The Kool-Aid Factor
Kool-Aid? Clay Aiken? Clay's fans? What did one have to do with the other? I first saw the term used as an insult and at the time it made no sense. Given that I'd read it on a message board that chewed up and spit out anyone who dared to even mention the name Clay there was no way I was going to ask for an explanation. It may take me a while, but eventually I will find the answers ... and I did.
Back in the '60s when the hippies were hippin', flowers had power and LSD was a way to tune in, turn on and drop out, Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) hosted Acid Test parties for his group of Merry Pranksters where he served grape Kool-Aid laced with LSD along with other drugs of choice.
Not to be confused with purple pickles. That's a whole n'other subject.
In 1978 Jim Jones and 913 followers of his People's Temple committed mass suicide by way of drinking Flavor Aid laced with cyanide, taking cyanide injections, or by gun shot in Jonestown, Guyana.
The term "drinking the Kool-Aid" came to mean blindly following like sheep. So is saying Clay fans are Kool-Aid drinkers meant as an insult? You bet!
But....and this is a big one....there is a flip side.
You see, if Clay Aiken was your run of the mill pop star we'd be seeing mediocrity and indifference. Instead, we see passion for a well loved artist, who at the beginning of his career has already become a commercial success and is the yardstick by whom others have been and still are measured. His success leads others to use his name for for their own gain. Mediocrity generates indifference. Passion generates love and hate. The chart below illustrates my point.
"Forget the tipping point--if you want to measure passion, look for the koolaid point." says Kathy Sierra, who graciously gave me permission to use her charts.Those on the hate side of passion ("koolaid-hunters") will try whatever they can to make sure that everyone knows we have lost our minds, we are nothing more than sheep, we are Kool-Aid drinkers. Quoting Kathy Sierra again "Where there is passion, there is always anti-passion... or rather passion in the hate dimension."
So whether it's love or hate it proves that Clay Aiken is a force to be reckoned with.
Now pass me some Kool-Aid!!!
You can read more about the Physics of Passion: The Koolaid Point here
posted by Truth Rules | 2:42 PM
33 Comments:
Oh, this is great -- LOVE it! Kudos on the great "find"... it makes sooo much sense, and is totally, perfectly applicable.
Thanks TR, you know why!
Hey why was my post deleted? Carol that was not nice.
I'm not Carol and I didn't like what you said. I own the delete key.
The above picture of "carol" is hosted on the pickle's photobucket account.
Do I sense voices in someone's head? (the caption there is "newme2." LMAO)
He thinks I'm "Carol". Once again, he's hallucinating. I wonder what's in his Kool-Aid.
That's just it; the Kool-Aid is straight and he has a problem dealing with anything straight.
At least I know your name is not Carol, Elliot.
Now that's scary. I was just reading up on Sam Elliot and the movie Roadhouse. That's one kickass movie.
My favorite line is "Be nice until it's time not to be nice."
They're not Carol, I'm Carol.
Which one do you want?
Actually there are several of us.
Guess which one????
Hee ...
He's now changed the photobucket account the picture is on to "johbasmedina." Still newme2, though. Gotta keep the sockpuppets looking legit, you know, especially if they want to start new blogs.
Interesting what you can find perusing photobucket, I must say. Yup, the evidence mounts -- truth rules indeed.
Busted. LOL
I'm Carol, too, John.
Tell us why you're looking for Carol.
Me, too!!! I'm Carol, too.
Is it me, John??? Pick me!!!
Well, my mother wanted a girl she could name Carol. That didn't happen.
No...but it's close enough!
Thank you guys! I love being a "Carol" among "Carols"!!!!! LMAO here!!!!! Do I still get to keep on being Carol? Or should I change my name? Oooooooh, oooh! Great Idea here! We could ALL change our names every Tuesday (or Sunday or whatever) . . now how cool would that be?
I can be Carol, too, if we need any extras.
Why can't that scumsucker stay away? He is so freaking desperate for attention he starts following us where ever we go...
Freak.
Oh, the games they will play.
At 6:34 PM on asswipe's blog what pops up? A fake message from celebhith, with her full name (not her screen name), professing her support for John now.
Only this fake got majorly caught and had to retreat.
Carol, I hope you don't mind but I jumped in and demanded JP take the fake post at 6:34 PM down. And he has.
I'm going to use anon here in case the buggers are monitoring here (and of course they are - hi there you dickheads) so they won't know for sure who is on to them and then I'd become their new target.
In case anyone needs or wants it, I got a screencap of the page before he deleted his posts, along with the url of the picture as hosted on his site, the profile number, etc.
Good detective work ladies.
HIGH FIVE!!
Do you think the FBI monitoring asswipe's site would have noticed this little prank?
Where is Pierre Dominic when you need him?
;-)
I see by your outfit that you are a Carol.
I see by your outfit you are a Carol too.
We see by our outfits that we are both Carols, if John gets an outfit he can be a Carol too.
Guess he didn't count on word getting back to "Carol" this fast.
Another violation of the terms of service on Google - impersonating someone else.
Too bad he bought into the line his grouchy friend fed him about how stupid Clay fans were.
Hey, I could be Carroll. How 'bout that!!!
BUSTED
I love it!!!
Caroling, Caroling
Caroling, caroling, now we go
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling thru the snow
Christmas bells are ringing
Joyous voices sweet and clear
Sing the sad of heart to cheer
Ding dong, ding dong
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling thru the town
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling up and down
Christmas bells are ringing
Mark ye well the song we sing
Gladsome tidings now we bring
Ding dong, ding dong
Christmas bells are ringing!
Caroling, caroling, near and far
Christmas bells are ringing
Following, following yonder star
Christmas bells are ringing
Sing we all this happy morn
"Lo, the King of heav'n is born!"
Ding dong, ding dong
Christmas bells are ringing
I speak French. Can I be "Carole" with an "e"???
Oh Carol, I am but a fool
Darling I love you
Tho' you treat me crueeeeeel
Tee hee hee
Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so gooooooood.
I'd be inclined, to believe they never couououould.
Carol, are you one of the ladies who started the FTC thing? Please let me know.
Anonymous said...
Carol, are you one of the ladies who started the FTC thing? Please let me know.
----
The FTC hoax wound up in File 13. Didn't you know that?
What's the FTC thing? I'd dearly love to start SOMEthing, but I guess I'm just destined to finish what other people start!
Gotta say, I LOVE being among all the "Carols". . . and I adore the Dr. Pepper take-off, TR!
For a further development, see my comment on my latest blog. This sh*t is REALLY starting to stink!
I know this is long, but I thought it was important. Maybe it should be a blog.
Cyberbullying
Dealing with cyber bullies, flame mail, hate mail
(adapted from Bully Online, reproduced with permission)
The Internet provides the perfect forum for cyberbullies, individuals whose aim is to gain gratification from the distress caused by provoking and tormenting others.
The anonymity, ease of provocation, and almost infinite source of targets means the Internet is full of predators from pedophiles targeting children to serial bullies targeting ... anybody.
Cyberbullies get a perverse sense of satisfaction (called gratification) from sending people flame mail and hate mail. Flame mail is an email whose contents are designed to inflame and enrage. Hate mail is hatred (including prejudice, racism, sexism etc) in an email.
Serial bullies harbour a lot of internal aggression which they direct at others.
This may include projection, false criticism and patronising sarcasm whilst contributing nothing of any value. It may also include a common tactic of "a number of people have emailed me backchannel to agree with me". This is standard bully-speak which I've experienced on several forums.
In every case it's a fabrication or a distortion - usually the former. It's also a variant of the serial bully head teacher who says "a number of parents have complained to me about you...". When challenged, the identity of the alleged complainants can't be disclosed because it's "confidential".
The purpose of this tactic is to wind people up. Don't be fooled into believing it has any validity - it doesn't.
People who bully are adept at creating conflict between those who would otherwise pool negative information about them.
The method of creating conflict is provocation which bullies delight in because they know they can always coerce at least one person to respond in a manner which can then be distorted and used to further flame and inflame people. And so it goes on.
The bully then sits back and gains gratification from seeing others engage in destructive behaviour towards each other. This is known as trolling - see: Trolling The Web for more information about their tactics.
Most serial bullies are also serial attention-seekers. More than anything else they want attention. It doesn't matter what type of attention they get, positive or negative, as long as they can provoke someone into paying them attention.
It's like a 2-year-old child throwing a tantrum to get attention from a parent. The best way to treat bullies is to refuse to respond and to refuse to engage them - which they really hate.
In other words, do not reply to their postings, and on forums carry on posting without reference to their postings as if they didn't exist. In other words, treat nobodies as nobodies.
The anger of a serial bully is especially apparent when they come across someone who can see through them to espy the weak, inadequate, immature, dysfunctional aggressive individual behind the mask.
If you receive abusive posts or hate mail from someone on the urban75 bulletin board, use the 'report this post' function, inform a moderator or mail the admin team
If you are receiving persistent abusive emails , forward them to abuse@isp where "isp" is the service provider the abuser is using, eg "aol.com" or "yahoo.com".
Although Internet service providers may not act on every complaint, the more complaints they receive about a particular individual (with examples of abusive email) the more likely they are to close down the person's account.
The objectives of bullies are Power, Control, Domination, Subjugation. They get a kick out of seeing you react.
It doesn't matter how you react, the fact they've successful provoked a reaction is, to the bully, a sign that their attempt at control have been successful.
After that, it's a question of wearing you down. The more your try to explain, negotiate, conciliate, etc the more gratification they obtain from your increasingly desperate attempts to communicate with them.
Understand that it is not possible to communicate in a mature adult manner with a disordered individual who's emotionally retarded.
THE SEVEN RULES OF DEALING WITH BULLIES
1. The Number One rule for dealing with this type of behaviour is: don't respond and don't engage. This is not as easy to do as it sounds. It's a natural response to want to defend yourself, and to put the person right.
However, never argue with a serial bully; it's not a mature adult discussion, but like dealing with a child or immature teenager; whilst the serial bully may be an adult on the outside, on the inside they are like a child who's never grown up - and probably never will.
2. The second rule is to keep all abusive emails. Create a new folder, perhaps called "Abuse", and move hate mail and flame mail into this folder. You don't have to read it.
When the time comes to take action, this folder of hate mail and flame mail is your evidence.
Bullies, especially cyberbullies, are obsessive people and if their account is closed down you may start receiving mail from another address.
This can later be compared to the abusive emails you've already received to identify the perpetrator. You'll find the same words, phrases and strategies occurring.
3. The third rule is to understand bullying. Read through Bully OnLine carefully, understand the profile of the serial bully.
4. Rule four is get help. If you're a young person, this is essential. Even mature experienced adults often cannot handle bullying and harassment by themselves. Sometimes you are dealing with a severely disordered and dangerous individual.
5. Rule five is become alert to provocation. It could be called "The Baiting Game". A provocative comment is made and those who respond spontaneously in irritation (eg non-assertively) are then encouraged to engage in conflict with those who respond without irritation (eg assertively).
The provoker watches, waits and stirs the pot with the occasional additional provocation. What interests me is the sense of gratification that a provoker gains from watching others indulge in destructive interaction initiated by him- or herself.
In this context, gratification is a perverse form of satisfaction akin to, but distinct from, pleasure.
6. The sixth rule is become an observer. Although you may be the target of the cyberbully's anger, you can train yourself to act as an observer. This takes you out of the firing line and enables you to study the perpetrator and collect evidence.
When people use bullying behaviours they project their own weaknesses, failings and shortcomings on to others. In other words, they are telling you about themselves by fabricating an accusation based on something they themselves have done wrong.
Whenever you receive a flame mail or hate mail, train yourself to instinctively ask the question, "What is this person revealing about themselves this time?"
7. The seventh rule is decide if you want to take action, and if so, prepare carefully and strike hard. Sometimes refusing to respond and engage will result in the cyberbully losing interest and going off to find someone easier to torment.
Sometimes though, especially if there has been interaction in the past, the cyberbully is so obsessed that s/he cannot and will not let go. You will have to make that person let go, but only through swift, hard, legal action, and only when the time is right. Don't deal with the abuser yourself, use a third party such as a solicitor.
Bully OnLine is a gold mine of insight and information on bullying which identifies the different types of harassment and bullying, and exposes the principal perpetrator, the serial bully.
External links
Staying safe in cyberspace
Conflict in Cyberspace: how to resolve conflict online
The Psychology of Cyberspace
www.haltabuse.org/
www.wiredpatrol.org/
Links to stalking sites
You can tell John is old, that he uses that term so naturally as a defense. I think John is probably older (at least I suspect) than his alleged age.
I heard that a claymate/clayfan messaged John and said he was John's exboyfriend.
John replied and said "what is John's real name and real age then"
You know he is obviously older than 38. As for real name, no one knows what his name really is.
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