Lately, I have been dwelling on the motivations and mindsets of people who gain pleasure from the suffering of others, who enjoy insulting others, trying to anger or hurt them. I've always found the motivations of griefers curious - I remember one time I was trying to do a photoshoot in China and a crowd of 4-6 people kept rezzing piles and piles of things over and over again, obscuring the beauty of the sim. I took some time to report them, but did not engage. Yesterday, I watched someone who has been stalking a few individuals and a store group for years due to some old offense come into chat, say things to upset people, and then even after he had been silenced stick around to watch. It seemed a waste of time to me, but obviously was not to him. Later that evening, I watched a group of people spread misinformation to each other, whipping up discontent with Linden Labs who responded hostility to any indication there might be a second point of view, however mildly put. After some discussion, growing more and more heated, I simply closed the group chat; I like the store, but endless complaining annoys me.
Today, I watched three people attempt to disrupt a philosophical discussion at a philosophy sim. This included claiming there would be a police state based on a school of philosophical thought; gross hyperbole if I've ever heard it. Multiple times in the discussion, irrelevant things like insulting psychology (and conflating Skinner behaviorism with the entirety of psychology) or even the gender of two of the discussioners (obviously I and the other female speaking up weren't "real" women) were brought up in an attempt to divert the conversation and upset the participants. A discussion did eventually occur vaguely on the topic, but the effort to ignore the insults and have a discussion instead of a series of pronouncement robbed the hour of much of its pleasure. It reminded me more strongly why I had left philosophy over a year ago; how bored I had become of series of "gotcha" traps, inaccurate use of logical fallacies, and bald pronouncements passing themselves off as discussion - not to mention the insulting dismissal of most people by several of the louder participants.
Similar to this web of judgement is some recent things within the worlds of fashion and blogging. On the one hand, I am not a huge fan of very deformed avatars - whether they tend to the abnormally tall and thin or the invisible unicorn and frowny face set. On the other hand I do worry, as I have said before, about the extensive history of women judging women as a means of keeping us from reaching our best potentials. Ironically, this includes critiquing other women for critiquing - complicated are the paths of re-imagining relationships. Echoes of people outright saying others should not blog, or should not put pictures of flickr disturb me, though - the only way people can learn is if they attempt and get back feedback, and some people less want to learn and more want to simply measure their experiences and record bright spots. In addition, other people have impaired computer capabilities - I, for example, do what I do on a laptop.
I suppose what I'm saying, in a long-winded manner - is that I've personally grown bored of spending much time or attention on denigrating or undermining other people. I find joy and pleasure in supporting other people, sharing experiences and cheering each other on, combining knowledge so that we all learn more and get a clearer picture of the world, and avidly following local dramas to see how people react because it's incredibly fascinating.
( More pictures here. )
Credits:
Skin: De La Soul, Aestali - Cream Rose
Eyes: De La Soul, RooMee Eyes - Rainbow
Eyeshadow: Mock, Fae-ry UnCertain Scarepia (group gift)
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ears
Lipstick: Mock, Mizu Lipgloss - Mock Russian
Eyelashes 1: Flugeln Brise, 05-A Planty
Eyelashes 2: *X*plosion, PrimLashes
Glasses: Air, Cresta
Hair: Truth, Maggie (Mesh)
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Wings
Ring 1: Alchemy Immortalis, "Tiwi" Nestling Finger Talisman
Ring 2: Earthstones, Eternal Blossom Ring
Dress: Favole, Edged - Red (mesh)
Feet: Lassitude & Ennui, Flutter boots - cardinal (Back in Black event)
Poses: Glitterati
Location: On Thin Ice
Light Settings: Places Las Legunas
Water Settings: TOR, Placida brite
Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only
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