The lack of class.

[thekiller]

Actually yes. Its our threshold of 'shock' that has risen.

[Ansky]

I hate how people in card rooms go apeshit when they win like a 20 dollar pot, and think it's the world series of poker and they are on TV.

[Aver-aging]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe i'm just an old timer, but have you guys noticed a considerable lack of class in the the poker world (online/bm). Nowadays i can't even go to a room w/o people trash talking each other and berating the other person.

Take for example these forums, there tends to be a certain lack of class everywhere. People making smart aleck remarks and using profanity constantly.

I notice this in the workplace, school and everywhere. there just doesn't seem to be any class anymore and a lot of people tend to have oversized egos.

[/ QUOTE ]

Welcome to the internet, where human decency and social tact have officially left the building....

Seriously though, I've been an avid Message Board visitor for about the last ten years, and more and more I start notice that people are treating each other worse and worse. Personally, I blame the lack of realistic human interaction for this phenomenon. Also, I blame the fact that when people interact in casinos, and over the internet, its usually under the notion that they'll probably never have to be in contact with that person again, and if they so chose, they never have to see that person again.

It's actually a well documented occurence, scientifically. Axelrod actually wrote a book on strategies where he delves into how a potential for future interactions change how people (and all organisms) behave in the present.

So, it works like this, as societies expand and populations increase, tight-knit communities unwind. More and more of people's daily interactions are based on the concept of 'I'll never see this this person again', so they do not feel obligated to behave in a decent manner. Therefore, this phenomenon increases in occurence more and more. I guarantee you if you put people in a situation where they have to live together, in a tightly knit community, they would eventually start treating each other with decency and respect.

So - in short, blame society.

[Aver-aging]

[ QUOTE ]
people have been going on about this sort of [censored] since time began. learn to live with it, or u may be pigeon holed as a boring old git.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, they haven't actually. I'm sure if you bothered to look into this topic you would find that this phenomenon is actually a result from an ever-expanding civilization where people's interactions with each other are becoming less and less frequent, so it decreases the amount of energy and thought people put into how they appear to other people, because how they appear to other's is becoming less and less significant.

[Aver-aging]

[ QUOTE ]
actually no. Again, the question is not whether one should live with it or not. the question is whether it is getting worse or not.

I judge by your repsonse its always been like this.

I disagree. The rudeness that happens seems to arise from two reasons. First, it is because of lack of social repercussion. Whether online or the real world, you would not act in certain ways if you were in a smaller community because of social repercussions (following the norms). Also, due to anonymity and the way our culture is constructed, people tend to say more extreme things to get their point across or to get attention.

[/ QUOTE ]

Finally! Someone else who actually analyzes the beef of the issue. You sir are a great man.

[Good Idea]

Anonymity breeds courage.

[LinusKS]

Nice post, Aver.

In human situations, where you'll see someone again, you don't want them to hate you, and you may need a favor sometime in the future, people have good reasons to be polite.

On the internet, where no one knows you, what you look like, or where you live, those considerations disappear.

What you're seeing is people's true nature - how'd they'd act in the absense of peer pressure and social constraints.

That's why I hate them.

[jdaddy]

[ QUOTE ]
Actually yes. Its our threshold of 'shock' that has risen.

[/ QUOTE ]

100% agreed.

[Bostaevski]

Gawd quit your snivelling whining and get over it!


j/k guys [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


I agree with the OP. It's getting worse (or at least my perception is that is the case). The increased population is one part and the anonymity of the internet is another. Same phenomenon occurs in heavy traffic. How many times a day do I have to give someone the finger that cuts me off? I'm not flipping off James Harwood, 31 year old male, father of 3 who is late for his youngest daughter's piano recital. I'm flipping off a black jetta.

Every few months the wife and I head back to rural eastern WA and it completely goes away. No one is rushing anywhere.. I don't mind if the car in front is going 5 mph under the speed limit. People wave as you drive past. I don't hate people over there.


-Bostaevski

[Gildwulf]

Popularity of poker among younger people-->greater volume of immature people in player pool-->more immaturity at the table.

Not rocket science here, guys.