Anonymous

Recently I mentioned in a blog that I had never attended college, and unfortunately because of my lack of typing skills the word "college" came out "collage", which of course spellcheck did not pick up since collage is a legitimate art form and real word. So it was printed incorrectly. I was more than a little taken aback however when someone using the name "anonymous" sent a comment on that blog to the effect that perhaps if I had actually attended college I might know how to spell it. I thought it was a nasty thing to say and was tempted to delete it but I let it stand. After all, I don't like to delete comments unless they are commercial in nature and am an advocate of free speech.

But it did remind me of a sermon I heard once where the preacher said that a person's right to swing their arms around ended where the other person's nose began. I've thought about that often and it occurs to me that what is really dangerous and uncivilized about the internet world is this opportunity for people to comment about anything they want to under the name "anonymous". Somehow I doubt people who do so would be so free with their thoughts, especially rude or unkind ones, when their names were attached to them. I think they might think twice about the things they say and the way they say them if everyone were to know who they were.

The argument can be made that people are freer to speak their minds and say what they're thinking if they can do so without the possible ramifications that go along with their identity, and I understand that notion. But I also think that part of what makes us civilized is the knowledge that someone might know what we are doing or thinking. How many people would breeze through red lights without the cameras that take their photos, or go through the EZ Pass lane if they thought they could get away without paying? Isn't it the fear of the result of misbehavior that helps keep us behaving? Some people have ethics and would never do anything unlawful. But there are others who simply tow the line out of a sense of self-preservation. Those are the ones who like to be "anonymous" I would imagine.

Well, whatever the reason, I think if there are people who think me uneducated and boring they ought not to bother reading this blog. After all, I'm sure there are plenty of more intellectual ones out there that are much better suited to their superior intelligence! LOL