Chicodoodoo
Site Admin
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 6:06 pm Posts: 12127
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Psychology of online forums
I've been wanting to write about the psychology of online forums for some time. The forums are a gathering ground for sociopaths because the hunting is so good there. So sociopaths are common there. But wherever predators gather, there must be lots of prey. Prey for sociopaths would be gullible, trusting, and needy people. And there are a lot of needy people in the forums.
The biggest need among the prey is for friendship, a sense of belonging and acceptance, and security (feeling protected). There are lots of lonely people online who are nearly desperate for company, engagement, and personal attention. A sociopath with his bag of flattery, compliments, and false assurances can accomplish a lot of easy deception and manipulation in the pursuit of ever greater power and control (or just influence) over others. Bill Ryan of Project Avalon is a great example of such a sociopath. It is no accident that he emphasizes the "safe" environment that Avalon claims to provide. It is anything but safe there, but the chickens don't realize the absurdity of the foxes guarding the hen house. The foxes tell the chickens they are protecting them, and the chickens believe it. And from the foxes' point of view, they are indeed guarding the chickens. It only makes sense to guard a valuable food source.
So, sociopathy is not the only psychology I observe in the forums. The psychology of the "normal" people is also on display. I will be talking about them in this thread. See if you recognize yourself. And there's no shame in that. "Know thyself" is perhaps the foundation of philosophy. It's also critical in psychology. Studying the psychology of others is part of studying the psychology of both you and me. Because there, but for the grace of God, go I.
_________________ It's not that we can't handle the truth. It's that they can't handle us if we know the truth.
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