Am I the only one? I often won't click on a thread because I don't

[Mind_your_head]

Poll question: Am I the only one? I often won't click on a thread because I don't

want to read the details of man's inhumanity to other wo/men, children, animals, nature, etc. I know that cruel people are out there in the world and they do terrible things but I somehow feel I am diminished by reading any of the gory details. The title of a thread often tells me MORE than I want to know/consider.

Sometimes I read a thread title and think, "there's NO WAY I'm gonna click on that! I don't want that image in my head" I'm not 'burying my head in the sand', but I just really can't read the details, especially when it involves children.

Am I the only one?

[Mind_your_head]

1. Two votes for "other" with no comment?

:shrug:

[patrice]

2. I don't read them all, but I read enough to keep me motivated to fight against

the problems that beat and break people.

If there are War pictures around, I look at them carefully and think about what the lives were like without War.

[Lisa0825]

3. I rarely use the hide-thread function, but when I do...

it is usually for posts about cruelty towards animals or people (especially the defenseless like elderly, children, or those with disabilities). That is just something I can't handle. When I hear about such stories, I have a really hard time getting past them.... they keep popping back into my head, and even if I didn't see pics, I get images of what happened. It's just too much for me.

I think the first time I actually found that I couldn't handle the level of horror about an act was the Andrea Yates case.... it happened only about 15 minutes from my home, so in addition to all the national coverage it got, it was total local coverage saturation, plus "water cooler talk," etc. I just couldn't take it anymore. Since then, I find I have a much lower tolerance for hearing about such inhumane stories.

[Mind_your_head]

5. Yep - I'm with you.....

I never use the hide-thread function either. Some stories (which from reading the thread titles that I never clicked on have apparently gone to trial) and I just can't bear to read about them.

I too have a much lower tolerance for such inhumanity than I used to some years ago.

I'm glad "I'm not alone" in that. :hug:

edited for clarity, (i.e., 'thread titles' rather than 'threads')

[Manifestor_of_Light]

9. Yep they beat the local violence on the news.

Houston has had a lot of high profile murders, going back at least to the Jacques Mossler/Candy Mossler case and the Joan Robinson Hill/John Hill murder case in the 1960s.

I used to work at the Harris County Courts (mostly civil) and even the civil stuff drove me nuts. The criminal stuff was pretty awful too. I could not handle the stress of the job. I did not get involved in the cases or take sides, but it still messed me up being around all the bad vibes of trials where people are mad at each other.

[undeterred]

4. Other: It bothers me to read the details and I read it anyway.

[MazeRat7]

6. Once a subject has had more that a couple on the topic, I generally avoid them...

Occasionally, I'll see one that I know "will hurt", but like a good accident, I rubberneck and read it anyway. Generally only the OP and the "subject" responses. But as a general rule, I read only a handful of treads on a given topic.


Peace,
MZr7

[Greyhound]

7. Other. It bothers me greatly, but I refresh my knowledge of how awful we are

so that I don't get too complacent. I was raised in the psychopathic world of the parasites but it has been many years since I've been subjected to that and, like most traumatic experiences, it fades with time. Fortunately I'm only a little empathic so it is possible to see/hear/read about this stuff and still function.

Ms Greyhound, OTOH, is very empathetic and literally feels everything, so she avoids it. One big reason she doesn't hang out here. DU is, sadly, a very representative sample of America at large.

[Greyhound]

8. Kick

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. sometimes yes, sometimes no

[varkam]

11. It bothers me, but I read the details anyway.

It's not so much rubbernecking or morbid curiosity as it is, in a strange way, reaffirming the fact that we're all members of this human race and...sometimes...we can do some pretty fucked up things to one another. Take the good with the bad.

[LaurenG]

12. I won't even come to DU to read some days

depending on the topic du jour.

[Breeze54]

13. No, you aren't the only one and Yes, you ARE burying your head in the sand.

Avoiding reality is what children do.

[Ex Lurker]

14. Especially if the story involves dogs

I won't read it. I rationalize that I can't do anything about it anyway. I guess that's a cop out.

[earth mom]

15. Initially, I do the same because I can not bear what has happened. It's a gut reaction

where I know that I will need time to process the idea of whatever it is.

Later, I go back and read the details because I want to know. Even though it will break my heart, I must know. :cry: