Let's explore: The effects on us of letting disrespect go on unaddressed

Author: Rob Smith

These OPs usually start off with something that has been well considered.

This OP is more a invite to analyse and discuss what happens to us (being literate, members of western civilization who are engaged in discussions around social analysis) when we let disrespect to ourselves and those around us go on without addressing it.

This topic only became clear enough to think about after Germain pointed out that a troll was disrespecting other posters here.

Since then I've been thinking about what disrespect is and what the effects on humans might be. I think that the effects of an attack on a social animal that says that they are not a fit member of the group will have deep neural effects. And probably multiple negative health effects too. Currently I'm thinking that:

Disrespect is deliberate or deliberately negligent communication that positions the target as not being worthy of respect.

If you think my construction needs tweaking then please share. If you have other understandings please share.

I am not arguing that all disrespect is bad. Naming and shaming does have a place I think. (Elsewhere I'm currently demanding a reputable source for a very dubious claim about the general mental health status of an oppressed minority - the alternative to the source being provided I communicated as "admit that you are a lying bigot". Which is an extremely disrespectful option to present.)

Laughing fool

The kind of disrespect that I find most interesting is not the name-calling, cussing type, but rather the sorts of communications which position the recipient as a person who has;
low intelligence,
no political/social power,
no ability to discern lies,
no awareness of the breadth and depth of what it is to be human,
low understanding of the issue to hand,
nothing worthwhile to contribute around improvements,
...

These sorts of disrespectful communications are very frequent in our society. Corporations and institutions communicate to their workers and customers like this. Movies are routinely targeted at "the lowest common denominator". Politicians provide "sound bites" to media organizations that are disrespectful. Fake news, lies of Presidents, dark free speech, deceptive advertising and trolls on internet forums are all disrespectful.

What are the (range of ) likely effects on ourselves of this flood of disrespect? How would these effects come about?

If our great ape relatives were treated by powerful members of their groups with an on-going stream of disrespect what effects would that have?

B&B orig: 8/3/19