Why Haters Hate: Kierkegaard Explains the Psychology of Trolling in 1847
I don&#x27;t think this article adequately captures the problem. I&#x27;ll try to illustrate.<p>I explained to my children about the 2 US candidates. I described both of them as bullies and said they promote a culture of bullying. We discussed how they set a bad example for the broader community and how media condones this behaviour.<p>I was picking up my children from school when one young boy called me by my first name in a mocking tone. I approached him and asked how his day was and took a moment to ask about him. When I now see this boy, he goes out of his way to say hello.<p>I recently went to a computer club open day. The rules were &quot;we will only allow the same number of boys in as girls&quot;. I looked around and saw about 20 boys and 1 girl. I went to this girl and her mother and said &quot;good on you for giving it a go, a variety of experiences is essential to helping you find your true self&quot;. The mother went on a sexist rant about patriarchal societies (the usual politically correct thinking) and I said &quot;why would you deny any child the opportunity? Why would you force the same numbers of girls and boys? What&#x27;s gone wrong in such basic thinking?&quot; She stopped the hardcore feminist routine and apologised. She was big enough to say &quot;no one has ever put it like that, that really makes sense&quot;.<p>The problem with hate is that the Internet has given it a collective voice of monumental proportions. Our community leaders have let us down by selectively promoting prejudice (eg. Emma Watson is glorified for hypocrisy) while aggressively condemning others, especially passive people like Matt Taylor. What&#x27;s worse is that most people don&#x27;t recognise hate and bullying when they see it, or they are apathetic to it.<p>My simple rule: if someone promotes one group over another, they are as bad as someone who excludes or vilifies a group (especially politically correct people who are huge bullies). These people who marginalise are the true haters and bullies. The article really misses the breadth of hate and bullying.<p>Thought for the day. Do a search on breast cancer websites. How many of these sites do you think alienate men who suffer from the condition? Why do you think many of these sites quote percentages of male victims?