Interweb Fatigue

The Internet is surprisingly immature for its age, and I think that says a lot about human nature. Everyone blames 4Chan and Something Awful for lowering the floor of acceptability, but trolling and really bad arguments have been around since before the Web (anyone reading this still use Usenet?).

I haven't posted lately. It's mostly due to work; there are a lot of transitions occurring, and I'm still trying to get my footing in the New World Order. And I've had an incredible flu that is still lurking around...if it's just sheer muscle pain and fever, would it be Nurgle or Slaanesh?). But the main reason is a bit deeper-seeded: I'm getting really tired of the lazy discourse that makes up the 40k blogosphere. There is almost nothing that ends up positive. Exciting teaser rumors start a shit storm of complaints from "GW is stupid" to "The OP is an idiot". Any posted list becomes an ad hominem attack-laden tirade.

But the worst is the unsubstantiated assumptions, "facts" and faulty argument that infest the comment sections of blog posts like this:

 BoLS Article

Did you make it through the comments? I couldn't do it. Now, I want you to do me a huge favor. Take a look at this infographic.

Seriously, really read this.

Now try looking at each comment posted and see how many of these fallacies fit. Just in the first 30 or so comments, I think I hit a bunch of them (definitely all of the categories). And I don't mean to pick on BoLS; they have a job to do (generate revenue through website traffic), and like them or not, they do it better than anyone in the hobby. This lack of well-researched conclusions and strawman arguments can be found in a lot of places and not always in the comments. In a few posts that I've made both here and at MWC, I've attempted to question the actual claims about GW's practices and ethics, and they've been met with apathy, in my opinion. So my perception is that people like to argue, and the content or logic of the argument is tertiary, behind both volume and frequency.

And yes, I have been guilty of the same thing. It's easy to slide by with just about anything when everyone else seems to be deaf to all but their own voice. But I don't want to be like that anymore. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Stelek or Kirby or Brent or MBG or Dakka or Warseer to change anything about their tone. Being confrontational is its own flavor, I guess. But I've grown tired of it.

So instead of jumping into comment about the ridiculousness of someone claiming that GW is raising prices to "fuck over Australia" or that mathhammer always/never works, I'm going to chill out and just post my painting progress and share what I can in a hobby I love.

I hope you readers, and there's quite a few now if Google Analytics can be believed, will stick with me, but if you don't, I understand. I just appreciate the fact that you took the time to read some of my posts.

I'm going to Adepticon on Friday and Saturday. If you want to stop me and say hello, I'd certainly appreciate it. I'm the old Asian guy with a small red and black camera backpack, and it's most likely I will ask you if I can photograph your army. It's one of my favorite things to do, and I really love all of your skills and creativity.

Thanks for reading!