The Bully
cykod.com
The Bully
1–10 of 28 posts
Re: The Bully
#2Thanks. Sad, sad topic, but probably the best take on the topic I have read.
And not only on the recent context. This is a story, that sadly fits so many contexts, that it could be shown day after day after day.
Re: The Bully
#3Feels like an analogy to what Ortiz is did to Aaron.
Re: The Bully
#4Feels like an analogy to what Ortiz is did to Aaron.
The article says as much with its "Context" link near the bottom.
Re: The Bully
#5I suggest that author should write more about HTML5.
Re: The Bully
#6There's a kind of emotional economy that nerds don't tune into. To those who aren't strong enough to resist participating in this collective exchange, it seems like the nerd is cheating. And he's perpetually anxious, so he must be in the wrong, right?
>everyone - including the teacher - had laughed
Yes. 'Socialization' --a purportedly legitimate function of schooling-- exists on the same continuum as teasing and bullying.
Re: The Bully
#7Well, I'm a nerd but I do agree with the bully. I don't think that the severity of a crime should be judged by a victim's reaction to it. While I see how a suicide might bring notoriety to a problem, I don't think it changes the nature of what was done. It's similar to the Tyler Clementi case, who killed himself because he was being videotaped in gay acts by his roommate. I never thought it was fair that the bully in this case would be held accountable for essentially the entirety of our society's homophobia just because his actions were the final straw. He should have been punished the same that anybody would be for video taping their roommate in a sexual act and publishing it online (which I do recognize as severe bullying and very wrong). I believe that his official charges were along those lines, but it was clear it was being taken more seriously because of the suicide.
The other thing I hate is the concept of "The" Bully. It's easy to imagine a sick, hateful person, most importantly someone else, and individual bullies certainly exist, but I think the far more common situation is where the bully is a group of people. I think one way to 'Stop Bullying' is to help people understand when they are bullying, instead of just imagining it's something someone else does. I doubt there that many people that never had an adolescent moment where they 'ganged up' on someone (verbally) to feel like they belonged more in a group, or just to give an outsider or a 'runt' of the group a hard time, because it's such an instinctive thing to do. So much so that it's a huge theme of Lord of the Flies, a book everybody reads in high school, but rarely views within the context of their own life.
The most ironic thing about these stop bullying campaigns is so very, very often they reflect the same group bullying mentality they purport to be fighting. All these people 'ganging up' on the prosecutors in this case are example of that. I'm not saying this wasn't a failure of our justice system that should be fixed, only that it at times this is seeming awfully like a witch hunt.
Re: The Bully
#8There's a kind of emotional economy that nerds don't tune into. To those who aren't strong enough to resist participating in this collective exchange, it seems like the nerd is cheating. And he's perpetually anxious, so he must be in the wrong, right? >everyone - including the teacher - had laughed Yes. 'Socialization' --a purportedly legitimate function of schooling-- exists on the same continuum as teasing and bull…
> There's a kind of emotional economy that nerds don't tune into.
Please expand on this as much as you're willing.
Re: The Bully
#9Thanks. Sad, sad topic, but probably the best take on the topic I have read. And not only on the recent context. This is a story, that sadly fits so many contexts, that it could be shown day after day after day.
It simplifies the world in a way that such narrative always does, adding no understanding and doing nothing to make the future better.
In the real world we're all bullies (1), and sometimes suicide, self-harm, and hysterical overreaction is the ultimate tactic to bully. It seems entirely irrational, and I'm sure the mere notion of it will outrage some, but humans are prone to irrationality.
One of the most dangerous behaviors is to empower suicide -- to make it the ultimate "get back at them" tactic, internet lynch mobs that didn't care at all before suddenly up in arms against the purported aggressors, the narrative of the story simplified and made completely one-sided, where there are only villains and victims. That isn't how the real world works.
Despite the ham-fisted Swartz parable in the linked thing, I was not talking about that situation above. However if I might, it was clear years earlier that Aaron wasn't exactly the happiest person in the world. There were things going on there that none of us understand, and presuming that everything would be happy sailing if a prosecutor looked the other way isn't rational.
(1)- Some of the most egregious, obnoxious bullying happened in the recent thread recounting the thread about Aaron's situation from a half a year ago. Suddenly everything was seemingly so clear to some, their righteous outrage and vilification so loud. Just embarrassing.
Re: The Bully
#10There's a kind of emotional economy that nerds don't tune into. To those who aren't strong enough to resist participating in this collective exchange, it seems like the nerd is cheating. And he's perpetually anxious, so he must be in the wrong, right? >everyone - including the teacher - had laughed Yes. 'Socialization' --a purportedly legitimate function of schooling-- exists on the same continuum as teasing and bull…
> There's a kind of emotional economy that nerds don't tune into. Please expand on this as much as you're willing.
Might be referring to this essay by Paul Graham: http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html