Daily Archives: September 4, 2003

Controversy Breeds Controversy

About what I wrote the other day: I was just thinking about it. I wasn’t actually going to do anything, like plan out the best way to hurt people. Sometimes, though, I scare myself. Going on to something new…

I got a lot of comments posted for that particular entry, and by a lot, I mean 3. When issues are more controversial, people are more likely to be involved. This conclusion comes as a result of the observation, I wasn’t testing this conclusion beforehand using that entry.

Controversial issues provoke more participation. When people strongly disagree with something, they are more likely to say that they disagree. See, if someone said s/he likes ice cream, everyone would say “Good for you.” If that person says s/he likes war in general, well, then that person has managed to turn some heads.

For some reason, people feel more compelled to provide their own commentary when they disagree more. I think this stems from people feeling like if they let it go, then more people could be swayed by an idea that some would find undesirable. If they let it go, then that person wins the argument by default. So, they say something. And since many people are sheep, and they already feel compelled to say something, once they see someone else, they have to provide their own input, even if they’re just rewording what the last person said. Then, the opposition of that group decides to join the fray, to defend the original speaker. So on, and so forth.