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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

#111

Post by simmanian »

ddoolin wrote: post #107
simmanian wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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…

Thank you for sharing. I personally view "violent criminals" as regular human beings and believe we should stop classifying people as violent criminals the moment they no longer pose significant danger to others. But maybe you're right in seeing that most don't share these views. Regardless, what I'm trying to say is ALL people deserve to organize themselves in ways that lead to safe, healthy, and happy lives. We should not torture people for decades for murdering others. Rather, let them live in a way that allows them to thrive while protecting the rest from getting harmed.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#112

Post by AlexTWithBeard »

inglor_cz wrote: post #109
dwohnitmok wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Spanking? Some countries essentially do this (e.g. caning in Singapore).

Don't you, at least in Singapore, get caning in addition to a prison sentence?

TIL: In Singapore parents can declare their children "beyond parental control". From that point the government will take care of their behavior.

[1] https://singaporelegaladvice.com/law-articles/what-is-a-beyo...

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#113

Post by sleepysysadmin »

Taywee wrote: post #94
sleepysysadmin wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Out of the hockey fans I know, only the really casual watchers are interested in fights and checking at all. The big fans are way more interested in the strategy and statistics and many of them are annoyed when a big fight breaks out and wastes time in the game. If what you were saying was true, way more people would just be watching videos on the internet of people getting into street fights than professional sport…

Pleasure seeking increases, sure, I just don't agree that violence is the prime focus or end goal of any majority of the participants or viewers of any of the things you brought up. Violence might be a part of it, but it's clearly not the main part of any of it, otherwise violence would be increasing rather than decreasing in every single one of those, and more people would just turn to the simpler sources of violenc…

>Pleasure seeking increases, sure, I just don't agree that violence is the prime focus or end goal of any majority of the participants or viewers of any of the things you brought up.

no, not prime focus yet. If hockey is a fresh pleasure, the fighting or violence isn't important. The end goal however is that you must have this violence or the pleasure seeker moves to the next thing which will have it.

>Violence might be a part of it, but it's clearly not the main part of any of it, otherwise violence would be increasing rather than decreasing in every single one of those, and more people would just turn to the simpler sources of violence.

That's my point and why i picked my choices. Violence isn't the prime focus. Afterall go watch boxing or MMA. Which some people have gotten their pleasure seek onto this for sure.

>Why would anybody watch Hockey for the fights when many games don't have any fights at all? Nobody who really just wants to see car crashes is going to sit through hours of cars driving in circles for the chance to occasionally see a car hit a wall and spin out.

Fighting is but 1 violence. Checking is another. Elbowing and slashing are others.

>Looking up "Nascar highlights" on YouTube, I can see that it's not all about crashes, it seems to be all about turnarounds, where somebody suddenly overtakes somebody else, or somebody loses their position quickly, so crashes are a part of that, but it doesn't seem to be "about crashes", but rather about changes in the standings of a race in progress.

Lets not even go into derbies where the goal is to literally crash into each other until you're the last working car.

Or monster trucks which crush other cars.

This is all about pleasure seeking and constantly need to increase which leads into sadism.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#114

Post by dahfizz »

AlexTWithBeard wrote: post #52
simmanian wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

so... what do we do with non-criminals? All the small things like bike theft, not paying child support, fare evasion and urinating in the streets? For extra credit: assume the offender has no money.

non-criminals? Do you mean non-violent criminals? Theft is a crime, perpetrating said crime makes you a criminal.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#116

Post by pasquinelli »

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.

also a good reason to avoid social media.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#117

Post by lapsedacademic »

xtiansimon wrote: post #93

I believe it! I am surrounded by retirement-age non-workers, one who is an alcoholic, one with severe medical condition, a practically non-verbal who lives like a hobo—oh, and one does resent having to work part-time, and let’s you know it. The first one will go nuts and scream his head off all night and has been arrested so many times they know him by name. The next just bought a rolling chair and likes to roll arou…

> one with severe medical condition... bought a rolling chair and likes to roll around his apartment [all hours during the night]... denies he rides the chair and then uses his medical condition as an excuse

I mean... is his medical condition related to his ability to walk and sleep well? E.g., does he:

1. have trouble walking

2. can't afford a wheelchair

3. has continence issues?

That would explain rolling around at all hours of the night. And sourcing him some cheap/free mats/carpets to cover the floor between his bed and bathroom could help you sleep better.

In any case... sorry you have to put up with that. Having noisy upstairs neighbors sucks.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#118

Post by reuben364 »

WalterBright wrote: post #88
elliekelly wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a word that means the opposite of schadenfreude? Displeasure at the advancement of others?

envy

I understand envy to be more about what others have in relation to you, rather then what they have in relation to their past selves.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#119

Post by lapsedacademic »

simmanian wrote: post #90
lapsedacademic wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Penal colonies and other forms of exile are cruel and unusual. It's hard to conceive because this form of punishment has been disused in the west for nearly as long as drawing and quartering, but historical use of exile gives a sense for how extreme permanent exile is as a punishment. Even in the age of drawing and quartering, penal colonies were used primarily as an alternative to capital punishment. In the age of g…

I think the key difference is I'm focusing on allowing people to live with others they can synergize well with. I oppose the focus on punishing (torturing) criminals. I do not believe we should permanently exile all violent criminals into wilderness. I believe they should live in a safe and healthy environment where they can thrive. We shouldn't let someone who's likely to murder people out on the streets with no hel…

That's all reasonable, but a bit utopian.

There are tons of serious pragmatic issues with your suggestions, as well as serious political questions about how to convince people to implement them.

Re: People behave more sadistically when they’re bored

#120

Post by pasquinelli »

shmde wrote: post #10
sleepysysadmin wrote: post #4

Pleasure is fleeting. It must be or else you'd still be glowing from your first orgasm. Inevitably the search for pleasure will require variety and inevitably that variety brings you to inflicting pain on others. We do it publicly. The romans fed people to the lions. We have lots of violent sports. Nascar isn't about driving left. It's about the crashes. Hockey is about the fights and checking. Lets not even evaluate…

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

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