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The Book of Assholes

4K views 37 replies 22 participants last post by  butterknucket 
#1 · (Edited)

About an hour to shine a light on the assholes among us.
 
#8 ·
About halfway through, now. Good viewing. Not antagonistic, even sympathetic at times.
There are so many times in life when you want to say to someone "Have you no shame?". But as the film so amply illustrates, a great deal of a-hole behaviour stems from people behaving in unconscionable ways largely because they don't wish to be embarrassed in front of whomever they consider to be "the gang". Sometimes I wonder if one of the many sources of a-holes in the world are business schools. And certainly ultra-religious groups with political aspirations are another good source of a-holes...as are poliltical groups with religious aspirations.
 
#11 ·
The research on children's friendships and peer relations (what gets technicaly referred to as one's "sociometric status") distinguishes between kids who are "popular", "rejected", "neglected", "controversial", and "average". ( Sociometric status - Wikipedia ). A-holes tend to show up among the "rejected" and "controversial" categories. The relatve universality of a-holes would seem to be because it gets established fairly early in life. Or at least our experience of them begins quite early, such that we tend to know one when we see one. That is, unless you happen to BE one.
 
#14 ·
This viewing galvanized my suspicions that assholerey has been on the rise. However, I was quite aware of the Facebook, Twitter and Google CEO's leaning towards the side of asshole territory along with what seems to be a large number of political figures.

Hell,... there are also assholes who appear here from time to time.

I remember carrying on like an asshole at times during my early youth,... but Pops put a stop to that well before it became a potentially compulsive behaviour.
 
#18 ·
This viewing galvanized my suspicions that assholerey has been on the rise. However, I was quite aware of the Facebook, Twitter and Google CEO's leaning towards the side of asshole territory along with what seems to be a large number of political figures.

Hell,... there are also assholes who appear here from time to time.

I remember carrying on like an asshole at times during my early youth,... but Pops put a stop to that well before it became a potentially compulsive behaviour.
No, no he didn't.
 
#15 ·
A considerable amount of the film revolves around internet behaviour, with a side-order of investment/media corporate behaviour.

In his work on obedience to authority, one of the things psychologist Stanley Milgrim observed was that willingness to inflict punishment, or at least negative events, on others, varied as a function of personal distance. If the recipient of one's actions was in the room with you, people were less likely to be harsh in their actions, compared to if the recipient was unseen in another room. Always easier to bomb your enemy from 20,000ft than to walk up and stab them. In many respects, the manner in which we communicate with each other these days, places others in "the other room", giving us the freedom to indulge in as much a-holery as we wish. I have had to break up or defuse many an on-line fight by reminding people that if the person they view as so contemptible was actually THAT rude and antisocial in their daily interpersonal life, someone would have likely murdered them in their sleep by now.

The manner in which electronic communication indulges our a-hole tendencies is insidious. We can be anonymous, hence unaccountable. Those we interact with are also often anonymous. We can't see or hear those we interact with, making it difficult to have compassion or empathy, especially for someone who is largely invisible and almost abstract, by virtue of their anonymity. Clearly, one of the cardinal traits of an a-hole is being inconsiderate, and it is easier to be inconsiderate towards those whom you don't know. can't see, and likely won't ever meet again, or ever.

Another trait of being an a-hole is treating impulses as legitimate motivation to be followed. Here, I find mobile devices help to nudge us in the a-hole direction. Not that there is no history of a-holery prior to the arrival of mobile communication, or even telephones of the curly-cord variety. But immersion in a portable screen and the ability to respond instantly, and curtly, to anything we see, without taking time to reflect, supports and consequently brings out the worst in us.
 
#19 ·
A considerable amount of the film revolves around internet behaviour, with a side-order of investment/media corporate behaviour.
One of the best things I've heard about Internet behaviour was at a talk sponsored by CIRA. I can't remember who the speaker was. The gist of his assertion was we have two personalities, an off line and an on line personality. He said most adults have a well developed off line personality. The Internet is so new most of us have a toddler or at best a teenage on line personality. This was a few years ago. I think with social media things have devolved from then. There are way too many toddlers on social media.
 
#21 ·
I can’t remember a single time where my grandmother didn’t use the word asshole as a her preferred pronoun to address me lol.
 
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