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The Most Ignorant Thing I’ve Ever Seen

By Heath | August 29, 2012 at 8:54 am

Humans are interesting.  When we sit down to think logically, we seem to all agree that a man should be “innocent until proven guilty,” yet when a crime is committed, we see guilt on any face that pleases us. 

This is happening anew with Sony’s most recent PS Vita firmware update.  While the update brings the long-awaited PSOne Classic compatibility, it also adds an additional lock to memory cards.  Whereas they could be switched among PSN accounts without reformatting, a memory card must now be erased before it can be used with another PSN account.  Most people won’t even notice the difference, but those who will must now either buy an additional memory card.  Their data can still possibly be preserved through making a backup every single time they switch, though of course, that puts a big dent in the portability of a portable device. For those who buy content from different PSN Stores, this is an issue.

But the internet is a place where everyone has a voice, even the unaffected.  And the unaffected seem to be wielding judge gavels.  What they aren’t wielding is any shred of decency or common sense.  This article is not about memory cards or features, it’s about human life.

Why, when we have a different opinion or different lifestyle, is everyone else suddenly not important?  Perhaps it is my ironic flaw that I’ve never understood this.

I direct you to two hateful, ignorant comments on this topic. Here’s the first:

If you just said, “Are you fucking kidding me?” then you said the same thing I did.  First off, for any immigrant to Japan, it’s a legal requirement to have an address in your home country.  Every time we got to the immigration office to renew our visas, you better believe I’ll be writing down my US address.  Not bothered by trivial things like “facts,” our crusader Bowzabub (PSN name BaalZevuv) goes on to make assumptions the presumed income of foreign nationals.  I can’t wait to show this around to the other “gaijin” out here and laugh out loud at the idea that we are sleeping on pillowcases full of money.

You know that loudmouth in your social group who is always spouting off borderline retarded tripe every time a political issue comes up?  That’s this guy.  Hey, this baseless assumptions thing is fun. Look at our boy up there, suddenly an expert on international residence, and the average income of everyone alive. Not only does he know their income, he is the #1 best source of advice on how they should spend it.  If their finances didn’t plan on buying twice as many memory cards for a Vita, well that’s too fucking bad, master financial adviser Bowzabub says you can’t plan for yourself anymore.

For those keeping score at home, we’ve got immediate presumed guilt, presumed excess wealth, and backseat financial planning, all in two sentences.

Here’s the second post:


Wow, just wow.  Menchi sees the ignorance of Bowzabub and raises him a full bag of stupid.  Kids, I like writing things online, but the day that I am “extremely wealthy,” you won’t be seeing me on here anymore.  Donations to this noble cause are currently being accepted. But seriously, wow, making outrageous assumptions about my life, my residence, and even my personal income.  Dang.  This may just be the most ignorant thing I’ve ever seen.

I’ve raised my eyebrows at a lot of dumb posts on the internet. The web will show you racists, nationalists, and actual Nazis (I am using the term in its real form, not just to mean “people who disagree with you”). But these post hurt because of how much I’ve supported gaming for my entire life. I buy games. A lot of games. I am passionate about gaming and I have always done my part to promote it. To watch people behind the shields of their computer monitors dish out completely made-up accusations of the opposite for no reason at all is sad and hurtful.

Here’s the bottom line: there are bad people doing bad things out there in the world.  But when someone raises a discussion point about measures being taken, that does not make that person a criminal.  Going around arguing on the basis of “probably” instead of using some sort of facts is not unlike a modern-day witch hunt.  Making assumptions and generalizations does not make you right, it does not make you intelligent, it makes you an asshole.

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Topics: American Gamer in Japan, RPG Land Kicks Someone's Ass