misspellings aside, let’s think about what this guy just said…
Firstly, I posted my replies under my own, actual name. Those who replied to the debate were all using kitschy, fake screen names like “rancorr” and “Anecdatum.” Not that this necessarily invalidates a good reply, but anonymity like this is generally an excuse to be a jerk on the Internet, let’s face it.
But besides that, let’s consider what this guy was saying about me… on second thought, I’ll just give you my sarcastic reply to him as a starting point:
LOL> Yeah, because random people on a message board who all come from similar points of view MUST mean I am wrong if I disagree with them. Seriously. Do you even read what you post? If I went to a socialism board and said capitalism was good… I’d be wrong? If I went to a baseball board and said baseball sucks, I’d be wrong? If I went to a racist board and said blacks are OK by me, I’d be wrong? Further, why would I give up my point of view merely because a bunch of “people” with fake names… like maybe Anecdatum… think I’m wrong? Why have a point of view at all if such slight opposition can make you abandon your position? You make me laugh, lil fella.
That’s right, this guy imagined that his five or so fellow commenters on a comic book site MSUT be right because they all disagree with me — the lone dissenter. Seriously? This guy has so insulated himself that he imagined his few “friends” (meaning people he doesn’t really know, hasn’t met, and won’t either) must be right because they are on the same site and all agree with each other.
Is this guy so insular that he doesn’t imagine there could possible be clearly reasoned opposition to his and his few pals’ idea?
Seriously, this twerp needs to get out more and understand that there is a great big world out there and some people just won’t worship his Internet pals’ opinions.
But what is sad is the base assumptions in his reply and those are these:
- The five people who agreed with him took on in his mind the weight of some sort of massive majority that disproves all opposition.
- Because this foolish young fellow agrees with the majority on his favorite website he is clearly right. In other words his insular pals validate him, so any opposition must be wrong.
- Someone who meets opposition should instantly disavow his own opinion merely because he meets opposition.
… and more troubling…
- Someone with an opposing opinion should just shut up.
This is the Internet in microcosm, unfortunately. It really can make you stupid and stop you from thinking.
____________
“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Follow Warner Todd Huston on:
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing news, opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that wrote articles on U.S. history for several American history magazines. Huston is a featured writer for Andrew Breitbart’s Breitbart News, and he appears on such sites as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, Federalist Papers, and many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
NOTE: If you want to comment, for some reason our Facebook comments section takes a bit of time to load. It’ll pop up soon. Thanks