Disinhibition or Obsession?
©2008 J Picken
©2008 J Picken
It’s a known fact ,that when online some people change and not always for the best. There are actually articles written about the psychology of cyberspace. Author Suler, J. (2004). CyberPsychology and Behavior, 7, 321-326, outlines several behavioural issues that some people indulge in whilst online. In general, people feel less inhibited online and are more then willing to open up and perhaps display their true nature. For now we’ll focus on the more negative aspects, which include:
- Dissociative anonymity
or just plain “ well you don’t know me so I can tell you whatever I
want, be who ever I chose to be”. Yes well talk about taking liberties,
not everyone online are idiots.
- In visability or “Hey you can’t see me so I can type whatever I want and you’ll never know what I am really thinking.” Well true to some degree, but guess what? Words and how they are used can disclose much.
- Asychronicity or “I don’t have to deal with that person, issue or discussion now it’s only the internet”. So not dealing with others in “real time” permits running away because the internet provides a great big space. Hello…ever heard of the old line “You can run but you can’t hide?”. Running may work on line for a while, but eventually that even catches up.
- Solipolisistic introjection or “ Lets make these people I type to online what I want them to be” hmmm…so the illusion begins, now there is the non-reality factor creeping in. Some people cannot see the tree for the forest. Wonderful apparatus, the mind, it can create all types of illusions, even about people online.
- Dissociative imagination
, oh now this is really fun, now we combine solipisistic introjection
with the creation of an imaginary dimension that all our online buddies
inhabit. How cool! Our very own dimension!
- In my opinion, all these aspects are ego based and provide valuable insight into ones psychological well being. Makes me wonder just how many people are not only wandering around in society with undiagnosed mental health issues, but also the number that flow over into cyberspace. Is it so difficult to conceive that there are living breathing people behind the typing , emails and messages? Now wouldn’t it be interesting just for a moment to get into the headspace of someone with the negative aspects outlined above. Couldn’t you just make someone elses life a living nightmare? Most definitely, all those aspects are rather obsessive, possessive and manipulative and you know what they say…”one thing leads to another”.
Gotta love spirituality, gotta love those that spew forth all the love and light bigamy. That's not without saying that there are those in the minority who are genuine, but hell they are few and far between. You know, sometimes the biggest hypocrites are those that preach too much, those that have way too much to say full stop. Amazing how spirituality is used as a justification or excuse, and here's me believing spirituality to be a foundation of belief, a guide for ethical and moral behaviour and an opportunity to the best person I can be.
I guess hypocrites abound in every walk of life, we meet them in the streets, in our jobs even in our family. The daunting thing about using something like spirituality as a shield for such behaviour is the fact that:
- People have the expectation that "spiritual minded" people walk the talk. Live by their own decrees, not do as I say not as I do.
- The potential for abuse and manipulation of not just one person but of groups and communities is infinite. Well I would think we've all heard of cults and the horror stories.
- Spirituality should be a place of peace, a place where you can be in touch with your creator, your inner self,your God. You should be free with your own beliefs and apply the spiritual knowledge to the ethics and morals of everyday living.
My good friend had a beautiful site, one she and I had worked very hard on, spent long hours posting and editing,promoting and gaining members. Had being the operative word. You see it only takes one rogue member, one vindictive spiritualist ( I say that tongue in cheek because quite obviously the person in question wasn't) to cause total devastation. Yes we had the harassing and threatening email saga, my friend was even subjected to stalking. As if that wasn't enough well our vindictive spiritualist actually procured information to delete my friends site. Oh and as if that wasn't enough, lets just cause more havoc by hacking into other accounts and other sites. What a gem of a spiritualist..unconditional love at the maximum.
So now I comfort my friend, try to help her pick up the pieces, try to instil the incentive to begin again...
Bottom line is TRUST NO ONE ...divulge nothing...be suspicious of those whose actions belie their words especially those who use spirituality as a justification.
Yeah...and I hope the culprit reads this and yeah I know about those hate sites...little wonder...guess you aren't so well liked huh?? Well you know what they say...what comes round goes round, I'd hate to have YOUR karma debt.
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