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Why do people tend towards the most extreme expressions when describing things? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It's a pretty common thing on the internet to see somebody relating a story about someone acting in an inconsiderate way and the response is usually something like, "Well that person is a total piece of shit."

I'm fine with using those kinds of words. What I don't get is why people are inclined to go full tilt in how they express themselves rather than using the full range of meaning that words provide. It's like, if you go straight to calling things a piece of shit, how do I know whether you're genuinely upset about something versus, mildly annoyed?

We have all of these linguistic colors and yet things are so often painted in black and white.

Why is this?

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is a phenomenon known as group polarization or attitude polarization. This occurs in person as well. It's just what happens when people of similar opinions get together --especially groups that don't know each other very well. There are numerous theories explained in detail on Wikipedia though.

Perhaps it's more common online since the internet allows people to connect with just about anyone worldwide. People are able to find communities for even the most niche of topics, and online communities have a tendency to become echo chambers.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

This is a phenomenon known as group polarization or attitude polarization.

Dang, that's fascinating. Thanks for sharing.