You’ve heard me talk about the two types of people in life: Waiters and Creators.
Well… there’s also a third type of person…
There’s a guy I’ve been following for a while, George Watsky – a rapper who become a big Youtube name, and who has been in the news recently for jumping off of a very high lighting rig at a show where he injured two people.
He wrote a very sincere apology for his actions which he posted on Facebook:
“The jump was not awesome, it was not badass, and it was not ballsy. It turned what should have been a great day for the people who got hurt into a nightmare. It was stupid and wildly irresponsible, plain and simple.
“Today I let down my supporters, I let down the Warped Tour and I let down my band and the people who work their asses off behind the scenes to make these shows happen. My #1 priority right now is to somehow make this right for the folks who were hurt.
“I am deeply sorry and I promise to learn from this mistake.”
(See full apology here.)
The apology, despite its sincerity, provoked a HUGE number of comments berating the guy, abusing him, and saying all sorts of nasty things.
What I find more sickening than the newspapers who spread these kinds of stories is the way that they indoctrinate people in general.
At any time you can go onto a newspaper’s website and see people commenting on stories like this in just this way.
I’m always in favour of people disagreeing with me and giving a constructive lesson with an idea that conflicts with mine, but that’s very different from what people typically do.
The way people leave these comments is not designed to be productive. Their comments are left with the intention of being sinister and malicious.
The interesting question is: Why do people do this?
Why is it that we live in a culture where people have to take 5-10 minutes out of their day to maliciously abuse someone else, when that person has already heard it twenty or more times from other people telling them how stupid they’ve been?
Why is it that people feel it necessary to be sinister in this way?
The obvious answer is because these people are lacking something in their own lives.
The same people who leave these comments are distracting themselves from their own productive endeavours.
Do you think each of them doesn’t have something they want to do in their life? Something they want to build or create that they haven’t got the courage to do.
Maybe they haven’t got the drive or strategy. Maybe they have a whole list of excuses as to why they can’t do what they want to do. Whatever it is holding them back, the end result is them leaving malicious comments about other people they don’t even know, instead of spending their time doing things that would actually benefit their own lives.
I want to speak to these people:
There is a reason why you took the time to say something and didn’t choose to use that time to do something that was actually important to you.
You could have learnt a new word in that time, watched another video that could have educated you on something, or sent a loving text message to someone you do know.
Instead you left a nasty comment.
***
There are people who wait and people who create in life.
The people I’m talking about don’t fall into either one of those categories in a way. They don’t wait, they don’t create, they destroy.
If from this video one such person is turned to doing something constructive instead of writing a nasty comment next time the opportunity presents itself, then this video and article will at least have done something.
Questions Of The Day:
You may not be a ‘troll’, but there may be ways you know you waste energy that you know you would rather spend on productive endeavours – even if for 5 minutes.
If you had an extra 5 minutes today, what would you use it for that’s important to your life?
spot on!
Dear Matthew, get a life.
Matthew I do appreciate you trying to contribute something positive to the world – but the thing is, it’s not the trolls per se that are the problem, the internet is. The fact that people can now post whatever they want, with little or no censorhip, is the problem. Before the internet, people would comment this way about such an incident to each other, or in their little cliques. It’s human nature, to be a troll at least in some aspect. And quite honestly, if bad behaviour was never addressed, how would it be stopped from happening again? Thanks for posting it though and I agree, it’s better to spend 5 minutes doing something constructive with your life.
My five minutes are the alternative it actually 30 minutes. But the block button is useful to stop trolls. Thanks for standing up to trolls.
Matt- So True. It reminds me of a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in the Republic” 1910, in Paris.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
It seems to be the people on the sidelines who are pointing their fingers at others. Thank you for being the man in the arena, getting your hands dirty, and challenging people to question their actions. No guts, no glory.
I wholeheartedly agree with your outlook on this matter. I was just telling a girlfriend the other morning that she was doing her own self damage by reviewing her boyfriend’s x-wife’s Facebook page in the mornings and allowing this other person’s life to wreck her morning and day – on a daily basis. This is an amazing woman with a master’s degree in nursing who helps a lot of people daily. What purpose does this behavior serve to her life or the other lives she impacts?! Just wasted time and energy, I think.
So much truth in this.
Reminds me of the (free) RPG maker game “Pom Gets Wi-Fi”, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, but it’s addressing this troll-personality exactly like that (encouragingly so)
If you just went out and actually did something, you’d already be moving forward.
Thank you for taking your time to give us your point of view on this, Matt. It’s so refreshing to find people like you with such a positive and giving outlook on life.
This reminds me of the portion in deadmau5’s “Ghosts N’ Stuff” where Bob Saget speaks as a troll:
“At the first moment I’m not recording, I’m not on tour and I’ve never had a song go to number one on Beatport, I’ve never been featured on Juno Download or Track it Down, I’ve never released twice, but what I do know is that I’ve been listening to electronica for many years and I have every right to speak my mind against the fabricated music that is being released on a daily basis. It’s absolutely appalling! All these people think that if you’re on the Beatport Top Ten you’re making something out of yourself, well you’re making a mockery out of electronic music. I’m a producer and I come from the underground and I’m… Quite frankly, I’m sick and tired and I’m here to go on these rants on message boards because I know I will never amount to anything and I need to make myself feel better. So when I’m not high on cocaine I will sit in front of this computer ’till the cows come home and continue ranting and raving about artists that are actually living out their dream ’cause I never wïll.”
Hi Matt, you are so right!!
People usually try to make me sick during christmass family lunches… By the way my extra 5 minutes daily is for doing more gym. So i can fight the stress and produce endorphines ;)
Have a nice evening.
Bye
Misia
Excellent Matt. One reaps what one sows’. Get a life Trolls ones which may I suggest involves volunteering with fellow human beings or animals or anything that adds value to one’s existence and the planets.
I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is an issue that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I came across this during my hunt for something regarding this.