djjd62 wrote:there are people here i say things to i would never say to them in real life, i would never say it because i would avoid them in real life
<cough>omsigdavid<cough>
There's something to that I think at least if people behave here pretty much as they behave in real life. Based on behavior here, there are some who I would not want to be in the same town with, much less in the same room with. And those very same people are probably pretty decent in their real life relationships, but unless you meet them, how would you know?
Despite trying to keep things civil, I definitely irritate some people here and seem to pull their chains in a way that does not happen in real life. Of course in most social settings I would not offer strong views on religion, politics, or controversial social issues, but in settings designed for such discussions I do. Even with diverse points of view in such settings, people remain reasonably civil and courteous. There are some here who can also reasonably discuss differences in points of view but they are fairly rare.
I have to believe that the anonymity and/or distance here does affect how at least some people express themselves. I wonder if there really is that much repressed hostility in real life though.
