Does OTC breed hyperbole?

I've noticed that the political opinions people promote here seem to be much more extreme than anything I see in real life. Does the nature of the internet cause people to adopt more radical views than they do in real life, or is this particular forum just a draw for these people?

Kill all math nerds

I think, in general, people with strong opinions are also more outspoken about them, especially when they can stay anonymous while doing so. That's also a problem with open online polls, for example. If you have a moderate opinion or are not sure about what to think, or you plain don't care, you are less likely to go out of your way to participate in a discussion. Leading to a silent moderate majority and a vocal minority with more radical views.

Love truth, but pardon error. - Voltaire

Unless you have backing of a political organization, it can be risky to be as outspoken about most topics as you'd like to be. Many people would rather not alienate their co-workers or upset their employers if they have an unpopular view. Online that's not as big a deal if your name isn't attached to your opinion. I can say we should decriminalixze most non-violent crimes and no one bats an eye on the Internet, but it's not so easy in person.

So, some of it may be hyperbole, but otherwise it runs the gamut of sincere opinion to GIFT.

I think a lot of people assume a rather extreme standpoint just for the sake of discussion. At least I do every now and then.

Yes. [[/Thread]]

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.

In RL, there is a simple problem: People WILL hate the guts out of you if you start presenting your radical position, no matter how reasonable you do it.
On the internet you lose that accountability, and hence will start acting like you really want to.
The other thing is: You never get to see a properly diverse community IRL, so it could be a RL hyperbole too.

A guy called dvorak is tired. Tired of humanity not wanting to change to improve itself. Quite the sad tale.

GIFT

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.

All the stuff people above me have said. This isn't strictly limited to political discussions online, either, although it's particularly obvious in such topics. Go to any forum dedicated to anything and you'll find two armed war camps - the highly positives and the highly negatives.

This forum is actually a heck of a lot better than most about culturing an environment for moderates to thrive. It's just that threads that go 'Wow, that's a reasonable point' 'Thank you for saying so, you had some good points too' die after a few posts because there's nothing else to say, while the hot and cold wars go on for page after page because both sides are happy to keep arguing as long as they have breath to argue. And I will admit that that goes for me as much as for anyone else as far as my pet topics go.

If you want to see some REALLY hyperbolic forums, go look at the ones for Blizzard's games. Or Valve's. Gamers react to frustration at lack of input in the patching process by screaming about how their favorite game is ruined every time a new patch comes out.

Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.

I enjoy this forum. And what ^ said, I see people actually agree to stuff here. Considering how varied the fora is, this is a good thing.

Not that we're free from our share of ugly spats, though.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

People like using the troll card here to try and discredit what the people they disagree with say. Anything that is blunt, garbled or difficult to tack to one side of the conversation or another can be passed off as a troll comment and completely ignored (which means they "win".)

Alpha Parum est esse aliquid.

I have resisted the urge to simply call "troll" a few times - it's almost a thought-terminating cliche to dissuade one from considering the opposite viewpoint any further, I think.

I don't always succeed, though. Even if I don't actively post it, sometimes I think it, which then taints how I view later posts by the same person, even if they're making a very valid point that I should pay attention to.

That said, trolls do exist.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

I'm sure that some people probably do exaggerate their opinions, but that happens in Real Life too. Look at the ridiculous posturing and exaggerated emotions you see in televised debates from the (British)House of Commons, for instance, or even some debating societies.

For me GIFT really comes into play when people won't follow the rules of civilised discussion. You don't have to swear an oath that you'd stick by every opinion you ever claimed in front of a firing squad. Just don't act like a dick about them.

"Well, it's a lifestyle"

Eh, there's a difference between trolling and putting the opponent's argument balls to the wall. Still, hyperbole does have a point to it and that's to see how much mileage you can get out of a certain viewpoint or argument. I prefer my beliefs to go the distance.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.

Myr, you'll never know people's real views in a context where they can be punished for a dissenting opinion.

“Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled.” — St. Bernard

For once, I agree with Rottweiler. The nature of the internet causes people to be more forthcoming about their views. I suspect there are plenty of us who don't talk about our real political/philosophical views in meatspace at all, who pretend to have different, "safe" views, or else avoid the subject entirely.

OTC probably is a draw compared to the rest of tvtropes, but in my experience, it's actually relatively conventional compared to forums elsewhere on the net, forums hosted by sites that are devoted primarily to politics/philosophy rather than popular culture. tvtropes is the only place I've ever posted where people have been skeptical as to whether my views are sincere.

I can't imagine why.

Kill all math nerds

Huh, I've always felt that it reduces hyperbole. Picture your average person who is into politics. They will likely be somewhat defensive of their "side" and have strong but ill-formed opinions.

Actually discussing things on here though, makes opinions much more specific, but also makes things gray&gray. There are only a couple of issues which might breed such intensity and polarization, notably homosexuality and abortion, perhaps religion as well. But those are always polarizing ideas anyways, so you couldn't say that OTC breeds them.

I guess if there were on thing that causes hyperbole at all, it's the fact that the build of most tropers looks something like this, thereby strengthening certain opinions:

• Atheist/agnostic
• left wing
• Homosexual
• 14-25 years old
• At least one mental weakness (such as autism or OCD)
• Poor childhood?

Sort of.

I don't know how prevalent those are, but they seem to be very common. As a result, certain opinions will get respected quite a bit, while others will be ostracized.

That isn't really a flaw though; since when does each opinion need to be "fairly" represented?

edited 8th Apr '11 10:19:09 AM by TheMightyAnonym

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! ~ GOD

Another reason is that people rarely get into discussion in the first place if they do not have a strong opinion about an issue.

But yes, this one agrees that the main factor is an ability to be more outspoken about one's beliefs than in real life...or on some other boards. We are used to weirdness, but that does not mean that weirdness wasn't there before - it merely was inadvisable to express.

Honestly, this one sees much more hyperbole in real life. Sure, the expressed positions themselves are much less extreme, but they are also much less nuanced.

If we disagree, that much, at least, we have in common

Hyperbole doesn't breed, it reproduces asexually.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

You forgot one demographic: Single.

(I fit none of those. I am truly an aberration.)

edit: i kant slep todai

edited 8th Apr '11 4:21:21 PM by pvtnum11

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

How is this any different from the media IRL, where to be influential and heard you have to throw your lot in with one side or the other, and there's no such thing as a moderate opinion most of the time?

I can turn on the news and not hear people advocating the immediate execution of every policeman ever, for one thing.

Kill all math nerds

I can also open a thread and have the same thing. It happens on the news and on the net.

Who watches the watchmen?

If you believe Newsweek, moderates in America are statistically the least informed and most apathetic about politics, and We All Live in America, so perhaps they're just avoiding these threads.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Um

Kill all math nerds