Originally Posted by
ill-advised strategy
There was a kid in my neighborhood growing up whose pattern was to hassle and bother kids until they snapped and then when they were beating him up he kind of crumbled into a pathetic heap and cowered and turtled. He did this from a young age over and over for years. His brother wasn’t like that, it seemed like his family was decent and normal. He was just, like, locked into this addiction-like pattern of flirting with the excitement and danger of getting beat up, and he’d always take it so far that he lost. Jeff Patrick….
You see it with dogs at the dog park, some agitator just dancing around bothering the other dogs to provoke a chase, chase me, fight me!
We have those trolls here. It’s not about the point, it’s about finding something people feel strongly about and posting statements that upset them, because all the responses, all the back-and-forth are a form of stimulus they crave. The power to insert themselves in your mind, to generate this flurry of emotional feedback is an antidote to the loneliness and boredom and insignificance that stands in contrast to the excitement of conflict.
You know who they are, read their nonsense and shake your head, and let those posts lie, knowing there’s probably some decent chance this is all just a bunch of rhetorical traps they set to watch you get upset and make you fight…
Nip nip chase me!!! Kick my ass!!!