I think you have answered your own question. In my experience on this forum, posters rarely get "upset" with routine exchanges of views. But when a post "gets real" -- invades someone's home turf : their core belief system ("values") -- you can almost feel the "ouch!" as toes get stepped on. Most of us are like ballroom dancers, who try to ignore the occasional toe stepping. But for some true believers, the pain is too much to bear. So, they will push or punch the toe-steppers to "muffle" their offensive words. This despite the philosophical adage or precept : “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. :smile:We want our values to triumph or to muffle the opposition — Andrew4Handel
The dynamics of projection continue throughout life with the earliest wounds and traumas being the raw foundations for emotional processing, especially surfacing in the experiences of being 'upset'. — Jack Cummins
There is general trend towards cognitive and neuroscience but the core features of social dynamics and the structure of emotional processing come into the picture. — Jack Cummins
Some people are more sensitive than others, who seem in comparison so thick-skinned. — Jack Cummins
We rarely appreciate an antithesis shoved into our thesis. — Baden
Does being upset indicate something is wrong and out of alignment. — Andrew4Handel
Just to elaborate, I often think that the ideas we’re most emotionally attached to are the ones we have the least justification for. That makes us somewhat insecure so we compensate with “passion.” — Pinprick
Reflecting on my own experience on forums, I’ve become upset mainly when I’m enthusiastic about an idea or perspective and others pour cold water on it. There have been times when I’ve been seriously perturbed by online debates. Debates about religion, philosophy and politics are often like that, one of the reasons that it has been considered poor etiquette to broach political and religious topics on social occasions (although of course this being a forum that is what is expected). But then learning to deal with adverse reactions has also been an important learning, and detachment is an important attribute. One of the best lecturers I had in philosophy had an uncanny ability to present differing philosophical perspectives in a way that was sympathetic to both sides without ever really needing to signal what he himself thought was right. He just laid out the cases, anticipated objections, summarised the issues. I admired that in him.
It’s also a factor that we live in a period of intense polarisation of views - culture wars, and the like. Many people hold very strongly to ideas that others may feel are absurd or dangerous. Anti-religious ideologues may see all religion as superstition, and fundamentalists may see science as the work of the devil. And so on. It’s one of the background factors in today’s culture. Again it’s where an element of detachment is important - doesn’t mean being apathetic, but learning to make dispassionate judgements. — Wayfarer
Sage advice from the Buddha: watch your breath. Don’t pursue chains of thought, or allow yourself to be seized by emotion. Know that everything is transient. Carry on. — Wayfarer
What can't you afford, exactly? Being calm and measured? That would certainly map well against your output. — Wayfarer
But the trick is to allow the blow to strike, the knife to penetrate fully without denial or angry defence. Sometimes I forget this in the moment, but when one feels the hurt fully, it passes immediately. — unenlightened
Are you saying it's better to be thin-skinned than thick-skinned? It passes through — Changeling
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