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It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

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Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#571

Post by CMCDragonkai »

RocketOne wrote: post #226
ccity88 wrote: post #33

What's interesting to me is that if we're able to accept the idea that mass social media-induced illness can be developed just by virtue of video watching TikTok or YouTube, then this opens new doors to examining the behaviour of other illnesses such as gender dysphoria that are statistically over represented. This is probably going to get downvoted to oblivion, because nobody wants to confront the idea that we can _…

This is exactly what I thought of when I saw "social media-induced illness": MSMI I saw this in the school I led, especially in young girls. One of them starts cutting, suddenly we have multiple girls cutting. One of them struggles with bulimia, suddenly the guidance counselor is reporting that she has an inordinate number of girls coming in for counselling about bulimia. I dont think its any different with claiming…

Perhaps similar to gluten intolerance as well.

I find it interesting that the mainstream is being biased towards believing in natural determinism instead of nurture and environmental influence.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#572

Post by reb »

vkou wrote: post #568
reb wrote: post #558

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The times we live in are absolutely brutal for people who struggle with diversity of belief (wherever they are on the sociopolitical spectrum). Never before has an individual had so many perspectives to contend with at once. It breaks a lot of people in different ways, although I think people who can navigate the noise without losing their sense of self are better for the experience. Still, it's impossible to deny th…

They aren't 'coping' with reactionary extremism, it's always had its seductive song. What has changed is just that extremist groups have very successfully adopted the communication tools available to them for recruitment and engagement.

I don't think it's off-base to suggest individuals gravitate toward belief systems that address their anxieties, and that might be particularly true for reactionary extremism.

Completely agree on your second point though, the amplifying power of the internet aids all messages (without intervention, anyway).

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#573

Post by madrox »

reb wrote: post #558
fleddr wrote: post #535

The times we live in, utterly bizarre. Pre-internet, one would rarely be exposed to ideas that are extreme, unhinged, insane or downright weird. It would still happen but in moderation, for which I'll use the stereotype "village idiot". A village idiot is isolated for having off-base ideas and behavior, hence bad ideas don't take root. Now it's as if all the village idiots of the world had a meeting and started to ru…

The times we live in are absolutely brutal for people who struggle with diversity of belief (wherever they are on the sociopolitical spectrum). Never before has an individual had so many perspectives to contend with at once. It breaks a lot of people in different ways, although I think people who can navigate the noise without losing their sense of self are better for the experience. Still, it's impossible to deny th…

This was my struggle with social media as it evolved. I watched it go from a predominantly techie novelty to how everyone communicated. I'd say I became more anxious and self-doubting as a result, but in some ways that's an improvement.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#574

Post by Waterluvian »

this_steve_j wrote: post #570

From the article: > Functional ‘Tourette-like’ symptoms can be regarded as the ‘modern’ form of the well-known motor variant of mass sociogenic illness. > Moreover, they can be viewed as the 21st century expression of a culture-bound stress reaction of our post-modern society emphasizing the uniqueness of individuals and valuing their alleged exceptionality, thus promoting attention-seeking behaviours and aggravating…

I had a very hard time parsing that sentence. But I know someone who is really good at parsing sentences.

https://ibb.co/CsWVc95

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#575

Post by Spinnaker_ »

RajT88 wrote: post #556
dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote: post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but if you tell the village idiot they're being an idiot you become a villageidiotiophobe. People are afraid to set boundaries for fear of getting cancel cultured or harassed by a woke tolerance mob. All disagreement is now "toxic behavior" on social media channels. Arguing over perspectives is now sometimes branded with the extreme label of gaslighting. Day by day our Overton window continues to shift…

What demographics do you consider the "Village Idiots" here?

Is "people who view the world and their identity only through demographics" a demographic? Because it's almost always them.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#576

Post by pdntspa »

ravenstine wrote: post #566
Super_Jambo wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How exactly does sexism (or lack thereof) signal confidence? I think the argument they're making is that in a sexist culture all men will present with more confidence due to the belief that women are lesser. So the average woman will find the average guy more attractive... I can't say I'm convinced.

Not sure how you came away with that conclusion. It's the exact opposite. In a culture where sexism is more common, casual sexism will not stand out at all. The average guy will not appear more attractive. In a culture where sexism is largely frowned upon, being sexist but not too sexist is an act that stands out. A man who is either not sufficiently sexist or is silently sexist (for fear of repercussion) will appear…

You are making a ton of assumptions about the nature of confidence, attraction, and sexism, which potentially reveal your own biases. For one thing, I don't think that confidence and placing someone on a pedestal are "polar opposites" of each other, rather they are entirely different and uncorrelated dimensions of personality that can exist in any combination.

There are models of behavior describing personality across cultures, like Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, that speak more broadly on the way a group behaves as a whole. You might want to give them a read.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#577

Post by vkou »

reb wrote: post #572
vkou wrote: post #568

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't 'coping' with reactionary extremism, it's always had its seductive song. What has changed is just that extremist groups have very successfully adopted the communication tools available to them for recruitment and engagement.

I don't think it's off-base to suggest individuals gravitate toward belief systems that address their anxieties, and that might be particularly true for reactionary extremism. Completely agree on your second point though, the amplifying power of the internet aids all messages (without intervention, anyway).

Sure, I suppose so, I'll agree that both factors are at play.

It has been objectively documented that anxiety has increased over the years, and I (And every other Tom, Dick and Harry) have subjective just-so-stories and complaints that will blame particular attributes of modern society on why more people are looking for these kinds of answers today than they were before.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#578

Post by worthless-trash »

Spinnaker_ wrote: post #575
RajT88 wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What demographics do you consider the "Village Idiots" here?

Is "people who view the world and their identity only through demographics" a demographic? Because it's almost always them.

Found the village idiot. Great now i'm a villageidiotaphobe.

Please take the above as a meta joke. I shouldn't have have to say it, but this is the world we live in.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#579

Post by anenefan »

Jerrrry wrote: post #543
ravenstine wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no need for convoluted explanations. I don't see how it's at all convoluted. If anything, it's too reductive. Taboos, traditions, etc., don't need to exist because of a reason that's explicit. Sometimes, they do, but that doesn't explain the taboos that don't make obvious sense. A taboo can be more or less a form of "cultural neuron" that doesn't have an explicit purpose but incidentally changes the balance…

>don't need to exist because of a reason that's explicit Why do men have nipples? Because there is no reason not to. Evolution need not a reason, but unless things do have a purpose, all things have a cost, whether it is raw unnecessary complexity, inefficient energy expenditure, or a novel external selective pressure. Taboos and traditions may not _seem_ to have purpose - but that ignorance is basically the inverse…

A bit off topic but it might be an idea to move away from men's nipples [1] as an example of redundant evolution. It's true to say often an evolution trait has no obvious reason, possibly the reason no longer exists.

Most every community have a tangle of a belief system outside of anything religious. Moving away from more obvious isms, I grew up surrounded by fierce ageism especially in regard to the dating set. As young adult I eventually realised it was another ism that was BS, but also realised its presence waxed and waned over a number of years - it's clearly a product of social interactions.

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-...

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#580

Post by hedora »

> About half of Generation Z feels stressed or anxious with climate change being the top concern. Eco-anxiety is associated not only with fear, panic attacks, feelings of anger, guilt and helplessness, but also uncontrollability, unpredictability and uncertainty.

Yet, the politicians continue to do almost nothing. When does Gen Z start voting?

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