Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!oliveb!pyramid!prls!philabs!ttidca!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) Newsgroups: sci.psychology Subject: Re: Curiosity Message-ID: <2398@ttidca.TTI.COM> Date: 26 Apr 88 21:25:50 GMT References: <598@mccc.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcb.tti.com (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 37 In article <598@mccc.UUCP> pjh@mccc.UUCP (Peter J. Holsberg) writes: +After having been on the net for a few months, I described "flames" and +other less-than-polite responses to questions to some clinical +psychologist friends. Each expressed the thought that it would be +interesting to observe a few of the more vociferous flamers in an +attempt to understand them. I have been a little surprised that no one +here has done this -- or at least, if you have, you haven't posted any +results of your observations. ... There have been several studies of flaming behavior, but they're mostly in the CS literature (Communications of the ACM, among others) rather than the psych literature. (I don't have a reference to hand, but I think there's a fairly recent one on my shelf at home). +... What is it that causes otherwise "nice" people to rant and rave on this +medium? Robert E. Howard (author of the original "Conan" stories) proposed a rationale for flaming long before the nets were invented. I don't know how valid his theory is, but I find it intuitively elegant. From approximate memory: Barbarians are always more polite than civilized people because civilized people don't have to be as concerned about having their head split over a verbal insult. Extending this logic to the world of the computer nets, how much less polite can people afford to be if they're not even in the same city as the person they're insulting? I think it's the perceived invulnerability that causes the less mature among us (and even the more mature in heated moments) to lash out. Without fear of serious reprisal, there's nothing to inhibit the behavior. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@TTI.COM) Illegitimati Nil Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax|trwrb}!ttidca!hollombe