If the title seems right to the point, that is on purpose. It will help me in getting my point across if you know right from the start what I'll be getting at.
When I say we love to hate, I mean it. I believe that there are many reasons behind this, but at the end of the day, it is quite a phenomenon to watch people flock to something to hate on it. Now this hatred can be applied to anything; from TV shows, movies, people of all types/professions, music, and even videogames. Anything is fair game, and if you are of dissenting opinion, just prepare yourself for the firestorm that will be awaiting you.
Now one of the reasons I believe this takes place is the fact that we have to have something to hate. This may sound strange initially, but it should make sense. People never seem satisfied either liking something or disliking something. That dislike has to turn into hatred, it can't just stay as dislike to where the person just ignores it. This is how issues get blown up into proportions that should never be touched. For those involved in the hating, it seems perfectly logically when you are going over-the-top with insults and slurs towards people/groups/events, but to those of us outside it, it looks completely idiotic.
Another reason is the fact that hating is so much easier to do, especially on the Internet. On the Internet, we can abandon all forms of politeness, manners, and just all around good behavior in favor of the exact opposite. As I discussed in an earlier blog, this stems from the fact that we are anonymous on the Internet, so there is rarely, if ever, consequences to what we say. With this freedom in hand, we go to such great lengths to hate and abuse. This of course makes hating so much easier than liking, defending, or just ignoring all together. Also, when you combine that with the mob like mentality that people have when hating, choosing to do the same as them is made even easier since it avoids conflict.
Are there times when being upset and vocalizing your opinion is important? Of course there is, but there is a limit even then. There is a fine line between voicing displeasure over something and suddenly threatening the lives of the people, and their families, involved. This may seem a bit vague, so I will use an example.
My example is with videogames. One of the best to use since it still gets brought up for reasons I've stopped trying to imagine, is Resident Evil 5. As one can guess, this is a sequel to a franchise called Resident Evil. The games are based on survival horror, which is exactly as it sounds, just with zombies. The previous game, Resident Evil 4, was a huge success. Reviewers loved it, gamers loved it, and apparently if you were to ask some people, God himself shed a few tears over it. RE5 was loved as well...at first. This game focused more on action and co-op than horror, though there were still times of horror, just spread out. Where the hate came from was people complaining about the lack of horror. Now this is a fine complaint since there of course will be people who dislike a game no matter what. (Just ask Mario) Where the hate got strange was seeing how just mentioning RE5 in an online conversation would result in yelling matches, or pure caps lock, that never went anywhere. People claim it is the worst game ever made, not just the worst in the series, but the worst EVER. They can go on rants that would tire out even the best public speakers to support themselves and/or bash those that think otherwise.
I bring this up because if you break it down, 90% of the hatred can be boiled down to the 2 reasons I listed earlier. Since RE4 was so universally liked, and because most of the people most likely never played the 3 before that one, RE5 gave them something to hate. With something to hate and the freedom of the Internet at their disposal, they were able to vocalize their dislike as it slowly turned to hatred. As more people joined in, either because they felt the same or because it gave them a chance to fit in, the hate grew until you had a great number of people. For those of us that did like the game, we were quickly targeted and bashed heavily. Now when you see what people say, it has reached the point of absolute idiocy. Maybe I was just taught differently, but when I dislike/hate something, I don't talk about it. I don't go and complain on anything and everything that deals with whatever I don't like.
I know this blog will not suddenly stop pointless hating because as the title says, we love it too much. As I read on an article, there are 4 things that the Internet will ALWAYS love to do/talk about.
4. Ruining childhoods/making great discoveries about childhood things
3. Anything cat related
2. Porn
1. Complaining/hating (Yes, I did place it above porn. That should tell you how much people like it.)
My goal is to make awareness of such things. If you're like me, you have found yourself hating something that you have no clue as to why you're hating it. Perhaps, like me, you just get way to riled up over something that is no big deal. Whatever it is, hopefully this helped in lowering a touch of the hate out there because there sure is enough to last several lifetimes.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Politics and the Media
Now I know that in the world with the Internet, mentioning politics is like having a dirty bomb on the lawn of the White House, nothing good will come out of it. I also know that most people that read this post after seeing the title will think I'm about to go pro-liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, or whatever, but the fact is I'm tired of all sides. The media is also on my list because of how close politics and the media tends to be. Also for the fact that I want to shed light on something rather important, and that is how most issues that people become passionate about issues is due to the attention the media gives it and people are simply unaware of this.
Now, the reason I am tired of all sides in politics is due to the fact that both sides are exactly the same. I know this sounds like blasphemy to people on either side because "I can't be like them!" and that kind of helps in proving my point. Both sides are so bent on being so different, if not the exact opposite, that all they ended up doing is having the exact same stories, just conveniently switching some of the dialogue or circumstances so it fits with their agenda. The biggest way I've seen this is when you ask them why things are in the current state they're in. Their explanations will nearly be identical except for who the ultimate person responsible for the situation is. For two sides claiming to be intellectual, they sure aren't living up to that moniker.
The true irony from the division comes from what George Washington said after his 2 terms as President ended. He warned against political parties because they would divide the nation. He looks like a prophet cause American History is full of division due to political parties, and it only worsens today now that people have flocked to the Internet as a new means of pushing their ideals down other people's throat. (Both sides are guilty of this) Political parties, to be fair, are necessary because the people running for election have to have a backing of some kind, but my focus is how divided it makes everyone as compared to what the parties should be doing; working together towards the same goal.
Now I mention the media because they will turn a story that is no big deal into the biggest thing to happen since Jesus Christ came down to Earth. I do put a big amount of blame on the media itself because they are the ones that make the stories, but I believe the majority of the blame goes upon the people because if they didn't tune in, the ratings would go down, and the media would move onto something else. I say media instead of the news because the Internet does fall under the umbrella term of media and the Internet is just as, if not more, guilty than any news outlet. The biggest, and most recent example, is the whole Chick-fil-a fiasco. The CEO of the company gets asked a simple question, gives a simple answer, and now he is being accused of hate crimes like this is the second coming of Westboro Baptist Church.
Now I don't know how people have been raised, I can only truly vouch for myself, but growing up I was taught that you don't assume things about people. There are 2 simple reasons for this: 1. You wouldn't want the same thing being done to you, 2. You end up turning someone into something they aren't. The sad thing is that is exactly what people have done to not just the CEO, but to everyone that works at Chick-fil-a period. Simple employees have been labeled bigots, homophobes, and other far meaner things depending on their gender. As much as I roll my eyes at this entire situation, it also bugs me that we care more about someone's opinion than about a bad economy or people suffering. What also bugs me is that the same people who are trying to go full riot on the entire company would of been throwing the CEO a parade had he said he agreed with gay marriage.
Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, but I point those things out because the media, including the Internet, began to assume things about the CEO and his company from his one answer. Before you could really have a chance to know what happened, there were protestors, supporters, YouTube videos, posts on Facebook, pages across all other websites, and just an all around explosion over something that should not of been THIS big of a deal. Now perhaps it could of caused some backlash because that happens whenever you stand by your beliefs, but what is happening here is just ridiculous. This isn't the first time that the media has elevated something far beyond what it should of been. What I'm wanting people to do is to become educated on what exactly is the big deal. Some situations are so big of a deal that educated won't calm things down, but it will hopefully cause people to be more thoughtful with what they say in response. An example is that instead of automatically labeling someone a bigot, see what their true beliefs are. Also, ask yourself this one question; is my going around and name calling and judging not the EXACT same thing I'm accusing the other side of? Does perhaps tolerance mean that I have to be ok with people who don't think the same way I do? (I sure hope the answer to that question is obvious)
So in summary, educate yourself over a situation before getting sucked in the latest bandwagon issue. I won't lie, an issue may be a big deal, but a person should decide that for themselves before going around mudslinging and bashing with secondhand knowledge.
Now, the reason I am tired of all sides in politics is due to the fact that both sides are exactly the same. I know this sounds like blasphemy to people on either side because "I can't be like them!" and that kind of helps in proving my point. Both sides are so bent on being so different, if not the exact opposite, that all they ended up doing is having the exact same stories, just conveniently switching some of the dialogue or circumstances so it fits with their agenda. The biggest way I've seen this is when you ask them why things are in the current state they're in. Their explanations will nearly be identical except for who the ultimate person responsible for the situation is. For two sides claiming to be intellectual, they sure aren't living up to that moniker.
The true irony from the division comes from what George Washington said after his 2 terms as President ended. He warned against political parties because they would divide the nation. He looks like a prophet cause American History is full of division due to political parties, and it only worsens today now that people have flocked to the Internet as a new means of pushing their ideals down other people's throat. (Both sides are guilty of this) Political parties, to be fair, are necessary because the people running for election have to have a backing of some kind, but my focus is how divided it makes everyone as compared to what the parties should be doing; working together towards the same goal.
Now I mention the media because they will turn a story that is no big deal into the biggest thing to happen since Jesus Christ came down to Earth. I do put a big amount of blame on the media itself because they are the ones that make the stories, but I believe the majority of the blame goes upon the people because if they didn't tune in, the ratings would go down, and the media would move onto something else. I say media instead of the news because the Internet does fall under the umbrella term of media and the Internet is just as, if not more, guilty than any news outlet. The biggest, and most recent example, is the whole Chick-fil-a fiasco. The CEO of the company gets asked a simple question, gives a simple answer, and now he is being accused of hate crimes like this is the second coming of Westboro Baptist Church.
Now I don't know how people have been raised, I can only truly vouch for myself, but growing up I was taught that you don't assume things about people. There are 2 simple reasons for this: 1. You wouldn't want the same thing being done to you, 2. You end up turning someone into something they aren't. The sad thing is that is exactly what people have done to not just the CEO, but to everyone that works at Chick-fil-a period. Simple employees have been labeled bigots, homophobes, and other far meaner things depending on their gender. As much as I roll my eyes at this entire situation, it also bugs me that we care more about someone's opinion than about a bad economy or people suffering. What also bugs me is that the same people who are trying to go full riot on the entire company would of been throwing the CEO a parade had he said he agreed with gay marriage.
Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, but I point those things out because the media, including the Internet, began to assume things about the CEO and his company from his one answer. Before you could really have a chance to know what happened, there were protestors, supporters, YouTube videos, posts on Facebook, pages across all other websites, and just an all around explosion over something that should not of been THIS big of a deal. Now perhaps it could of caused some backlash because that happens whenever you stand by your beliefs, but what is happening here is just ridiculous. This isn't the first time that the media has elevated something far beyond what it should of been. What I'm wanting people to do is to become educated on what exactly is the big deal. Some situations are so big of a deal that educated won't calm things down, but it will hopefully cause people to be more thoughtful with what they say in response. An example is that instead of automatically labeling someone a bigot, see what their true beliefs are. Also, ask yourself this one question; is my going around and name calling and judging not the EXACT same thing I'm accusing the other side of? Does perhaps tolerance mean that I have to be ok with people who don't think the same way I do? (I sure hope the answer to that question is obvious)
So in summary, educate yourself over a situation before getting sucked in the latest bandwagon issue. I won't lie, an issue may be a big deal, but a person should decide that for themselves before going around mudslinging and bashing with secondhand knowledge.
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