Why are poker players (and in particular these forums) so hostile?

[TiltsMcFabulous]

I haven't been posting that long, but I lurked for quite a while before I decided to get an account.

The overwhelming sense I get from these boards is hostility. Strategy posts are riddled with people calling each other names, assuming that anyone who has a different analysis is a moron fish, and it seems impossible for 90% of the posters on here to disagree without being disagreeable. There is virtually no respect for any poster save for a few of the big shots, and those people get so much respect it borders on fanaticism.

People who are here to learn get insulted constantly, and every little mistake new posters make is not just immediately pounced upon, but brought up again and again. People actually look back through other poster's posts just to find things to ridicule them with here. This seems nuts to me. There is absolutely no sense of poker community, save for a few posters.

Non-strategy related posts tend to be flame fests where everyone competes to be the cleverest, and I have rarely seen a message board where so many people seem to hate one another. The OOT forum is just embarrassing, politics is similar, and WPT is dreadful.

I'm a normal guy, mid 20s, with a normal job and a normal life. I'm happy and well-adjusted, and don't feel the need to ridicule people on a message board incessantly. Am I that much of an anomaly? Because I often feel like the vast majority of the posters on here (and poker players in general) could use some time on the psychiatist's couch ... so very angry.

~ Tilts