A Patch For Stupidity
Sure, it's been said that there is no patch for human stupidity, and in general, that's true. However, a team of software developers is hard at work on a "stupid filter" that promises to do to idiotic online comments what a spam filter does to junk and unwanted e-mail: put it in a place where it can't hurt anyone anymore.
You heard me. The StupidFilter.
Obviously, there's a lot to this, but here's the short version: If a site had the filter installed on its servers, it would intercept a comment made with the stupid remarks (like, say, anything with "LOL", "OMG", "STFU", or whatever in it) just before it was published and flash a little alert at the author that reads: "This comment is more or less unintelligible. Please try to restate it." The writer would get another crack at it, and another, until at last he was able to muster a few words of intelligence, or in frustration wandered off to inflict those LOL!!!!!s and OMG!!!!s on some more tolerant site. As a browser plug-in, it could work in the same way an ad-blocker could.
If any of you think I'm not ecstatic about this, you're sorely mistaken. If I can't get the rest of these pathetic humans to muster up an iota of intelligence, I can at least keep my blood pressure down by not having to see it.
You heard me. The StupidFilter.
Obviously, there's a lot to this, but here's the short version: If a site had the filter installed on its servers, it would intercept a comment made with the stupid remarks (like, say, anything with "LOL", "OMG", "STFU", or whatever in it) just before it was published and flash a little alert at the author that reads: "This comment is more or less unintelligible. Please try to restate it." The writer would get another crack at it, and another, until at last he was able to muster a few words of intelligence, or in frustration wandered off to inflict those LOL!!!!!s and OMG!!!!s on some more tolerant site. As a browser plug-in, it could work in the same way an ad-blocker could.
If any of you think I'm not ecstatic about this, you're sorely mistaken. If I can't get the rest of these pathetic humans to muster up an iota of intelligence, I can at least keep my blood pressure down by not having to see it.