For the week 09-05
to 15-05
By the time you read (or say forced to read) this
post, the lock down cycle would have irrevocably broken & society would be
raring to go somewhere (more on this in future). Hopefully the
norms for safety will be observed not only on paper, but also in spirit. Globally
Chinese have done a good job till now of re-opening and keeping the citizenry
awake to the problems. Folks who live and write from Beijing, seem to
appreciate the way Chinese have come back after the lock down. Wishing we would
also do the same, we have capability but my doubts as usual are on our
execution. Time will tell as we say.
I took a detour from norm in my last week’s blog and
connected with my past and people who have had a deep imprint on my thinking. For
that community, I will continue to write a monthly blog in Hindi and cover the
history of the city where I grew up with specific reference to the company
where my father worked. The weekly blog on current, contextual and confluence oriented
will continue on the other side.
So here we go on digital cruelty, imagine you step
out of your home a Monday morning and a perfectly normal uncle/aunty were to
give you tight slap. But obvious you would be shaken down to your core and
question the sanity of the person. Well you would say it never happens and I am
imagining things. And yes, you are right in normal world where we use to live nothing
like this happened, but in virtual world this is becoming a norm.
Internet,
postmodern computing, social media coupled with a lack of comprehensive
identity management online has resulted in a massive upsurge in the abuse and
cruelty all around (left, right and center all are in it). One can pick up anyone
and abuse any one with no thought to what other person goes through. As author Anne Rice of USA, said in her
petition on change .org asking amazon.com to stop anonymous reviews “Whether
you’re a celebrity author or a mom with a décor blog, you’re fair game. Anyone
with a Twitter account and a mean streak can try to parachute into your psyche.”
Nearer home females have had to face worse where
threats for rape, dismembering and more such stuff come to fore. Journalist
Shekhar Gupta (founder of the print and Ex editor of Indian Express) gets a daily dosefor every post he makes (he
has a good article on how he deals with it https://www.shekhargupta.in/2016/09/for-whom-the-bell-trolls/)
a tweet he does or appears on a TV show.
SO, what causes a perfectly civilized person (ok a
normal with some bias person) to become a epitome of cruelty online. I believe
some of it is frustration with himself, his/her surroundings or near blind
belief in his/her views and yes, a sense of triumph over more detailed or
established dogma/views. Once a person gets this opium, virtual world stokes it
with likes, emojis and comfort, with assurance of minimal effort and maximum
damage. The blinker come on fast with a sense of no harm to oneself, the knives
come out and lash out words profane, imbecile and provoking,
The sense of belonging in such situations helps
getting the binary mode activated (remember you are with us or against us). Imagined
or real victory over a view point, event, leader boils the cauldron of dopamine
to find the long-lost sense of achievement. It gives a release and also gives a
sense of bonding over some one’s misery or discomfort. Yes, bonding over positives
is also possible but here the values shared have to be strong otherwise a weaker
bonding. One may want to refer to research on the same on https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-06341-001
In pre Covid world, drifting across the many packages
and assurance from Govts the just barely employed or minimal occupied folks
took up the corners of virtual world as per their likings and past
associations. The drifters, achievers of sorts, lonely bonded and in some cases
I am told monetary inducement also was/is provided to spew the hate, bigotry
and resultant cruelty. Once the cycle starts the controllers (I assume for
every one’s sake these folks are in some one’s control) have to just type 26
words or post a real innocuous idea with multiple dimensions to get the
cauldron going. End of it we have nothing but lots of harsh word and another
dialogue down the drain.
For whose benefit is this happening, my tech brethren
hide behind free speech but know very well that this anonymized version keeps
their pockets full. The cultish leaders who are in power more on the sway then
with substance of any deeper sort or the corporates (I acknowledge that I am
part of this group) for whom sharp messaging equals more sales and consequently
profits or is it the activist who have become mainstream since Clinton and then
Obama got elected in US? I think all of them are linked (US Dollar) in quite
incestuous ways in plain eyes which people are not seeing. All of them manipulate and collaborate very
smartly to keep the pot warm and spew it as required with great precision and
decimate the other side.
Another reason I believe is folks’ ability to see
themselves as fighter for truth, but when did the truth require crutches of any
activism to stand. Truth will prevail in
any case, most of us always know the truth and acknowledge it in our ways. Oh
yes it will take time to shine, as it should. After all Nirvana cannot be easy
for anyone. So please dig deep and come out with nuances instead of click bait
to kill or harm people virtually.
I will leave you with a delightful tale for our
times, this one is new and happened in Oct 2019. @roflgandhi a parody twitter
account of mass following wrote a satirical tweet about an ancient Hanuman
temple underneath few media offices in Noida in UP. Lo behold within 24 hours
of the tweet had acquired a life of its own and people started believing that a
temple does exist underneath these offices. Media picked it up and Times of
India reached out to the person behind ROFL asking if the story had legs to run
on Please do read and have a good laugh.. https://scroll.in/article/941057/what-if-theres-an-ancient-temple-under-your-office-twitter-parody-of-ayodhya-case-sparks-confusion.
It also shows the depth that exist in our
digital dialogues (or the lack of it).
Next week topic is undecided, but be assured will be
contextual to our times and the year we are living in.
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