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People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

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Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#151

Post by PeterisP »

lostcolony wrote: post #98
tristor wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd be happy if we'd just get over this vindictive need to deprive prisoners of basic pleasures. I won't argue that there aren't some people who have such a vindictive need, but in most cases where I've had conversations with folks about things like this, it's more that they oppose someone having a similar (or maybe "better") quality of life to what they have, without working to pay for it, and rather being paid fo…

Okay, maybe. Rather than people wanting the worst possible thing for prisoners because of the perceived harm those prisoners have caused them (vindictiveness), they want the worst possible thing for prisoners because HOW DARE someone else have something nicer than them that they didn't "earn". That's the same attitude that would begrudge a homeless person a donated name brand hoodie, because (you) had to pay $X for i…

IMHO the appropriate focus there is that whatever argument you can make in the form that "criminals should get a standard of life of at least X" would also imply that non-criminals also should get at least the same standard of life. Prisoners do deserve all kinds of things, but to be fair, everyone else does as well. And if you assert that a certain thing should be provided for criminals but you already have a non-trivial underclass who can't afford these things and have no plans to provide those things to the non-criminals, then it is a reasonable source of frustration for a honest poor individual who is being denied that opportunity - why is society abandoning them and is literally treating them worse than criminals, if they have done nothing wrong?

And it acts as an anti-deterrent if someone sees that they would improve their material conditions by doing harmful things and going to prison. There's nothing wrong with ensuring good prison conditions, but it has to go hand in hand with ensuring equally good non-prison conditions for poor people.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#152

Post by PeterisP »

pasquinelli wrote: post #120
shmde wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is violent video games trying to inflict pain on others ?

i think it expresses itself when players talk to each other.

IMHO multiplayer toxicity is orthogonal to game type, you get that both in "violent" shooting games and also in abstract strategy or card games; harming or griefing someone, or verbally abusing them is a thing no matter if the gameplay itself is violent or fluffy.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#153

Post by ddoolin »

JimBlackwood wrote: post #140
ddoolin wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm classified as a "violent criminal" by the state by way of having a violent felony. Not trying to be inflammatory, but this sounds like awful idea, mostly psychological and societal at large. In my experience, many, many people have this "us vs. them" attitude towards criminals, as in "I would never commit a crime so therefore they are not like us ." The reality is, countless people are either innocent or one-time…

Thanks for sharing. Especially the “us vs. them”-view. I recently realised this while watching Gordon Ramsay’s Bad Boy Bakery. The sentiment (I assume often portrayed intentionally by the show) about prisoners really both shocked and confused me. It’s as if people want prisoners to do absolutely nothing, somehow still act according to their rules and then somehow flourish in society after release. imo, prison systems…

That's an interesting reference, thanks. I kinda skimmed through a couple episodes on YouTube actually. I don't think I watched enough to pick up on nuanced portrayal of prisoners but I do understand what you're saying nonetheless. I was lucky enough to go in and come out with a job but it appears any reason or amount of time is heavily stigmatized in so many other ways (total ban on immigration to many countries, automatic bans or denials for things that utilize background checks, negative judgment from friends and family, general assumption of guilt in many scenarios, etc).

I very much agree re: focus on education. I spent some time in a new facility and they had good classrooms and programs for it and I saw a lot of interest in them. That said, I think boredom is often seen by many as a desirable part of the punishment.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#155

Post by HWR_14 »

VladimirGolovin wrote: post #128

I have a pet theory that smartphones and the mobile Internet are the primary reasons for the decline of violent street crime. People these days don't need to be violent to entertain themselves -- because they now have porn, dating, gossip, games, and gambling in their pockets. Plus it's a lot safer than violence.

At least in the US you have your timeline backwards. Violent street crime declined strongly starting in the early 1990s. Lots of reasons have been suggested for this, mainly around lead in the environment. But maybe it went the other way. The lack of street crime lead to people walking around, creating the demand to create the mobile internet.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#156

Post by HWR_14 »

I wonder if this tendency is the reason for the stereotype of the sadistic prep school trust fund kid that is so dominant in popular culture. In some cases it's obvious that they are easy opposition to the main character, but even in other stories they tend to be characterized that way.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#157

Post by eurasiantiger »

simmanian wrote: post #36
quacked wrote: post #2

If this is indeed true, it is yet another piece of evidence in the case for prison reform. Prisoners are universally bored, yet in many cases insufficiently protected from one another. Read accounts of any long-time convict's time in prison and you'll hear about excruciating boredom punctuated by acts of outrageous sadism.

I believe we should focus on separating criminals from non-criminals instead of punishing and torturing them. Give them an environment where they can thrive without being harmful to themselves and others. Let them re-join the society ONLY when they pose acceptable risk. This means violent criminals may never get to re-join the society, but that's okay given that they are still given a humane environment where they ca…

That is the Judge Dredd world.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#159

Post by mapcars »

tehbeard wrote: post #37
mapcars wrote: post #31

Quoted post unavailable.

> If one understands even a little bit of how unimaginably complex, fantastic and incredible is that I exist That sounds incredibly narcissistic... The universe doesn't give a single shit that a lump of carbon is doing some weird chemistry on a rock along side other carbon lumps. > Boredom is just a sign of undeveloped human Boredom is a sign of an impedance mismatch, a lack of stimulus or novelty.

>The universe doesn't give a single shit that a lump of carbon

If it truly didn't then we wouldn't exist. Since we are here it means we need to be here, as all things have their place. We are the finest way the Universe can experience itself, at least on this planet and this is our significance.

>Boredom is a sign of an impedance mismatch, a lack of stimulus or novelty

What better stimulus you can have than the whole Universe in front of you? It's not a lack of stimulus it's inability to see deeper into what is going on. If you look out of the window and see people, trees, cars of course you will be bored. But if you see how none of this would be possible without Sun showering this planet with energy, without stars forging atoms and then evolution combining them in unimaginable ways which ended up in forms you see, then it's a different thing altogether.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#160

Post by mapcars »

cosmojg wrote: post #39
mapcars wrote: post #31

Quoted post unavailable.

...until you've done it a million times. Don't forget that we're talking about emotions here; they needn't be rational.

Do you really remember your million lifes? Even if so, wouldn't you be astonished by how million times it happened and still there is something new every time? Still it's not the same and there are different experiences all the time? This is not about emotions, this is about realizing what is there in front of us every moment.
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