“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” – Bertrand Russell

The other day, I got a comment online that made my blood boil. It was from someone whose profile said they were intelligent, but their comment said that they were not. The comment offered nothing but outrage. I can’t comment on their motivations, but they don’t seem good. I would have rather been able to find out what prompted them. I still would.

This was a prototypical internet troll.

The comment was implying that when I wrote my post on the Navier-Stokes equations last week, I must have been high on marijuana. There was no comment or point made on why this person felt this way. It simply was delivered as a personal attack against me. This personal attack did nothing to elevate the dialogue around the topic chosen or provide any sort of useful critique for my writing. It was simply an ad hominem attack.

One of the things that I appreciate intellectually is that I’m often wrong, and I hold that possibility open. I‘m eager to engage in dialogue about differences in opinion or belief. We are all simply seeking the truth. I also don’t believe I’m the most eloquent or effective writer. I only want to get better at it. This person’s comment did nothing in any of those regards. It was purely negative.

“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.” – Christopher Hitchens

It was a comment made that did not elevate any conversation, and only simply attacked me. I declared his comment an ad hominem attack. A day later, this person’s response showed that they couldn’t comprehend what the word ad hominem meant. Or how they had committed such a crime themselves. This person is just an internet troll.

“The greatest remedy for anger is delay.” – Seneca

One of the things that’s most poisonous to our current world is that internet trolls have entered into the real world. Our American President is an internet troll. He has taken trolling as a political and governing strategy. Every Truth Social post has trolling built in. We have a government that spends a great deal of its time simply trolling people. Doing this instead of actually engaging in any sort of constructive problem-solving.

The goal of the troll is to dig into someone and enrage them. Then get them to respond with rage and create a downward spiral. This happened to me. Fortunately, I caught myself and deleted my incredibly nasty reply to the LinkedIn post. The blog post is still up! This also deleted the troll’s comment.

This is the same bait that the president throws out all the time: something incendiary to invoke a response. He has taken a highly respected office, the presidency of the United States, and turned it into a platform for trolling. It is something all of us know something about. It is also something all of us should reject, regardless of our political stance. Unfortunately, this isn’t happening. It’s been highly effective.

“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.” – Alberto Brandolini

I probably can’t do anything to fix this phenomenon. It seems to be a fixture of our modern era. What I can say is that the internet troll, or just the troll in general, is a parasite. They feed off your anger and outrage. Resist it. It only encourages them. Worse than being useless, they actively work to destroy and sow destruction rather than contribute anything positive.

We have plenty of problems and issues to consider. It’s much better to work towards constructive development of ideas and apply critique in a manner that makes things better. The internet troll does none of this. They’re purely destructive. The best thing that I can do is remind myself to actively ignore them and give them little or no space or air.

For those of you out there, don’t be a troll. Trolls simply sow anger and division. We have too much of that. Instead, engage online with thoughtful and considered thought. Raise the level of dialog and thought. We live in dangerous and challenging times. All of us need to work together to make a better future. Thoughtful and powerful thinking can lead to solutions to problems. Working together, people can get better if they support each other.

“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” – Cyrus S. Ching.