1. Simple, no consequences! It's more or less like talking to yourself. Only with the added benefit that you get a reply from another mind.
2. What you say is read by many people here, but only those that are receptive to it reply. In real life what you say is heard by only a few people and if they don't like what you say, there could be trouble. As a result you have to carefully censor what you say. You have to feel people out and see if they are receptive or not, then you decide what to say.
3. Even in real life its easier to write down how you feel than discuss it with someone. Writing gives time for reflection before a response. In a face to face discussions emotions often become involved and people say and do things they might not otherwise.
4. It's easy to be who ever you want here. You can be totally yourself if you want and that is very rare anywhere else in life.
5. The playing field is more level here. I don't know if you are 15 or 65, an important government official, a playboy, short, fat, ugly, cute or anything else about you except what you tell me. Because of that, I concentrate more on what you write, than who you are. In real life, we make quick judgements about people and act accordingly (they say the first 10 seconds of meeting someone determines how you will treat them). It shouldn't be that way, but its life and probably evolved from our need to make rapid judgements about situations for survival. It used to be very important what you looked like and my ability to determine from that your ability to threaten me. That ability is not as important now, but we still use it and act instinctively.
Imagine if everything you wrote on the net was suddenly sent to everyone you know in real life. Most of us would be more than just a bit dismayed.
<p>[This message has been edited by orion (edited 11-11-2001).]
