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The cause of flame wars
(12 posts, started )
The cause of flame wars
Makes for an interesting reading:

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars


"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today. Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.
According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.
"That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New York University. "People in our study were convinced they've accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.
The researchers took 30 pairs of undergraduate students and gave each one a list of 20 statements about topics like campus food or the weather. Assuming either a serious or sarcastic tone, one member of each pair e-mailed the statements to his or her partner. The partners then guessed the intended tone and indicated how confident they were in their answers.
Those who sent the messages predicted that nearly 80 percent of the time their partners would correctly interpret the tone. In fact the recipients got it right just over 50 percent of the time.
"People often think the tone or emotion in their messages is obvious because they 'hear' the tone they intend in their head as they write," Epley explains.
At the same time, those reading messages unconsciously interpret them based on their current mood, stereotypes and expectations. Despite this, the research subjects thought they accurately interpreted the messages nine out of 10 times.
The reason for this is egocentrism, or the difficulty some people have detaching themselves from their own perspective, says Epley. In other words, people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from another person's perspective.
"E-mail is very easy to misinterpret, which not only triggers flame wars but lots of litigation," says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the e-Policy Institute and author of guidebooks E-Mail Rules and Instant Messaging Rules. Many companies battle workplace lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail, according to Flynn.
People write absolutely, incredibly stupid things in company e-mails," said Flynn.

Source:
http://www.wired.com/news/tech ... 0179-0.html?tw=wn_index_2
Interesting. I have a trouble not pissing people off when speaking even though people can here my tone. Curiously enough I have more luck with text.
Anyone read the tips section of our forum regulations?

Quote :----------
-- Tips --
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Please be aware that people of any age and from many different cultures visit this forum and post their opinions. Also not everyone is equally fluent in the English language which is used on this forum. It can therefore happen that messages may be misunderstood, depending on how you read them. Keep in mind that people usually mean well, so when in doubt, give people the benefit of the doubt and see their post in a positive manner. Doing so will make our forum a nice place to freely discuss anything you want (fully or remotely related to sim-racing), without the need for moderators to intervene.

It is very true tho, example: This is very interesting...
People in a bad mood would think I'm ironic, and I'm just laughing with this post, but actually I really find it interesting Just to provide an extra example to this thread
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(thisnameistaken) DELETED by thisnameistaken
I read that article when it came up on via a news site the other day (I cant remember if it was elreg, digg or /.), and the following thought formed in my head; "you need to be a psychologist at university to work THAT out?!".

I think the majority of people interested in computers / physics / <insert your traditionally nerdy past time here> come across better online or in text generally, as they statistically seem to be more autistic than others. I dont mean in the well known sense, but in the milder sense that they have problems interacting, being very shy, not understanding social sitations, being uncomfortable even with close friends and family in large social sitations, the ability to concentrate on things very closely for long periods of time (i.e. coding, or IRC'ing), etc. Worryingly I've been told that I display a lot of these "features"...

On the flip-side a lot of "normal" people appear to have the exact opposite, being unable to communicate via text correctly but being much more depedant on their other senses; particularly movement and sound.

As more people use electronic mail and other medium's, the more problems the online community is going to experience. Its a simple fact surely, and a massive waste of a study.
It's true. I get real cravings to write long essays about stuff that interests me. It helps me articulate my thoughts and in the end I know shit better and live in the eternal hope somebody might read it and gain insight. IMO you never truly know something until you have explained it to someone else (and got them to understand it).

Erm, what was the topic again?
This kind of thing makes me wonder if the first people to adopt sarcasm encountered the same problems. Surely sarcasm hasn't been around since the dawn of time, and if you don't know what sarcasm is then you can't interpret the meaning of what has been said / grunted with accuracy.

Maybe in a few hundred / thousand years our brains will have adapted more to communicating by text alone and we will be able to tell without cues?
#8 - Smax
The internet reduces communication to words and words alone, as does any form of writing. If you were to read the work of somebody like Michael Argyle you'd realise that words alone are nowhere near the complete "picture" if you'll excuse the pun.
Quote from Smax :....The internet reduces communication to words and words alone....

Waddyamean? We got smileys don' we? illepall:
#10 - Smax
Lol....err yeah ok we got smilies too....but they might as well be words since they are symbols whose meaning is supposed to be arbitary, in the same way as a road sign might as well be a word.

The missing part of internet communication is the non verbal element. That's far more important than the verbal/written part.
I am highly offended by this entire thread and I demand you all cease and desist!1!111!!!!one!!1!eleven!11!!!!!
Quote from TaiFong :I am highly offended by this entire thread and I demand you all cease and desist!1!111!!!!one!!1!eleven!11!!!!!

What!!11 Are you saying???11++ I did not offend you! Now get lost and let the civilized conversation go on, !! 1 10 11 12 twelwe!


The cause of flame wars
(12 posts, started )
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