Anger
We seem to be living in an age of anger and nowhere is that more apparent than certain parts of the internet. Aleks Krotoski explores if digital media is a symptom or the cause.
We seem to be living in a world of polarised opinions giving rise to increasingly angry exchanges on television, print and of course social media. Aleks Krotoski asks how online anger works and is it a symptom or the cause of the problem.
An enormous Chinese study demonstrated that angry content is the most shared across the web while US researchers have asserted that while we might not be any angrier than in the past we encounter much more angering content than ever before and that anger lingers priming us for the net encounter.
Aleks makes the comparison with another increasingly congested space that of our roads; an environment where similar mechanisms of anonymity and depersonalisation are at play. She concludes by discussing the social role of anger and why so many groups have begun to rely on it to get their way.
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Why anger is the most viral of emotions.
Duration: 01:30
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Paul Bradley Carr
, author of the Upgrade and Bringing Nothing To The Party and editor of was once known for his βlegendaryβ twitter fights.
He tells us about how he dealt with his anger online after it threatened to eclipse his every day life, and just how difficult it was to quit.
Ed Hunter
Ed Hunter is the Founder of in Melbourne, where you can come along and smash crockery, monitors and the much loathed printer in order to release bent up anger and frustration.
He showed Aleks around and explained how physically releasing bottled up anger can bring a rush of relief.
Jennifer Lerner
, internationally-known expert in Decision Science, is Professor of Public Policy and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Co-Founder of the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory. Β
She tells us how anger affects our judgement, and how in a blaze of anger we suddenly see the world as much more black and white, and our actions can suffer from it.Ryan Martin
Dr. Ryan Martin is the chair of the at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a nationally known anger researcher. Β He also hosts the popular UW-Green Bay Psychology podcast,, along with a new podcast on anger and violence that he cohosts with Dr. Chuck Rybak called.
He tells us about the nature of anger, how if flourishes online, and what particular situations are most likely to spark off rage.
Pankaj Mishra
He explains why we are so angry in the modern day, despite the fact we claim to live in an age of reason and enlightenment.
Amanda Stephens
She explains why being in the closed environment of a car, surrounded by other anonymous drivers, can stimulate anger in so many of us.
Broadcasts
- Mon 10 Apr 2017 16:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Tue 8 Aug 2017 23:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
Podcast
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The Digital Human
Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world
