can we stop giving attention to those who post hate in so many forms?

Question

obviously they need to vent the anger.and any answer fuels the need.so I for one will stop..

Answer 1

What you say is true, but some other things are also true:

When it comes to aggression and hostility towards others very often people will keep it up and keep it up and keep it up because they keep getting ignored or else because they keep getting away with it.

School yard bullies do it because they get away with it (even though sometimes if their victims really wanted to seriously hurt them they could, but they don't want to seriously hurt someone) because nobody stands up to them. Domestic abusers do it because their victims cannot stand up to them. Pathological liars often keep it up because nobody calls them on their lies. Wrong ideas "out there" get to flourish because nobody stands up and says that the emperor has no clothes.

Sometimes there is some wisdom and even efficacy in just verbally flattening someone. When a reasonable and intelligent person gets into a battle of wits with an unarmed individual the unarmed individual usually doesn't win. He may not admit that he didn't win, but he knows that he didn't win.

I am the daughter of a veteran. I grew up hearing about World War II and about how Hitler maneuvered himself into power on his hate. I grew up hearing how once hate has become so "huge" it is more difficult to beat it down, so when we hear or see hate on a much smaller scale and from even powerless little losers with mental problems we should attempt to beat it down.

Most hate comes from pure ignorance and hostility and/or from someone's taking one fact they've heard, twisting it, and coming up with some absurd belief about what it means. I figure if I come on this site to kill some time I may as well throw some logic at a few of these questions. Who knows - there is the remote chance what I say could at least punch a small hole in their previously iron-clad hate. If it doesn't I don't care. I get the satisfaction of knowing some idiot probably got shocked at being given a serious and well thought-out, reasonable, answer to his hate.

In addition, I figure I don't know how many people read these questions and answers; but someone who has his eye caught by a hate-filled question has some kind of interest in it. I figure some of the "on-lookers" to these hate "questions" and answers may be on the fence; so there's the chance that my hard-to-dispute answer may actually make someone swing in a less hateful direction. I know there's a chance my answers won't do anything to change anybody's thinking, but I'm on here for my own entertainment, so that's ok too.

I just know that I've lived long enough and heard enough hateful ignorance and hostility and seen enough damage that gets done because of it that I'm "mad and not going to take it any more" (not even from some imbecile who really doesn't deserve an answer).

Its easy to try to answer the questions of some decent-seeming person and ignore the obnoxious questions that some hateful imbecile posts. It can be easier to just write off such questions as not worth answering. Sometimes, though, it just kind of feels good to do the thing that isn't easy or popular or recommended. I figure they can vent their hate, I may vent my answer to their hate, and let the chips fall where they may.

I usually ignore a lot of the hate questions, but when I'm in the mood I look for one that looks like it particularly deserves an attempt at "letting the person have it" and go with it.

I don't believe all answers have to necessarily "fuel the need" (and I don't care if I fuel their need anyway; what they need isn't my problem). I believe some answers could possibly have the potential of taking the air out of their little balloon of hate that they've been inflating and inflating over however long. Maybe an answer won't deflate that balloon altogether, but there is a really good chance it will deflate it just a little - which is better than letting it continue to inflate. That "balloon" is the mind of these people. They let that hate build and build and build. Punching even a small hole in all that hate is better than just leaving it to continue to grow bigger.

People mean well when they believe that ignoring bad behavior or hate will make it go away, but as with the schoolyard bully very often ignoring it only makes it get worse and worse. I don't think its helpful to just name-call if someone wants to answer this type of question; but an attempt at educating these people in even some small way sometimes can work. Sometimes hostile, hateful, aggressive, people get taken quite aback when they're confronted with polite, solid, reasoning and even a hint of respect in the form of being answered at all.

I'm fairly certain the answers I offer on hate-filled questions aren't answers that will give any of these imbeciles any satisfaction if they take the time to read them at all; and in the meantime I get to imagine how maybe my entertaining myself by imagining verbally flattening these people (rather than just vegetating in front of a television in my leisure time) is at least a little worthwhile. Anyone who understands hate and hostility realizes that ignoring it doesn't make it go away. It just gives it free reign.

So I, for one, won't necessarily stop answering some of those hate-filled questions.

Answer 2

I'm in! I've always avoid even looking at their questions! And to give them a thumbs down when I can. Let's keep Yahoo! Answers true to its original intent.

Answer 3

we can and it might do some good, but, and that's a big BUT, ignoring the hatred might bring on more hatred and history has thought us that humanity can be very destructive when ignoring things just look at world war 2 history and see how by ignoring the hatred awful things happened

Answer 4

Agreed. If the fish stop biting, the fisherman goes away.

Answer 5

Trolls have no life folks. These folks are closeted cowards and come to these forums to channel their inner biggot.

Answer 6

Agreed. Thank you!

Answer 7

i completely agree

Answer 8

Yes. I've always done that with them.

Answer 9

good theory but there are too many control freaks who have to respond to them.

Answer 10

you know, i think thats the purpose of this thing.