A random musing... and I'm just saying this because sometimes I feel alienated by the vitriol on all sides of the internet — this whirlpool of hate that churns and churns between our faceless, flickering computer screens:
I sometimes observe that we like to separate the "soul" (one's character) from ailments of the mind, because it feels good to vilify those who are hurtful and offensive, and it feels righteous to completely and utterly destroy them. And indeed, there is meaningful good in standing up to bullies who would seek to marginalize others. Nobody should be diminished for their lifestyle, orientation, identity, gender, ethnicity, culture or creed. All people should be loved and cherished for who they are, so long as they're not hurting others.
But where some of these offenders are concerned, I'm increasingly unsure how separate the two things actually are (one's character, and mental illness). I think there's a very real strain of mental illness running through the gaming community, and it manifests itself in different ways for different people. Many of us struggle with mental illness but are still in enough control of our faculties to not think or say hurtful things. But if someone lacks that control, are they "evil?" Or do they need help?
I sometimes wonder if people like this guy are legitimately suffering from some ailment that distorts their perception, judgment and ability to parse through emotions. If he's sincere in his posts, it seems like he has a sharp disconnect from reality. And I'm not sure how personally one can take the ravings of a person only loosely connected to the world around them.
At any rate, attacking him just gives him a platform to spread his toxicity even farther. Maybe it's best to ignore him while he hopefully stabilizes. Call him out on his crap once or twice, so that others can see it's not tolerated; and intervene if he starts acting suicidal; but don't stoop to the level of hating on him as something irredeemably evil. I'm not sure what good that ultimately accomplishes, especially if he's ill.
