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GIFT: Difference between revisions
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The '''[[Fun With Acronyms|G]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|reater ]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|I]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|nternet ]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|F]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|uckwad ]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|T]]'''[[Fun With Acronyms|heory]]. First [[Trope Namer|given a name]] by the boys at ''[[Penny Arcade]]'', it is a theory that seeks to illuminate why so many people seem to degenerate into antisocial, [[Cluster F
The equation, illustrated [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19 here], is this:
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''Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = [[Jerkass|Total Fuckwad]]''
This phenomenon has been studied in an academic setting, and by all accounts the satirical analysis is spot-on; normal people become more aggressive when they think that their behavior carries no real-world social consequences. When people do not have to worry about getting in trouble with their loved ones, school, or employer, getting into a [[Talk to The Fist|direct]] [[Armor
Hence the depressingly large number of people who think that being a [[Troll]] is funny, and that [[The Internet|the Internet]] is the perfect place to spew all the bigoted, provocative, or otherwise hateful bile they would never say in real life. The GIFT also contributes to the pervasiveness of cyber-bullying [[Kids Are Cruel|among kids]] [[Teens Are Monsters|and teenagers]], which has led to [[Driven to Suicide|actual suicides]]. The academic name of the phenomenon is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect Online Disinhibition Effect], but even leading researchers use GIFT outside the journals.
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The idea of anonymity's irresistible corruption due to lack of consequences and escape from [[Big Brother Is Watching|restraints caused by being watched]] is extremely pervasive. Think of the people who leave unholy messes in public restrooms. Nobody sees them do it, and they almost certainly wouldn't make a mess in their own home where they'd have to clean it up ([[Trash of the Titans|hopefully]]), or their friend's/relative's, when it'd be obvious who did it. The basic idea [[Older Than Feudalism|was first proposed by]] [[Plato]] in ''The Republic'', where he recounts the myth of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Gyges Ring of Gyges], one of the original [[Invisible Jerkass]] stories.
The only reason why it's not a law like [[
Fun fact: the German, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish word ''Gift'' means "poison" (or married). Which seems oddly appropriate.
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[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:GIFT]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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