I was reading a comment thread recently.
One commenter stated that they are aware of the people who are “dumber” than them, and if they are not aware the person they are talking to is either similar in intelligence or smarter than they are.
So my question is, do you have this awareness?
Are you conscious of your relative standing in the intelligence hierarchy around you?
And a side point, can you tell a smart person is acting dumb to fit in with those around them?
This I feel deserves its own separate reply. THIS is what Reddit (supposedly, though before I joined it) was supposed to be about - connecting people so that they could have enjoyable conversations about topics of interest. Ofc, as with any wide open playground area, it quickly became overrun by both cyberbullies and literal children, who now derail every attempt at conversation over there, with smarty-sounding (to them) replies like “show your references”, “no You show Your references”, “NO, why am I shouting?, YOU SHOW YOUR REFERENCES”, and now there basically is no reason to ever go to Reddit, as it is merely an energy-draining profound waste of time. (I am speaking from one POV ofc, which is obviously biased, as I did not traverse the entirety of Reddit so can only say what I saw, and inferred from others talking, and anyway speaking of a general trend, which does not imply that there were not some small corners acting as pocket hold-outs against the general trends.)
This is the hope that the Fediverse offers: after Huffman did… what he did, those of us with a conscience and/or who could see the writing on the wall left (+ those of us who were going to leave anyway b/c there simply was no longer any point to remaining).
These types of conversations - with respect, with intellectual curiosity, based on facts - are sadly rare even here. But they do happen, unlike Reddit, which is really notable, imho.
Yes, I was involved in a bunch of Reddit communities that were really good.
But it go to the point where it shit the bed; it was time to leave. I was happy to find Lemmy. I haven’t been back to Reddit in around 6 months.
I don’t do algorithmic social media. So Lemmy is really up my alley.
https://medium.com/@max.p.schlienger/the-cargo-cult-of-the-ennui-engine-890c541cebcb is a really good read about that. e.g. Lemmy can be bad as well, even if to a significantly lesser degree.
Also while on Reddit I found myself becoming angrier, more combative in my argumentation, less empathetic and kind, etc. Trolls cause that effect - it’s definitely no bueno. And sometimes literal teenagers can act like trolls, without even really meaning to or trying at it, just not thinking about it.
That was when I gave up my pride of being willing to listen to literally everyone - it’s just flat not worth it, it is harmful to me, not helpful even for them, and perpetuates a cycle of negativity.
And Lemmy definitely requires a heavy hand on the block button, I have found!:-) But then after all that effort, in the midst of the noise, occasionally some worthwhile people and conversations can come through.
So don’t be too afraid to block people here. I wouldn’t do that for someone who is unintelligent, but I would most definitely do it for someone who consistently engages in trolling behavior, intelligent or no.