Masticating the Messenger and the Rise of Gleeful Schadenfreude

Masticating is not only a really great word, its terminology in action is so descriptively suitable, especially when it comes to the proliferation of chewing, munching, chomping and crunching each other on social media.  In opposition to the word masturbating, which turns out to be a very similar albeit mistakenly sounding term name action and adjective, masticating or to masticate can be a very unpleasant experience, especially if you’re a bitten recipient. 

Survival of the fittest in this tech age has become the most crassest cruellest crudest version of human designed evolution, a diversion from the natural selective order that even Darwin would have issues with.  Opening up any form of dialogue with a keyboard driven screen based unseen entity is fraught with risk at any time.  Engaging with receding forehead prominent brow ridged, unseen, narrow minded Neanderthals hell bent on clubbing you to death over Wi-Fi, is never going to end well.

Now for that other magnificent word, Schadenfreude.  The term became very popular and initially most often used on the back of mass viewed videos, short snapshots about silly harmless scale suffering.  Humorous take on unsuspecting or truly youthful idiotic humans, consigned mostly to comic skits, repetitive scenes showing tragic events and happenings that in most cases where undeniably created by the subjects themselves.  Finding joy in and from the suffering of others in this context is nothing new; it has a very long history in films books and family folklore.  It’s seen as harmless, due to its ability to elicit laughter from the observer and as long as no real harm of a serious or life threatening outcome befalls the dim-witted actor then Schadenfreude is very socially acceptable.

Schadenfreude is a compound of the German noun Schaden, which means “damage,” and freude, which means “joy.”  It’s at the very least actually troubling that there is in fact a word that so very well expresses a human emotion that in reality is even more troubling in action.  One can only wonder what emotions the surviving relatives of 6 million Jews must suffer through when such a word is heard read or thought of.

The rise of the internet has given rise to a sinister form of Schadenfreude; such is the ability to be separate and unseen in a deeply integrated interconnected medium.  A perpetrator with a Schadenfreude purpose has endless opportunities to not only enjoy immediate and instantly uploaded glee; they also have the delight of creating inflicting and watching the outcome of their damage.

Masticating and Schadenfreude are emotional and physical manifestations of words.  One denotes getting your teeth into the throats of unsuspecting victims. 

The other viciously requires destroying their minds, while they bleed out through their severed carotid artery.