On the Vulnerability of Wise Vikings - Wisdom of the Vikings Part 12

Moderation

The cattle know

when to come home

from the grazing ground.

A man of lean wisdom

will never learn

what his stomach can store.

Happiness

He is unhappy

and ill-tempered

who meets all with mockery.

What he doesn't know,

but needs to,

are his own familiar faults.

Note: This is part 12 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

As we have moved through the wisdom of the Hávamál it has become more and more apparent that virtue ethics, rather than a particular set of ethics rules, are the functional framework. The aphoristic poems don't so much tell the reader what action they ought to take in each and every situation as they lay out conditions under which particular virtues prove necessary. In that way they highlight those virtues which were most necessary to flourishing in a medieval (Viking) Icelandic society and are (by my hypothesis) also critical for online participation.

In these two poems, I would suggest that it is the virtue of vulnerability, or at least the virtue of an internal vulnerability which is being highlighted. In the first we get the pastoral image of a grazing cow, which knows when to stop eating and come in, applied to a man of "lean wisdom" who will "never learn what his stomach can store". In the second we get a reflection on the idea that an unwillingness to know your own faults can steal your happiness; or maybe it would be better to say that until we recognize our own faults, we will not be able to be happy. In both cases, we find that flourishing emerges from a lack of self-knowledge. 

Socrates

Notably, this is a bit of wisdom which the Vikings have in common with Socrates and the Greek philosophical tradition. The aphorism "Know Yourself" (γνῶθι σεαυτόν) is said to have been etched over the doors of the temple of Apollo at Dephi—the structure which housed the Delphic Oracle. For Socrates the aphorism formed much of his motivation for engaging in philosophy and was also (if we are to believe The Apology) the clue to solving his ultimate riddle. The charge to seek out self-knowledge is a well established bit of wisdom. 

And yet, it often seems to be lacking in our online engagement. There seems to be no end to the stories and studies on the way in which social media in particular, but cyberspace generally, has been isolating us in to ever-more polarized echo chambers. Generally the danger these stories and studies are working to point out is that closing ourselves off from dissenting opinion and an attendant decreased capacity for empathy with those outside our echo chambers, and that is a legitimate and weighty concern. At the same time, though I think it is also critical to highlight the way in which existing in an echo-chamber robs us of opportunities for self-knowledge. My Dad regularly points out that "It takes a non-parochial fish to know that it is wet", in other words, it is often hardest to see the very thing we are most surrounded by. In fact, the greatest opportunities we have to discover our own condition is the experience of encountering other conditions. Those experiences are what give us the opportunity to contrast our own "normal" with someone else's "normal". The best chance that fish has of recognizing its own wetness is if it begins to encounter air bubbles.

So too, when we find ourselves spending our time online, immersed in mono-cultural echo chambers, it becomes incredibly difficult for us to recognize our thoughts and approaches as anything but "the way things are" and, since we tend to seek out the most comfortable possible environments, we are particularly unlikely to be confronted with our own faults and weaknesses. The phenomenon of socio-cultural isolation and grouping isn't just bad for society as a whole, it stunts our growth as individuals (think about how much easier it is to think of yourself as a "rugged individualist" when everyone you encounter has your back anyway).

A new environment can be...challenging

But what does all of this have to do with vulnerability as a virtue (and for those of you who aren't sold on the idea that vulnerability isn't a virtue at all, I have included Brene Brown's excellent TED talk on the subject below)? As I understand it, vulnerability is a hybrid virtue combining love and courage. Vulnerability means loving the other (or the self) enough to risk being hurt while courage is the capacity to do what needs to be done. In this case we are being called to be vulnerable with our own selves. This critical virtue means first seeking out enough of an experience of the world that we are able to recognize ourselves, not as default humans, but as particular and unique beings (be like the cow and don't stop eating before you are full) and we have to take a good long look at that self which our experience has illuminated and risk the pain of seeing our own failings. In his essay On Forgiveness, CS Lewis points out:

Real forgiveness means looking steadily at the sin, the sin that is left over without any excuse, after all allowances have been made, and seeing it in all its horror, dirt, meanness, and malice, and nevertheless being wholly reconciled to the man who has done it.

I would suggest that that forgiveness critical when "the man" is myself. And it is vulnerability which empowers that forgiveness.

Resources:

If you are looking for ways to break out of—or at least recognize—your echo chamber, I ran into this tool from PolitEcho the other day which analyzes your FB feed and lets you know more about your political bubble. You might find it useful.

Brene Brown's talk on Vulnerability, she has also written a number of books on the subject:

Get the Hávamál on Amazon:

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Manners are Essential to Community - The Wisdom of the Vikings Part 11

Good Manners

A man should drink

in moderation

be sensible or silent.

None will find 

fault with your manners

though you retire in good time.

Self-Discipline

The glutton does not 

guard himself

eats till he's ill.

Wiser men

only mock

a fool's fat belly.

Note: This is part 11 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

I characterize the Viking wisdom which emerges from these two poems as follows: "The internet is a community, not merely a platform and you ignore that to you own peril".

Is this really what you want the world to see?

Participation in online community requires listening as well as talking. Really successful "interneters" listen and engage rather than merely shouting and declaiming though there can certainly be a place for both of those things. I think there is a particular tendency to believe that in our own spaces (our blogs, our tweets, our Facebook walls) we have some sort of licence to be more rude than we would be in someone else's space. It is common to see people posting remarkably offensive things in their spaces and then defending those posts as unassailable due to a sort of perceived "right of self expression" or "freedom of speech". Of course, it is entirely true that they have a right to post what they like (remember that my basic working theory here is that online spaces are anarchic to nearly the same degree that Medieval Iceland was, if in its own way), but I believe that they are missing three important truths when they act this way.

First, they seem to be laboring under the misconception that civility exists as a discipline rather than as a virtue (I am, for the moment, ignoring those artists and philosophers who use shock value to communicate a point--they are another case altogether). In The Four Loves C.S. Lewis explained this well saying:

If you asked any of these insufferable people--they are not all parents of course--why they behaved that way at home, they would reply, 'Oh, hang it all, one comes home to relax.  A chap can't be always on his best behaviour.  If a man can't be himself in his own house, where can he?  Of course we don't want Company Manners at home.  We're a happy family.  We can say anything to one another here.  No one minds.  We all understand.'

Once again it is so nearly true yet so fatally wrong.  Affection is an affair of old clothes, and easy, of the unguarded moment, of liberties which would be ill-bred if we took them with strangers.  But old clothes are one thing;  to wear the same shirt till it stank would be another...Affection at its best practices a courtesy which is incomparably more subtle, sensitive and deep than the public kind.  In public a ritual would do.  At home you must have the reality which that ritual represented, or else the deafening triumphs of the greatest egoist present...

We can say anything to one another.'  The truth behind this is that Affection at its best wishes neither to wound nor to humiliate nor to domineer.

The enforced rules of civil society—rules which are unenforceable online—are there to impel those of us who have not yet acquired the virtues of civility to act as though we had nonetheless. At the end of the day, it is specifically in your own space that you will most often practice the civil virtues of moderation and sensibility exactly insofar as you posses them. And I think that people realize this on a fairly gut level. When we encounter someone who is rude, brash, and foolish in their own space, we are far more likely to be leery of their participation in other spaces.

Second, the "fool" here, fails to realized that, online, even their "own" spaces are never really private. What is said online is said publicly. The advent of screenshots makes this particularly the case. In the case of the two largest social media platforms, comments, graphics, and memes posted on ones own "wall" (I use the term generically) are, absent particular privacy settings, going to be put directly into the feeds of other people who will then unavoidably react. Of course they may choose to react privately and not to comment, but that is no less a reaction. So it is basically untrue to believe that most online spaces are really "private" unless particular care is taken to ensure that the audience is limited and particular. Moreover, it has been my experience that the vast majority of people who hide behind the "it's my private space" claim have not actually engaged any privacy settings and seem to be intent on broadcasting the foolishness to as much of the internet as possible—they want the clicks.

Finally, the defense commits the over-common mistake of conflating the freedom to say something with some sort of freedom from repercussions. Randall Munroe of XKCD put this most clearly.

Taken from XKCD.com

The fact is that the freedom to spew foolishness does not, in any way, guarantee a protection from other people's reactions. In the anarchic environment of the internet (where rights are negative but almost never positive) it couldn't. You can be blocked, you can be screen-shot, you can be publicly ridiculed by those with more wit and intelligence than yourself. Your freedom to be publicly foolish, in no way prevents me from drawing the public's attention to your foolishness or from blocking your voice in my own sphere.

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Click HERE for Part 12: Vulnerability 

A Time to Speak and a Time to Listen - The Wisdom of the Vikings Part 10

Don't be like this

Bad Manners

At a feast

the fool chatters

or he stares and stammers.

Just as soon as

his jug is full

ale unveils his mind.

Experience

He is truly wise

who's travelled far

and knows the ways of the world.

He who has travelled

can tell what spirit

governs the men he meets.

Note: This is part 10 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

As we have worked our way through the Hávamál, it has become increasingly clear that the wisdom structure within it relies heavily on an Aristotelian style virtue ethic (click back to Part 9 for a good synopsis of virtue ethics). The aphorisms all apply but sometimes may seem to be contradictory due to the fact that the situations differ. In one context, the wise thing may well be to avoid confrontation, whereas in another situation it is all but necessary to engage as thoroughly as possible. The first situation calls for the virtue of discretion while the second requires boldness or courage. Critically though, any application of virtue ethics requires a controlling virtue of discernment, what Aristotle referred to as practical wisdom (phronêsis). 

These two poems do a good job of establishing both the necessity and basic process for acquiring discernment. In the first, we get a picture of the person who lacks discernment—the fool. The character who, in medieval Iceland, distinguished himself by talking first and noticing later, or attempting to engage beyond his depth - talking and chattering just as soon as he relaxed into his drink, is just about as easy to spot online. This is the character who seems to have something to say before he even reads the comments thread, the individual who is sharing her "all important, epic takedown" which turns out to be a banal or fallacy-filled scree. One of the troubling things about the fool is that fools rarely recognize their own foolishness - they are proverbially "wise in their own eyes". Internet fools, like Viking fools, are recognized as such by others long before they see their own foolishness. 

Wisdom will be recognized —
it doesn't have to be asserted.

In these two poems, the Hávamál offers the, remarkably un-sexy, reliable cure to fool-dom—experience. The virtue of discernment—that power to recognize the quality of ones own thoughts, as well as others as well as when it is and is not appropriate to share those thoughts—cannot be bought for gold or silver. There is not quick and easy method for obtaining it (though if you can get a sip of the mead of the Gods that might not hurt). One has to experience the relevant world. The best advice at this point is to probably assume that "being new" = "being a fool", though that should be taken far more as a rule of thumb than as some sort of ontological proclamation. A second piece of advice (though it does not show up in these two poems) would be to be humble whenever possible. One clear difference between fools and the wise is that fools are far more likely to make sweeping declarations where the wise ask questions and hedge their statements (though this too can be taken too far but that is a question for another post). 

So take some time, read all the other comments before you post anything critical, and stick around to see how the conversation goes. Thank others for their input and the read some more.

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Click HERE for Part 11

Some Perspective - The Wisdom of the Vikings Part 9

Self-Deceit

Only fools

hope to live forever

by escaping enemies.

Age promises

no peace

though the spear spares them.

Note: This is part 9 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

The last several posts in this series have focused on the various forms of discretion which were vital for medieval Iceland and are important the great multitude who inhabit the internet. Today's poem, in contrast, highlights the importance of engagement. As something of a side note: as I have been working through the Hávamál I have begun to notice a heavy favoring of Aristotelian style virtue ethics and a reliance on a concept similar to his "golden mean". I'll link a  Crash Course Philosophy video, which explains the concept nicely, at the bottom for those of you who are interested in following along.

Poor Randall Munroe gets ripped off a lot. 

In this poem, the sentiment, far from advocating caution and reticence, is more along the lines of carpe diem. In an age of great uncertainty and physical danger, particularly danger from neighbors who might respond to offence with a swinging axe and a warcry, this pair of aphorisms are reminding the reader that a life lived in fear, driven by a desire to avoid all conflict is ultimately empty and self-extinguishing. "Age promises no peace though the spear spares them" would make a tragically damning eulogy. Certainly "timid" is not the sort of adjective we are inclined to associate with Viking culture, and that for a good reason. Having reminded the reader that discretion is the better part of valor, the Hávamál now continues with an insistence that action, too, is often necessary. The Viking who failed to defend her honor, or to stand up for those in her care, was likely to come to just as bad an end as the Viking who failed to think before she boasted. 

This balance between caution and indiscretion turn out to be a vital one for those of us who choose to participate on social media as well. While we are often very well advised to write, read, and delete our comments or combative post/tweet/blog, we are nearly as often morally required to take a stand. As someone who engages fairly frequently in social media "conversations" which turn hostile more frequently than I would like, I want to attest to the fact that I often receive private messages or in person comments from friends and even strangers, thanking me for standing up for them when they felt bullied or dehumanized online. 

Be the hero we need

According to Aristotle, "courage" is the virtue between the vices of cowardice and foolhardy brashness. Sound familiar? Reading this poem in context with those which come before it. We are well served to remember that while there is certainly a time for holding our tongue and letting silence be the voice of peace, there is equally a time for calling out hatred, ridicule, and vitriol. And in fact, I would suggest (at the risk of fanning the flamewars) that in our current climate, you are more likely to hear people calling for "peace" when some vocal and defiant speech is what is actually required than you are to hear people calling for contention when things are calm. Bystanders generally prefer not to have their boats rocked after all and it is far easier for people who are not devalued by misinformation and hateful rhetoric to call for calm, than it is for them to risk looking like troublemakers by calling out smarmy screes and flat out lies. 

In future posts I will try to address some of the thorny questions around developing the discernment to know one situation from another (given the fact that medieval Icelanders' lives literally hung on this ability, it is likely that we will run into it again) but in the meantime I want to end be encouraging you to think about the motives behind your decisions to comment as well as your decisions to "just scroll past and avoid feeding the troll" and remember that sometimes the only course of action is to jump in and try choking the troll with your own body... or words and reputation as the case may be.

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Click HERE for Part 10: A Time to Speak and a Time to Listen

Joyful Dignity - The Wisdom of the Vikings Part 8

Responsibility

A King's son should be thoughtful

thorough and silent

brave in battle.

A man should be happy

and in good humor

to his dying day

This is part 8 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

In any tense—let us say combative—situation, strong emotions can be galling. The classic iteration is the "sore loser" though many of us have been just as irritated by "sore winners" on occasion. In either case, outbursts which are generally contrary to the mood of the community or the environment are not well received. It is people who have enough control over their own displays of emotion who have the upper hand in a competitive, social environment.

Medieval Iceland they rejected kingship in general, though they had a clear memory of the institution, so I would suggest that the "King's son" in this poem is a placeholder for the same social archetype that it serves in our own democratic republican society - the natural, noble leader. So this advice should not be read as restricted to an irrelevant nobility, but as prescriptive advice for anyone who aspires to a leadership position in society. These are qualities—the virtues—one ought to cultivate in the pursuit of that goal. 

This is not going to go well

Within that context, this poem amounts to a recommendation of the virtue of temperance. We don't discuss this virtue much anymore (most people who have encountered the word at all are only familiar with the definition derived from the abolition of alcohol in the early 20th century United States) . In classical understanding, "temperance" amounted roughly to being in control of one's reactions. Emotionally this meant both not making impassioned decisions or proclamations without first considering the consequences and not being utterly devoid of emotion. Its opposites are both dramatic emotionalism on the one hand, and utter stoicism on the other. The temperate person has emotions but is not ruled by them. 

Viking leaders would then be expected to be restrained in the heat of combat (in contrast the berserker), but able to thoroughly engage in the joys of life. This person is not just relate-ably human, but a genuinely pleasant human to be around. 

Neither is this

It strikes me that there isn't really enough of this online, but the advice certainly rings true when we encounter someone who possesses this virtue. Intemperate folks of both varieties abound online. People who react emotionally and immediately, sharing poorly sourced, over-hyped "news stories" without doing their due diligence, and folks who freak out in the comments section and play right into the hands of trolls represent one form of intemperance (and probably the first type to spring to mind); but just as ineffective as social media leaders are contributors who are all bland facts, numbers, and analysis who seem blithely unaware of the humanity and real costs of the information they are trading in. Both of these types are failing to exhibit temperance. 

So what makes a good leader both in medieval Iceland and in contemporary online communities? People who have emotions, but are not slaves to them. We follow and admire the people who are able to project their humanity without losing control of it (or when they do lose control it is for reasons we can empathize with). It is that person in the forums who seems to really care about the issue and is also well informed. The person who posts about important issues and also shares photos of their dog. 

I have posted some examples below. Let me know what you think:

Hank Green of Vlogbrothers (and a whole lot of other stuff)

His brother John Green of Vlogbrothers (these guys are everywhere)

Click HERE for Part 9

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Dangerous Drink - Wisdom of the Vikings Part 7

Alertness

Better weight

than wisdom

a traveller cannot carry.

A clear head

is good company.

Drink is a dangerous friend.

Drinking

Ale

has too often

been praised by poets.

The longer you drink

the less sense

your mind makes of things.

This is part 7 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.


These two poems contain the abundantly clear (yet far to oft' ignored) advice that it is not wise to consume too much alcohol. It may well be worthwhile spending time reiterating this message (and I suspect that "don't drink and tweet" is necessary advice for many) but I want to focus instead on the principle which, I think, made this advice especially important for medieval Icelanders; advice which, I suspect, is nearly as important for those engaging in digital society. 

In the largely anarchic society of medieval Iceland hospitality and courtesy were incredibly important values. In any society where arguments can become feuds which can, in turn, become near civil wars, it is of the utmost importance not to get the ball rolling in the first place. If Sven insults Olaf, and Olaf feels the need to revenge himself on Sven such that he himself has to be put back in place by Sven and his friends, there is no easy way to stop the process once it has begun. So the easiest, and best, answer is to stop really vitriolic personal arguments before they begin.

But this dynamic is necessarily in tension with the need to establish a reputation as a good and powerful individual since being perceived to be dangerous is one of the most effective preventative actions an individual or small community can take to forestall unwanted conflict. The tension between the need to be courteous and the need to appear dangerous, leads to something of a tightrope walk wherein each word, objection, or boast has to be carefully calculated to elicit just the right response from one's company, particularly when that company is not part of your own close-knit community.

Alcohol, for all of its virtues, is not conducive to tightrope walking. I suspect that the deeper point being made in these passages is that drink is something best reserved for moments of celebration and among close friends, where it is safe to be unguarded. It would have been the height of foolishness (and too often was) for a Viking to let her guard down and start boasting and insulting around company which might take offense. 

Get the Havamal on Amazon

So, too, in the age of the internet and social media, we are well advised to remember that publicly made comments are, well, public. That unless we know that our thoughts are going to be restricted to the friends and companions who really love and understand us, we would do well not to let ourselves become "giddy" or "punch drunk" in our reactions and comments. Think to the many and increasing stories of people whose lives and livelihoods have been materially damaged as a result of their unguarded language or comments. In an environment where the crowd, rather than the state, exacts vengeance, it is important not to engage when something (drink for sure but also passion, excitement, anger etc...) might be clouding our judgement.



PART 8

Wisdom and Reputation - Wisdom of the Vikings Part 6

Independence

It is fortunate 

to be favoured

with praise and popularity.

It is dire luck

to be dependent

on the feelings of a fellow-man.

Opinion of Others

He is fortunate

who is favoured

with respect and good reason.

Advice given

by others

is often ill counsel

This is part 6 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

These two poems deal rather directly with the power and danger inherent in the good opinion of others. Despite the Viking reputation for toughness which we in the United States often associate with a sort of rugged individualism (and, to be fair, the Icelanders certainly had their share of individualism relative to the rest of the medieval west), Icelanders recognized—far better than many in the modern west—the vital importance of functional community. Indeed much of the Hávamál deals explicitly with how to retain functional community in a tense and violent situation. In this context, the good opinion of others—potential allies or enemies—is as much a resource as physical strength of skill. Humans are a social species after all.

So in these pieces we encounter both an acknowledgement that a good reputation is of significant value and the warning that those who become overly dependent on the opinion of others ultimately harm themselves. It is a blade which can turn on the hand that holds it. On the positive side, being the sort of person that others respect is pleasant and protective. Online, having a lot of "followers" or readers" is the basic form of capital. It may not be what you are there "for" but, for better or worse, it is the way internet culture tends to determine the value of a particular account (if not the value of the person who controls that account). Being a thought framer, someone whose ideas are valued by others is fundamental to this, and one classic indication that an online thought leader is going into decline is that they become derivative, merely echoing and amplifying the ideas and creativity of others.

Almost paradoxically though, one of the greatest dangers to someone with a good reputation is the temptation to rely on that reputation in their estimation of their own value. The moment a successful internet creator begins to ask "will my followers approve of this idea" is the moment that the quality of their ideas begins to decline. It was the independence and honesty of the thought product that drew your audience in the first place which means that the tighter you cling to the audience, the less they will respect you for it and the more your work will suffer. 

PART 7

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Wisdom of the Vikings Part 5: How Best to Profit as a Guest

                                                                                                           Attending a Feast

I would like to feast here.

No man should call

himself clever

but manage his mind.

A sage visitor

is a silent guest.

The cautious evades evil.

Never a friend

more faithful,

nor greater wealth, than

wisdom

Seeking Knowledge

The cautious guest

who comes to the table

speaks sparingly.

Listens with ears

learns with eyes.

Such is the seeker of

 knowledge.

This is part 5 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

In my last few Hávamál posts (the series starts HERE) I have been discussing the subject of hospitality and the applicability of classical Icelandic (Viking) wisdom to the anarchist/minarchist world of the internet. My wacky thesis is that there is a substantial parallel to be explored between Viking society and Internet society. I have mentioned that, in early Norse-settled Iceland, while there was a functional analog to a constitution, their society lacked any official executive arm (the Icelanders had no king) so that all enforcement of laws and collectively decided punishments was left up to local communities. I see this as functionally parallel to the environment of social media, blog com-boxes, and internet forums. Furthermore I am persuaded that online interaction has the effect of undoing some of the socialization we receive growing up in a society which is structured against the unofficial use of violence (check out the Our Computers, Our Selves Episode of Invisibilia for a cool look at some of the ways computers have affected our online interaction). Essentially I think that online interaction makes us a bit more like Vikings.

In this post I want to take a look at the two poems above as representing Viking wisdom for guests. As much as there is an etiquette for hosts, there is also a lot to be said about how to be a good guest, both in terms of ensuring a positive relationship with your host, and also in terms of getting the most out of your experience as a guest. These two poems are in that latter vein.

One of the "fundamental rules of the internet" is don't feed the trolls. Taken as a wisdom aphorism (usually true and a great rule-of-thumb but don't get all letter-of-the-law about it and watch out for exceptions) it is a really great piece of advice. In many online discussions there are those who love to derail the conversation, often by being as offensive or irrational as they can figure out how to be; it is usually wise to ignore such people. But in a viking context don't feed the trolls would mean something more like don't give undue attention to a troublemaker. What we see in the poems above focuses not on dealing with a troublesome guest but on how a guest can/should interact with the host.

"No man should call himself clever but manage his mind" and "The cautious guest who comes to the table speaks sparingly" I take to be good advice on how not to become a troll yourself. The internet is notoriously full of people who have already carved out their own space (Twitter feed, Facebook wall, blog, tumbler, or Reddit thread just to name a few). Often these folks use their spaces to present, and offer discussion on, highly controversial topics (and yeah, this blog is definitely one of those spaces). The wisdom in these two poems is not that you should never speak up or engage critically in such a space. In fact, critical engagement and rigorous debate are often precisely what the host is hoping for. But not always. Sometimes the host is blithely unaware that the people they have invited in view their proclamations, "shares, and pronouncements" as controversial - they do not want to debate and will become hostile if you contradict them however gently. Other times, the host is practically lying in wait for an unsuspecting guest to "spring the trap" with an insufficiently informed position or weak argument. Engaging with them only leads to public humiliation and a breakdown in relationship. But all three of these situations look basically the same at first blush: a controversial headline.

That is where the wisdom of the Hávamál comes in. The wise wanderer on the world wide web will

Just think, this could be you.

take time to determine her surroundings, to get a feel for the environment before jumping in with a rowdy comeback or witty retort. Check out the host's other work, read some of what they have written and look at how they interact with their guests. Do they jump down the throats of anyone who disagrees with them. Does your host's comment history indicate that they could wipe the floor with you rhetorically? Since most internet interaction is ultimately public, remember that your debate, or argument, will be taking place in a public space; even if you know the person well and have engaged with them in meat-space (in greater privacy) to your mutual benefit, they may behave quite differently online knowing that their comments are being read by their own internet followers.

Engage a space, or a host, in the wrong way and you become the troll, regardless of your own intentions. Remember the cautious (wise) guest "Listens with ears, learns with eyes. Such is the Seeker of Knowledge

Of course sometimes being seen as a troll may be the right thing to do. But even then it is better to approach the situation with your eyes open than shut. 

PART 6

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon

Wisdom of the Vikings Part 4: Worldliness

I know you got skills girl.

Worldliness

The traveller must

train his wits.

All is easy at home.

He who knows little

is a laughing-stock

amongst men of the world

This is part 4 in an ongoing series (the series starts HERE) bringing together the Hávamál (a collection of Norse wisdom poetry) and the still-evolving rules and mores of the Internet, particularly as they are developing in the realm of social media.

While this particular bit of wisdom might seem to be a fairly prosaic platitude on prudence, I think it actually represents a particularly salient perspective on the subject. The more contemporary platitude is familiar enough: Better to  remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt has be variously attributed to Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln and few others (quote investigator has a nice treatment here). It provides the worthwhile advice that talking too quickly can get you into trouble and that it is when we speak - or type - in haste that we are most likely to embarrass ourselves. It's certainly a helpful couple of cents for anyone getting ready to venture into the wild anarchy of online forums and contentious Facebook threads.

But in this piece from the Hávamál we tap into a piece of wisdom more precisely directed at the wild unregulated frontier environment of Vikings and, per my hypothesis, the internet. Online the great tendency and temptation is to engage with the full force of one's personality and opinion. The anonymity of the web is infamously heady and it can be tempting to show off one's erudition or unload the full weight of your opinions on some poor, unsuspecting commenter, much like a young Viking warrior eager to prove her mettle by pitting her skills against some older stranger. Worldliness reminds us that having been considered a wit among your circle of friends or a bright student in your own school is no guarantee then when you go to cross words (or axes) with strangers in a strange place, you won't end up humiliated. Thus the wise viking, like the wise internet user (anyone one want to start recommending Viking-esque titles for internet users? I sense a developing need for such a term. Put your ideas in the com-box) must train his wits and remember that what was easy at home (on his own Facebook page or Twitter feed) surrounded by friends and family (in that internet echo-chamber where we can control whom we interact with and how we are perceived) may prove woefully inadequate amongst men of the world (in the larger world of forums and com-boxes). 

Part 5 is HERE

Click to get the Hávamál on Amazon