2 week online addiction to forums has already made me a jerk

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texasm

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People always tell me I am one of the nicest kids they've ever met. However, I have been addicted to about 4 different online sites in the last two weeks. And I find myself already being abrupt and in general acting like a mild jerk. Is this the effect online forums have on people?

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People always tell me I am one of the nicest kids they've ever met. However, I have been addicted to about 4 different online sites in the last two weeks. And I find myself already being abrupt and in general acting like a mild jerk. Is this the effect online forums have on people?

Yes. You tend to tolerate stupidity, less and less.

Accept it for what it is.

Medicine will do the same thing to you. It's ok to not tolerate stupidity. But being an outright douchebag is just wrong.
 
Yes. You tend to tolerate stupidity, less and less.

Accept it for what it is.

Medicine will do the same thing to you. It's ok to not tolerate stupidity.

OMG I don't like that.
 
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It's ok to not tolerate stupidity.

I am not sure I agree with this either.
A froshie doctor will always appear stupid to an experienced doctor. But that does not give the experienced one the right to be abrupt or slightly rude, does it?
 
I am not sure I agree with this either.
A froshie doctor will always appear stupid to an experienced doctor. But that does not give the experienced one the right to be abrupt or slightly rude, does it?

Wrong. Stupidity and incompetence are on one side of the spectrum, along with naivete. The other side of the spectrum is encompassed by willingness to learn and have some semblance of common sense.

There are stupid people everywhere... get used to it.
 
wrong. Stupidity and incompetence are on one side of the spectrum, along with naivete. The other side of the spectrum is encompassed by willingness to learn and have some semblance of common sense.

There are stupid people everywhere... Get used to it.

+1
 
There might be stupid people everywhere, but it's a lot easier to be douchey to them when you're hiding behind an anonymous internet personality. This is why you see so much rudeness on online forums.
 
Nah, I'm rude to their face if they merit it.

I have a hard time being outright rude to anyone. At the most, I am standoffish. Besides, there are situations in which you can't be rude to someone regardless of how stupid they're being--case in point, when they are your patient and your job depends on you being civil.
 
I have a hard time being outright rude to anyone. At the most, I am standoffish. Besides, there are situations in which you can't be rude to someone regardless of how stupid they're being--case in point, when they are your patient and your job depends on you being civil.

True.

Back to our thread TMS... must spam
 
If you can tell that your behavior is being affected negatively, then perhaps you should stop perusing those forums. I used to get mad at people, particularly those with low post counts, that posted stupid things as well and sent them pms articulating exactly why the offending statements were deficient. But it didn't change anything, I just ended up getting reported. So I gave up, figuring that there is really nothing you can do about the eternal september.
 
If you can tell that your behavior is being affected negatively, then perhaps you should stop perusing those forums. I used to get mad at people, particularly those with low post counts, that posted stupid things as well and sent them pms articulating exactly why the offending statements were deficient. But it didn't change anything, I just ended up getting reported. So I gave up, figuring that there is really nothing you can do about the eternal september.

That sounds like too great of an investment of one's own time and energy... usually I just roll my eyes and back out of the thread, which mimics my attitude in real life. It's just not worth it.
 
If you can tell that your behavior is being affected negatively, then perhaps you should stop perusing those forums. I used to get mad at people, particularly those with low post counts, that posted stupid things as well and sent them pms articulating exactly why the offending statements were deficient. But it didn't change anything, I just ended up getting reported. So I gave up, figuring that there is really nothing you can do about the eternal september.

Good advice. I am going to ease up on my new addiction. Plan to stop arguing, stop clarifying and go to my natural self rather than my online transformation.
 
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There might be stupid people everywhere, but it's a lot easier to be douchey to them when you're hiding behind an anonymous internet personality. This is why you see so much rudeness on online forums.

+1. The rudeness on online forums is a very popular area of psychological and sociological research and most of them determine that biggest factor to be anonymity. Everyone becomes a "tough guy" on the internet. I've found that I have to make a concerted effort to not say douchey stuff sometimes that I probably would not say in public. The feedback systems of social interaction are all just not present. However, we find that when we restore identifiers to our online personas, a la Facebook/MySpace/Linkedn, that courteous behavior and social norms are mostly restored. It's interesting stuff really.

That sounds like too great of an investment of one's own time and energy... usually I just roll my eyes and back out of the thread, which mimics my attitude in real life. It's just not worth it.

I find that most of these individuals are just trying to get a rise out of whoever will pay attention to them (much like a little brother annoying his siblings). I learned long ago that you cannot change their behavior when they have no "skin" involved, and it certainly wastes a lot of time. Why bother? Ignore them, my energy is precious :laugh:
 
I find it has only made me a better person, I read and retain only gems of wisdom and weed out the trash. I love coming on here and getting good laughs too :D
 
I am not sure I agree with this either.
A froshie doctor will always appear stupid to an experienced doctor. But that does not give the experienced one the right to be abrupt or slightly rude, does it?

Ignorance does not equal stupidity or incompetence.
 
A little bit of advice: stay away from sdn unless you really need to use it.

I've been on sdn since my freshman year of college (2007). I was banned (rightfully so) for making stupid posts, etc. After the ban on my IP address was lifted, I rejoined under this username. I'm not online as much as I used to be 3/4 years ago. It just gets old really fast and you realize that spending a lot of time on sdn is pretty much a waste of time. I visit sdn just to keep up with the application stuff now...so go outside and have fun!
 
I tend to take a different approach when handling 'stupid' people. Rather than be indiscriminately short with them I try to first deduce their intentions. If they are being malicious, deceiptful, or bigoted I lay them out without hesitation. On the other hand, if they are really trying and are simply uninformed or naive then I will usually make time to bring them up to speed. While I try to apply the same approach on the internet I am often less consistent than I would like (sometimes it's just too tempting to throw up a meme or gif).
 
A little bit of advice: stay away from sdn unless you really need to use it.

I've been on sdn since my freshman year of college (2007). I was banned (rightfully so) for making stupid posts, etc. After the ban on my IP address was lifted, I rejoined under this username. I'm not online as much as I used to be 3/4 years ago. It just gets old really fast and you realize that spending a lot of time on sdn is pretty much a waste of time. I visit sdn just to keep up with the application stuff now...so go outside and have fun!

Chemdude, there are so many new threads, so many new posts and so many forums on here. How do you know which threads/posts/forums to follow and how do you keep up with the application stuff?
 
While I try to apply the same approach on the internet I am often less consistent than I would like (sometimes it's just too tempting to throw up a meme or gif).

Memes and gifs are infinitely more amusing.
 
hahaha if OP is for real, then this made my day. You were either weak enough to have your entire personality crumble in a couple weeks, or you were always a jerk who just didn't have the strength to vocalize/express it. Let me contemplate which theory amuses me more and I'll get back to you
 
hahaha if OP is for real, then this made my day. You were either weak enough to have your entire personality crumble in a couple weeks, or you were always a jerk who just didn't have the strength to vocalize/express it. Let me contemplate which theory amuses me more and I'll get back to you
I'm gonna have to agree with the latter. If it only took two weeks for this to happen you must have just been suppressing your inner jerk.
 
hahaha if OP is for real, then this made my day. You were either weak enough to have your entire personality crumble in a couple weeks, or you were always a jerk who just didn't have the strength to vocalize/express it. Let me contemplate which theory amuses me more and I'll get back to you

:laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
This thread is not relevant to applying to medical school. Please consider visiting The Lounge for all your socializing needs.
 
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