Old-fashioned hostility in a digital world

Everyone has an opinion. Nearly everyone has access to the Internet. Therefore, nearly everyone has the ability voice his or her opinion in a worldwide forum.

And along with this, of course, nearly everyone has the ability to sarcastically, maliciously, and, most importantly, anonymously reply to everyone else’s opinions.

People have always had differences of opinions and disagreed with each other’s ideas. The first cavemen probably disagreed over how to best use fire.

Dug: Fire make meat warm and tasty.

Blort: Fire make light and make night night go away.

Dug: Fire make tasty!

Blort: Fire make light!

(Dug hits Blort over the head with a club, takes fire and lights cave-lady’s cigarette).

This difference in opinions represents how disagreements have always been handled. Each party knew the other party, and the two had to work it out, face to face. Both had to deal with the consequences of putting forth an opinion.

That’s how it used to be, anyway. Now it’s different.