Rotten Dot Com • Hacker News Board

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#31

Post by vova_hn2 » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:38 AM UTC

Kovah wrote: post #23

INTPenis wrote: post #6

I didn't realize why until much later into adulthood, but I was one of those teenagers fascinated with rotten.com, and all the other weird sites out there during this time. Looking back it was innocent exploration, but if I did what I did then today, I might get put on some watchlist. And today I can barely watch an arm breaking contest without cringing. Anyone else remember orsm, b0g? They rarely get mentioned among…

It's kind of a miracle that most of us people who got exposed to all that stuff are still sane.

No, I think that it actually shows that the idea that information can cause "trauma" or another kind of "harm" unless some third party forcefully restricts your access to this information, is completely insane.

Of course, this "third party" knows better, right.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#32

Post by beng-nl » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:43 AM UTC

brador wrote: post #8

The whole article is poetry. Amazing. “Rotten was a key you turned that locked a door behind you.”

Well put. The kind of doors I don’t want to lock.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#33

Post by seltzerboys » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:43 AM UTC

reading this makes me want to describe the world in a more recklessly imaginative way. what a joy.

"What mattered wasn’t so much the image itself but how it moved. Its value lay in its circulation: whom you could shock, how fast the chat room would combust, how far something would travel before it came back to you like a bad penny."

also, for what it's worth: i did not have access to the early internet. strict parents & computer only available in 'the computer room' where my dad's desk was, so he was always right there. as a consequence, i can't 'handle' movies with graphic sexual assault scenes or similar. i like that about myself tho.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#34

Post by pegasus » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:49 AM UTC

vova_hn2 wrote: post #31

Kovah wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of a miracle that most of us people who got exposed to all that stuff are still sane.

No, I think that it actually shows that the idea that information can cause "trauma" or another kind of "harm" unless some third party forcefully restricts your access to this information, is completely insane. Of course, this "third party" knows better, right.

It shows that exposure doesn't always cause trauma (which I don't think anyone claimed), not that it can't.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#35

Post by rockskon » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:52 AM UTC

pegasus wrote: post #34

vova_hn2 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I think that it actually shows that the idea that information can cause "trauma" or another kind of "harm" unless some third party forcefully restricts your access to this information, is completely insane. Of course, this "third party" knows better, right.

It shows that exposure doesn't always cause trauma (which I don't think anyone claimed), not that it can't.

Large-scale exposure caused no discernible degree of trauma. That's not a small phenomena that seems to have been ignored by policymakers and those who inform them.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#36

Post by noduerme » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:52 AM UTC

vova_hn2 wrote: post #31

Kovah wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of a miracle that most of us people who got exposed to all that stuff are still sane.

No, I think that it actually shows that the idea that information can cause "trauma" or another kind of "harm" unless some third party forcefully restricts your access to this information, is completely insane. Of course, this "third party" knows better, right.

I don't think that's quite true, either. Parent poster said it was amazing they were still sane. Other people might not be sane, depending on what they were exposed to at an early age. And watching something on video is different than seeing it happen in front of you, which is also different from having it happen to you ...and I understand the impulse to say that we're not a victim of anything just because we saw something horrible.

But lots of people seeing lots of horrible things, if it doesn't traumatize them, can desensitize them. There are plenty of freedoms that also cause harm. That doesn't mean the freedoms should be taken away, but it means that the "third party" is often correct. Society in a free country calls its own balls and strikes.

Some things should be hard to access. Accessing some things should also be taken as a red flag that you are not OK. The rest of the people around you have a right to their security as much as, or more than, you have a right to your freedom to view illicit information. And I say this as a person who would absolutely revolt against any system that based that decision on fiat, religion, or unfounded hysteria. We all personally have a right to do anything we want that doesn't hurt anyone else. But if the "third party" you're talking about are your neighbors, and if they have decided that you are a threat to them, then talk with them.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#37

Post by pegasus » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:54 AM UTC

rockskon wrote: post #35

pegasus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shows that exposure doesn't always cause trauma (which I don't think anyone claimed), not that it can't.

Large-scale exposure caused no discernible degree of trauma. That's not a small phenomena that seems to have been ignored by policymakers and those who inform them.

> Large-scale exposure caused no discernible degree of trauma.

How do we know this? All I've seen so far is anecdata. As my own anecdata, an ex of mine felt she had been traumatized by watching horror movies at a very young age. Many years later she still had flashbacks.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#38

Post by rockskon » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:55 AM UTC

senectus1 wrote: post #20

INTPenis wrote: post #6

I didn't realize why until much later into adulthood, but I was one of those teenagers fascinated with rotten.com, and all the other weird sites out there during this time. Looking back it was innocent exploration, but if I did what I did then today, I might get put on some watchlist. And today I can barely watch an arm breaking contest without cringing. Anyone else remember orsm, b0g? They rarely get mentioned among…

rotten, orsm etc were core to my growing up and exploring the internet. glad i got it out of my system, glad i grew up in a time when it wasnt normalized. I never graduated to 4chan, it all seemed too nasty and pointless to me

Hope you were never a part of Helldump or FYAD on Something Awful, then.

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#39

Post by [deleted] » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:56 AM UTC

Kovah wrote: post #23

INTPenis wrote: post #6

I didn't realize why until much later into adulthood, but I was one of those teenagers fascinated with rotten.com, and all the other weird sites out there during this time. Looking back it was innocent exploration, but if I did what I did then today, I might get put on some watchlist. And today I can barely watch an arm breaking contest without cringing. Anyone else remember orsm, b0g? They rarely get mentioned among…

It's kind of a miracle that most of us people who got exposed to all that stuff are still sane.

[deleted]

Re: Rotten Dot Com

#40

Post by Aboutplants » Sun, May 10, 2026, 9:57 AM UTC

INTPenis wrote: post #6

I didn't realize why until much later into adulthood, but I was one of those teenagers fascinated with rotten.com, and all the other weird sites out there during this time. Looking back it was innocent exploration, but if I did what I did then today, I might get put on some watchlist. And today I can barely watch an arm breaking contest without cringing. Anyone else remember orsm, b0g? They rarely get mentioned among…

StileProject was one I found more interesting, it had a better community and wasn’t completely deranged 100% of the time, but still pushed the boundaries of that type of content.