The Twitter Ban: Handshakes and Emails

Aggression is highly contagious. And it is most contagious when people have weak ties between them, when they are isolated, when they are alone.

A quick reflection on the way that most of us answer emails can shed more light on the issue. In addition to being a form of communication, emails are guided by strict rules. They, too, are a ritual of imitation.

A simple interaction with a stranger at a cocktail party who doesn’t reciprocate our handshake can leave us sour all night. We may even respond with aggression when we are introduced to that person via email a week or two later.

One human question, in particular, haunts me: What effect will Twitter’s decision to ban Trump have on the mimetic escalation of desire? On the desire to use violence in other to vanquish the “Other”? The most eye-opening and throat-swallowing part of that first hour after the ban was hearing how many thoughtful people on both sides had a shiver go... See more

What can we do today? We do have the freedom to choose not to respond in kind to every provocation. It starts with simply being aware that we are, by default, extremely mimetic creatures.

And even when we’re not being provoked, it still matters. We can choose not to respond in kind to the nonchalance and laziness that surrounds us—the mediocrity that cries out for transcendence, but which is all too easy to placate with little effort.

Every day, each of us takes social cues from our friends and colleagues that can be easily be misinterpreted and provoke a mimetic reaction. Our “default mode” is to respond to violence with violence, however small and passive-aggressive the provocation might’ve been.