Web Commentary: Strange Alchemy or id Unleashed?

This blog started out to be about the arrest of a U.S. scientist after presenting at a nanotech conference in China. Then, in the process of scanning down the page, I happened to see the comments. What is it about the web that unleashes such vitriol? Do the words come off differently without voice inflection? Do people reply without thinking and regret it later? I'd hate to think that it's purely a function of the cloak of anonymity, because that doesn't say much of anything good about human nature. What gives?

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