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We try so hard to find differences among ourselves. We try so hard to set ourselves apart into little groups, "us" versus "them", whoever we have to make into "them" to do it. But why are we trying so hard to emphasize our differences? Think about it: To most of the rest of the world, we're a bunch of weirdos. We're people who would rather play a computer game than do the REALLY important stuff, like watching TV or hanging out at the mall. Not all of us, but I think it's safe to say a large number of us, are in one way or another outcasts among our peers. Will we perhaps feel more like the "in" group if we find someone, anyone, to ostracize? Will we feel powerful if we do to someone else what has been done to us? We're more alike than we are different. We're more like each other, even our worst enemies in Nexus, than we are like our best friends in real life. Put us all in a room together, and we'd have a great time. I'm not just speculating here. I've seen it happen, when groups who only knew each other online met IRL for the first time. In another time, another place, there was a guy I fought with about everything. This guy was a moron, a jerk, a nitwit. Then I spent an evening sitting next to him at dinner, and afterwards, and found out that he was actually a really cool guy -- it was just how he wrote about things that made me want to kill him. We still didn't agree on everything, but we became friends. Think about that, the next time you look for a reason to hate someone. Think about that when you try to find a reason to make someone else "them" to your "us". We all, I think, have felt that pain. We're better than the people who have done it to us. We can choose not to do it to each other. |