Only I have control over

[cotten]

Originally Posted by Ewalling

Perhaps you are hard-wired to respond to your own rage control or your own vengeance seeking impulses in these ways. But what about the person who feels purged by punching an offender's lights out?

Yes. Some people exercise self control, and others don't. I'm not surprised at this.

cotten

[HHP]

Originally Posted by cotten

Yes. Some people exercise self control, and others don't. I'm not surprised at this.

cotten

Responding to idiocy does not equate to no control. You can be in control and respond quite directly. Shoot, its more like a public service than a character flaw.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by HHP

Responding to idiocy does not equate to no control. You can be in control and respond quite directly. Shoot, its more like a public service than a character flaw.

I would tend to agree with the caveat, it really depends on the situation and the response. And I would draw the distinction of reasoned action and emotional reaction.

While tapping your horn lightly at someone who's head is down texting, several seconds after a light has turned green, could well serve to remind the person they are not alone on the road and help move traffic along more smoothly. And may be a controlled response

Tailgating someone who is driving at or just under the speed limit because your poor planning and habits don't allow more time for your commute....isn't

[TBman]

Just recently having a reminder that reality stinks, just breathe. Relax and breathe deeply.

[Danno]

Originally Posted by fazool

One way that I think of things like this.....well, firstly I acknowledge that I probably cause more grief than I suffer so I'm not deluding myself to believe "everyone else is wrong".

That said, when other people are wrong (and they usually are ) I think of it like mosquitoes. It sounds silly but:

When I am in the backyard, if a mosquito bites me and flies away. I can't waste my time chasing that one mosquito down and getting angry at that one mosquito and even "fixing" that one problem causer. The reason is that there are a million mosquitoes behind my house and it will be a waste of emotional energy for myself to try and "get emotionally" even with that one, single culprit. I'm better off simply avoiding the rest of those troublemakers.

That paragraph is how I feebly try to contain my driving and Internet anger. There are a billion bad drivers and Internet-idiots out there so I can never "fix" the problem - I can only fix me and avoid them.

Not sure if I explained my mosquito-philosophy well enough....

This is perhaps the most enlightening thing I've read on this forum in my 16 years here.

[cotten]

Originally Posted by HHP

Responding to idiocy does not equate to no control. You can be in control and respond quite directly. Shoot, its more like a public service than a character flaw.

"Some people exercise self control, and others don't." I don't equate "self control" with doing nothing. Responding to idiocy in a self controlled, wise manner is, well, wise. Responding to idiocy without self control is unwise. For instance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s85uh9AC7Q

cotten