So much for her Perseverance -- as to her Sense of duty, it evinced itself thus; she liked to learn, but hated to teach; her progress as a pupil depended upon herself, and I saw that on herself she could calculate with certainty; her success as a teacher rested partly, perhaps chiefly, upon the will of others; it cost her a most painful effort to enter into conflict with this foreign will, to endeavour to bend it into subjection to her own; for in what regarded people in general the action of her will was impeded by many scruples; it was as unembarrassed as strong where her own affairs were concerned, and to it she could at any time subject her inclination, if that inclination went counter to her convictions of right; yet when called upon to wrestle with the propensities, the habits, the faults of others, of children especially, who are deaf to reason and, for the most part, insensate to persuasion, her will sometimes almost refused to act; then came in the Sense of duty and forced the reluctant Will into operation.

A wasteful expense of energy and labour was frequently the consequence; Frances toiled for and with her pupils like a drudge, but it was long ere her conscientious exertions were rewarded by anything like docility on their part; because they saw that they had power over her, inasmuch as by resisting her painful attempts to convince, persuade, control; by forcing her to the employment of coercive measures, they could inflict upon her exquisite suffering. Human beings -- human children especially, seldom deny themselves the pleasure of exercising a power which they are conscious of possessing, even though that power consist only in a capacity to make others wretched; a pupil whose sensations are duller than those of his instructor, while his nerves are tougher and his bodily strength perhaps greater, has an immense advantage over that instructor and he will generally use it relentlessly, because the very young, very healthy, very thoughtless know neither how to sympathize nor how to spare.

(Charlotte Brontë, The Professor)

Road Rage, Computer Rage, Internet / Web / Net Rage, Desk Rage and the { "rage" } list goes on...I've seen it happen. Just this week. A co-worker types something into an online form and clicks the submit button. The page times out and said person takes to pounding his fist into the keyboard causing the computer to have a nervous breakdown while myself and others stare on in shock. So let me ask you, have you found yourself at some point or another physically attacking your own computer? Could be caused by a number of things; supposedly faulty internet connections, frozen mouse, virus infestations, websites taking too long to load or your browser not being enhanced with the proper plugins which causes the browser to crash etc. These I understand, are only a handful of problems which have seemingly become a stress factor for end-users within the digital sphere.

Admittedly, I too have found myself verbally raging against the machine whenever I encounter some kind of annoyance, but going so far as to punch and kick the daylights out of it is something I've never been inclined/incited to do. Firstly, it's just not in me to lose control and physically attack the computer or slam the mouse on the desk or any such thing or God forbid! killing it with a sledgehammer or other weapon in similar fashion as { Gary Wilke } whom, earlier this year went to jail for taking out his aggression on his daughter's computer with a sledgehammer. Secondly, I know how much I invested in my 'puter and how long it took me to save the money to purchase it while in college, so I'd rather just refrain from any physical abuse and simply preserve this old baby for as long as I can. Besides, I just cannot afford another one right now. Nevertheless, it seems this kind of rage is steadily increasing. This { Ananova } article highlights some of the reasons why people are increasingly being driven to web rage.

How about "road warrior rage," the kind attributed to mobile computers. { Jesse Berst } explains: "You get your new laptop. It's small and sleek. You're in love. You go on your first trip together...and you hate it. The battery lasts about 10 minutes after charging it, the modem fails intermittently and you discover you can't stand the trackpad pointing device." Is this cause for physically abusing the laptop?

"Road rage mentality has made it to the Web. Folks aren’t just releasing their aggressions on the highways, and when your site doesn’t perform to your visitors’ expectations, they’re apt to turn primal and take a whack at their computers" says the the team at { Grokdotcom } who presents { Moments of Simplicity }, where "folks can defuse their web rage by listening to some soothing music and viewing some therapeutic images."

Related articles:
PC Rage Hits UK
Rediff Guide
Computer Rage

The Paradox of Our Time:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete

(Author Unknown)