- Joined
- May 18, 2008
- Messages
- 600
I was reading an essay over on Wikipedia, written by and for their editors, that I think covers an important part of being a mature internet user. I think that being a mature internet user and being a mature person in general are related, but there are very different skills involved sometimes. Since we put ourselves forth as a mature clan, I thought I would share what I learned from this essay in the hopes that we can all learn something from it. I will start by saying I have as much to learn from this as anyone.
There are No Angry Mastodons.
Instinctually, when faced with a conflict situation, it is our impulse to take one of two actions. This decision and these actions are commonly summarized as the 'fight or flight' response. We have these instincts because ancient man, when faced with a life or death situation, needed to decide very quickly whether the best course of action was to run from the threat, or take it head-on. While these options work wonderfully when angry mastodons, sabre tooth tigers, or other wild prehistoric animals threatened us on a frequent basis, they aren't as appropriate in the modern age.
Yet, this response is ingrained in our subconscious and effects our actions. We've all felt it - you're browsing an internet forum, or chatting on IRC, or playing an online game, and someone disagrees with you. Both of you feel that you are correct. You feel that surge of emotion and adrenaline. Quickly the topic gets out of hand and perhaps even personal attacks start to fly. You've succumbed to the 'fight' response. Eventually one person logs off in anger, damaging relationships and with wounded pride. They have chosen 'flight.'
The thing we must learn is that there are more than just these options. Just because we disagree, we don't have to fight, and one person does not have to emerge victorious. How can we move past these choices and see the better ones that lie beyond?
The primary key is to not let stress and emotion make our choices for us. When we feel that emotional and chemical rush, we must remember that there are no angry mastodons on the internet. We will not be trampled or eaten for taking our time. Nobody will even 'win' or 'lose' at the internet today. Although the current conflict seems massive in scope, there is frequently less at stake than we lead ourselves to believe.
When we stay calm, exhibit self control, and handle situations in an intelligent manner, we demonstrate our own maturity as well as the maturity of the clan as a whole. Our skills dealing with others are as important as our 'skillz' in the environment in which we are interacting, regardless of what that environment is. Even being an admin, op, moderator, or any other position of leadership does not exempt us from being a slave to these responses, and it doesn't mean that those people can't make mistakes. For example, enough open source projects have forked, and enough clans have failed because of disagreements between leaders that were handled poorly.
You can read the original essay, which I paraphrased, [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_angry_mastodons]here.[/link] It is pretty wikipedia-heavy, but you might get more out of it if you want to try...
Thanks,
There are No Angry Mastodons.
Instinctually, when faced with a conflict situation, it is our impulse to take one of two actions. This decision and these actions are commonly summarized as the 'fight or flight' response. We have these instincts because ancient man, when faced with a life or death situation, needed to decide very quickly whether the best course of action was to run from the threat, or take it head-on. While these options work wonderfully when angry mastodons, sabre tooth tigers, or other wild prehistoric animals threatened us on a frequent basis, they aren't as appropriate in the modern age.
Yet, this response is ingrained in our subconscious and effects our actions. We've all felt it - you're browsing an internet forum, or chatting on IRC, or playing an online game, and someone disagrees with you. Both of you feel that you are correct. You feel that surge of emotion and adrenaline. Quickly the topic gets out of hand and perhaps even personal attacks start to fly. You've succumbed to the 'fight' response. Eventually one person logs off in anger, damaging relationships and with wounded pride. They have chosen 'flight.'
The thing we must learn is that there are more than just these options. Just because we disagree, we don't have to fight, and one person does not have to emerge victorious. How can we move past these choices and see the better ones that lie beyond?
The primary key is to not let stress and emotion make our choices for us. When we feel that emotional and chemical rush, we must remember that there are no angry mastodons on the internet. We will not be trampled or eaten for taking our time. Nobody will even 'win' or 'lose' at the internet today. Although the current conflict seems massive in scope, there is frequently less at stake than we lead ourselves to believe.
When we stay calm, exhibit self control, and handle situations in an intelligent manner, we demonstrate our own maturity as well as the maturity of the clan as a whole. Our skills dealing with others are as important as our 'skillz' in the environment in which we are interacting, regardless of what that environment is. Even being an admin, op, moderator, or any other position of leadership does not exempt us from being a slave to these responses, and it doesn't mean that those people can't make mistakes. For example, enough open source projects have forked, and enough clans have failed because of disagreements between leaders that were handled poorly.
You can read the original essay, which I paraphrased, [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_angry_mastodons]here.[/link] It is pretty wikipedia-heavy, but you might get more out of it if you want to try...
Thanks,
