Shit, dude, I moderate a default subreddit. We ban people for hate speech and unban them for haikus. Any guesses what percentage of hate speech-employing redditors are incapable of correctly executing a haiku the first time? Any guesses as to how they generally respond for being told they're not allowed to call people faggots just 'cuz their no-homo internet bros think it's cool? So don't worry 'bout frustration; my tolerance is pretty high. Anyways. That's another tab in the browser. To the point: The mechanism you're talking about is tribalism. This is how we can form a visceral hatred of NE Patriots fans, or suddenly revile that nice couple you've been hanging out with when it's revealed that they're Republicans. Simply put, our identity is tied up in our allegiances and the stronger those allegiances, the greater our identity. More than that, once someone has been coerced into doing something they wouldn't do if it weren't for the tribalism, they're driven further into the tribe. This is the mechanism employed in hazing - one of us, one of us, one of us, etc. Works great for Kony et. al. It gets to the point where someone who has nothing against, say, smart people will happily shout for intellectuals to be shot because whoever is telling the dogs how to bark has dictated that intellectuals should be shot. In the end, the tribe matters more than other social allegiances, and if it's useful for the tribe leader to wipe out the intellectuals, the intellectuals will be wiped out.Go moderate the rest of those fucking subs and watch your life slowly slip away underneath your fedora. You think me saying faggot is hateful? You are a moderator of a sub that literally calls out a redditor and hates on him. Fucking hypocrite cunt
Ah, damn. Reddit feels like a necessary evil at times--I hate a lot of people who use it, I'm neutral towards the majority, and the top 15% (on my own completely objective and fair scale) are pretty cool. If Hubski were bigger, I could see myself spending all my time here. (Also, any theories on why we're so small?) You might be interested in reading about social identiy theory, though I assume you probably know something about it already (I'm forming theories of omniscience around you). I'd encourage you to follow the links in the introduction section if they interest you, particularly the ones concerning self-categorization theory. I can get out some actual authors and my own analysis if you'd like, but it'd require shuffling through some notes, so wikipedia will have to suffice for now. It's a psychological view of the anthropological phenomenon of tribalism, I think it might appeal to you. Also, I'd like to realize my parenthesis to paragraph ratio is pretty high.
The trick is to only opine on subjects you understand, and to ask polite questions about subjects you don't. At least, that's what I try to remind myself. I like finding out new things so I try not to be an asshole when I'm on shaky ground. Well, wait. I try not to be an asshole anyway (believe it or not) but I try harder when I don't know what I'm talking about. Often that involves shutting the hell up. I've heard of social identity theory, but only in passing amongst the pop psychology I tend to devour. I do far better with books than with Wikipedia so if you have recommendations, I'm all ears. Literally. I can do two or three audiobooks a month but printed matter I'm around 2 a year.