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ieie3366yesterday at 7:26 PM1 replyview on HN

I'd say at least 1/3 of internet commenters clearly have GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). Most of them undiagnosed. Anxiety triggers ancient animalistic parts of the brain and the "need to do something NOW" which often then gets released into negative / angry / aggressive posts.

Depressed people are the opposite, they tend to lurk and not care that much

I remember back in the "old" internet pre-2010, there was basically zero anxious people posting.


Replies

qserayesterday at 8:09 PM

I blame A/B testing.

Fear and anxiety sells best (even better than Sex). When you end up selecting procedures that ensures the maximum sales/clicks, you are actually optimizing for things that cause maximum fear and anxiety?