Real Life Consequences?

The reason for me posting this thread is because i want ask you all if you think this is valid.

Is what you do on the internet just as bad as what you think and do in real life?

Personally i say yes but i want to hear others opinions.

For example, if you take the time to really plan out an elaborate scam on another human being, doesn't that mean you would be willing to do that to someone in real life?

Kind of how they say serial killers usually start off with animals and move to humans because it's the same, if a kid scams when he is young, for example a Runescape account here on sythe, isn't there a high possibility he will be a swindler when he grows up?

 

Hiding behind your screen doesn't change you into a different person, it just amplifies how you really are. Someone may WANT to flame someone in real life, but the consequences of doing so may end up with them losing some teeth. So, they let it all out against some kid who knifed them on Xbox.

It sure is easier to steal $20 from someone on Sythe than in real life. Your consequences here are getting banned, but if you steal in real life, you face jail time.

No one really 'changes' on the internet, what they do is a product of their environment, a sort of anarchy when there are little consequences for their actions compared to the 'real' world.

 

xier0 there are a few i would discuss about what you wrote but one key factor is people change all the time and they can either get better or just pick the easy way that they think will work out for them

 

I believe what Xier0 said to a certain point, when you're on the internet you tend to act a lot tougher than you would in real life, hence amplifying the things you type to another person.

I think scamming a $20 account and robbing a bank are a little different though! People understand that if you scam $20 on sythe all that happens is you get banned, robbing a bank or stealing $20 from someone could end up a lot worse. People change when the consequences changed, it's like saying if you stole in real life and nothing happened but on the internet if you stole you'd end up in jail, people in real life would steal more than online.

 

I have to say, I regard IRL "scammers" as much more intelligent than online scammers. Things like the TV show "Hustle" - it really is a different form of scamming entirely

But, of course things online have consequences. Screens and keyboards only amplify our inner feelings, and accelerate action

 

My views personally are just that the young kids that come on here to scam say some gold on runescape or world of warcraft, there a consequences because 1) They do not get caught and get away with it 2) They believe it's okay to scam others, as long as they don't see the others face its fine.

I believe there a real consequences NOT meaning punishment but consequences in their overall outlook on life and people which i said before the same as a kid getting enjoyment from hurting an animal, there are consequences in the future.

 

it ruins your moral character if you do these crimes

 

I have to disagree a bit with you here. Stealing 20$ anonymously on sythe results in a ban from a website you may never go on again. Stealing 20$ in real life won't net you any jail time, but it's a misdemeanor and results in a court hearing and a fine. That's why scamming people online is so common.

 

To start off, your last paragraph can't make any sense because you compared two unlike things. Killing something in real life compared to scamming in a pixelated game isn't the same. What would be the same is killing something in real life and killing people in the wilderness on RuneScape.

Now that that's dealt with, the reason why you're more likely to escape from online crime than from real life crime because if you're a true criminal online, you can disguise yourself or use aliases which can't prove you guilty without an unreasonable doubt in court, hence, most of the times the authorities don't even bother. But, committing something in real life always leaves a trace and can be connected back to someone if there's a significant amount of trace, not always. And if it can be traced, it's more evidence than a crime online with IP. Who's to say I did not have a party at my house and a few people slept over with access to my computer? It could of been any of the 25 people in my house.

There's also a law that if there is a possibility that someone else could of committed a crime the same amount as you could of, than you can't be punished for it because that's against the "proven with an unreasonable doubt of guilt." This is how George Zimmerman, Casey Anthony, OJ Simpson, and many others evaded prison.

 

No, not really. No body knows who you are or how you look or where you're from in the internet, so you don't have to worry about your identity. Where as in real life, you know that your identity is as important as your image and you wouldn't like to screw that up, would you?