So You've Been Publicly Shamed
Jon Ronson
Top 10 Best Quotes
“But we know that people are complicated and have a mixture of flaws and talents and sins. So why do we pretend that we don’t?”
“We are defining the boundaries of normality by tearing apart the people outside it.”
“There is nothing I dislike more in the world than people who care more about ideology than they do about people.”
“We were creating a world where the smartest way to survive is to be bland.”
“I suppose it’s no surprise that we feel the need to dehumanize the people we hurt—before, during, or after the hurting occurs. But it always comes as a surprise. In psychology it’s known as cognitive dissonance. It’s the idea that it feels stressful and painful for us to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time (like the idea that we’re kind people and the idea that we’ve just destroyed someone). And so to ease the pain we create illusory ways to justify our contradictory behavior.”
“The snowflake never needs to feel responsible for the avalanche.”
“A life had been ruined. What was it for: just some social media drama? I think our natural disposition as humans is to plod along until we get old and stop. But with social media, we’ve created a stage for constant artificial high drama. Every day a new person emerges as a magnificent hero or a sickening villain. It’s all very sweeping, and not the way we actually are as people.”
“We’re creating a culture where people feel constantly surveilled, where people are afraid to be themselves.”
“We see ourselves as nonconformist, but I think all of this is creating a more conformist, conservative age.”
“I favour humans over ideology, but right now the ideologues are winning, and they're creating a stage for constant artificial high dramas, where everyone is either a magnificent hero or a sickening villain. We can lead good, ethical lives, but some bad phraseology in a Tweet can overwhelm it all - even though we know that's not how we should define our fellow humans. What's true about our fellow humans is that we are clever and stupid. We are grey areas. And so ... when you see an unfair or an ambiguous shaming unfold, speak up on behalf of the shamed person. A babble of opposing voices - that's democracy. The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice to voiceless people. Let's not turn it into a world where the smartest way to survive is to go back to being voiceless.”
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Book Keywords:
responsibility, psychology, shaming, social-media
