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Why do people tend towards the most extreme expressions when describing things? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It's a pretty common thing on the internet to see somebody relating a story about someone acting in an inconsiderate way and the response is usually something like, "Well that person is a total piece of shit."

I'm fine with using those kinds of words. What I don't get is why people are inclined to go full tilt in how they express themselves rather than using the full range of meaning that words provide. It's like, if you go straight to calling things a piece of shit, how do I know whether you're genuinely upset about something versus, mildly annoyed?

We have all of these linguistic colors and yet things are so often painted in black and white.

Why is this?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Knee jerk reactions are easy, all you need is emotion and a single impetus. Nuance is more complicated and can be difficult to fully express. Most people don't try to make things more complicated than they need to be and don't put thought into everything they say or post.