I am a geek, and I'm proud of who and what I am. The geeks of the world are often lampooned as being prone to engage in pointless debates on topics that most would consider mundane, or at best, just not that important. I proclaim to you that this is not a trait of geeks, it's a trait of all human beings...and I can prove it. I can declare this with impunity as a result of the internet culture, and the radical changes it has made to the way we humans interact with one another and express ourselves. Simply put, the internet gives us a potentially global audience that we didn't have before. Now, your strongly held beliefs that Han Solo was right to shoot first are no longer contained to your local sci-fi club or your circle of (actual) friends. Now you can bring those controversial views to the whole world and finally be heard, and all kidding aside, that's really, really cool. But now that we've had this audience at our disposal for many years, where has it brought us? It has brought us to the point where we argue and debate on every little thing imaginable, no matter how small or insignificant.

I'll give you an example. I just watched a video on YouTube that demonstrates a new soda vending machine. He begins the demonstration with this comment:

"First off, you put ice in your drink, unless you're some sort of loser."

Like a match on gasoline, the flame war erupted. At least half of the comment posters (no, I didn't really count them) fixated on that one statement with no regard for what the video was actually about.

My whole point is, now that we have this wonderful, world-wide medium with which to express ourselves, it has made seemingly everyone on the planet eager for a good argument. Now, arguments are not inherently bad. Arguments are how we evolve and change as a society, but I'm sorry. Whether or not you like ice in your drink is not an argument that's going to change the world for the better, and that's just one example.

Internet trolls thrive on this, and they think they're above you because they know it. They know that all they have to do is make one pointed, opinionated comment about whatever it is you've posted and a torrent of debate will erupt. The sad thing is, many of them couldn't care less about the actual topic. They just want to see what they can stir up for fun. I can't say I blame them, because it relates to one of the principles I live by: If you advertise what pushes your buttons, prepare to have the hell pushed out of them.

Trolls are good for our culture, in that they force us to either thicken our oversensitive skins, or stay out of the fray. Now, let the trolling on this post begin.

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