re: From a psychological standpoint, why is "outrage" so popular?

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lack of a natural predator or any real adversity to rally against

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I do think there is something to that.

We are irrational beings that are living in a world organized for rational people. We struggle with rational thinking vs physical and emotional realities. Its very frustrating.

Primal desires are suppressed for rational results, which builds a lot of pressure.

Thats one reason we like drugs and alcohol so much, they let us be irrational.

It’s all dopamine.

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From a psychological standpoint, why is "outrage" so popular?

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Outrage can be valid, but the current "outrage culture" we're seeing so much of is a function of (is popular) for a few reasons:

1) It is a substitute for real action.

When people give into a sense of outrage for its own sake, it gives them a sense that they're doing something. For the vast majority of people (as I see it), meaningful action never follows.

2) It is means of self-identifying with a group who holds similar opinions.

Identifying through outrage is, of course, shallow and speaks to being an NPC. To be fair, there is a certain amount of this on both sides politically, but I would say it is a little more apparent on the left as evidenced when the news (which is primarily left leaning) put out new talking points and encourages outrage, which inevitably follows.

3) People who engage in outrage feel validated by being able to express an opinion without fear of repercussions.

A couple of generations ago, it's far more likely that someone acting like a dumbass and expressing shallow outrage or related types of stupidity would be put in their place by the people around them. This could be through peer pressure up to and including getting your arse beat. It could also be by parents through arse beatings, punishment, etc. Now, there are fewer and fewer consequences for acting badly. Immoral behavior is, in fact, encouraged.

Note: The above statement is absolutely not a defense for bullying, which is not okay. Peer pressure itself can be good or bad depending on cultural values. In an Amish community, for instance, peer pressure can take the form of taking pride in waking up before dawn, devoutly attending to chores, etc., and laziness might be discouraged by peers. This idea is less ambiguous when looking at how parents are increasingly neutered with regards to how they prefer to parent their children (by teachers, govt, etc)

I could probably come up with a few more reasons, but the above should suffice. At the root of the current wave of outrage culture is critical theory/cultural marxism thought which seeks to undermine the strength of a target country by encouraging outrage on the behalf of the fringe groups within that society undermine order and justice.

Moving on from why outrage is popular, it's worth considering its nature for a moment. This is probably most easily done by comparing it to stoicism. Proper stoicism is not about passivity or not reacting to things emotionally when they might deserve an emotional response. It is about becoming internally strong enough to not be unhinged and breaking down over everything. It's about being principled and being able to control reactions in the appropriate way without losing control. Outrage culture is the opposite of this. It discourages internal strength and control. It attempts to give artificial strength to what is naturally weak, and promotes virtue signalling over virtue itself.

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Moving on from why outrage is popular, it's worth considering its nature for a moment. This is probably most easily done by comparing it to stoicism. Proper stoicism is not about passivity or not reacting to things emotionally when they might deserve an emotional response. It is about becoming internally strong enough to not be unhinged and breaking down over everything. It's about being principled and being able to control reactions in the appropriate way without losing control. Outrage culture is the opposite of this. It discourages internal strength and control. It attempts to give artificial strength to what is naturally weak, and promotes virtue signalling over virtue itself.

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Really epic post. I thought about becoming a stoic one time and read a few Epicetus books. But then I forgot about it and moved on to the thing that I wanted to do in life. The stoics were on to something, especially the part about sizing people up during conversations in real time and understanding why certain people say certain things at certain times. The only part about stoicism that freaked me out was only getting laid in order to procreate. That's just bizarre.

Some people will never know the peace that comes with minding your own business

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The outrage and victim cycle is the “in” thing. People just need something to identify with because they’re generally just worthless and unhappy.

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if you looked up 'Poli Board' in the dictionary

I think for a lot of people, they'd rather be emotionally activated (even negatively) than be bored

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I think for a lot of people, they'd rather be emotionally activated (even negatively) than be bored

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Never heard it put like that before, that's solid. Boredom comes from becoming so advanced and comfortable as a society that you have to manufacture human emotion.

I watch shows and movies I like, work in a great company, play video games, watch sports and work with my kids and attend or coach their various athletic events. I’ve found my life to be quite enjoyable turning off politics. People who have no significant other or kids and work meaningless jobs like Walmart cashier or whatever are utterly miserable and no group wants them.

If you're speaking about the cancel culture portion of outrage, it's because it gives a sense of power and control to people who would otherwise have none.