From Internet flame wars to reality TV, from road rage to the tabloids, anger is playing an ever increasing role in our society. Whether this is because communication is breaking down, social etiquette is being phased out or assholes are just breeding more often, anger seems to be on the upswing, and scientists are furiously scrambling to find out why. Here's a little of what they've got so far:

5 Dickheads First

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Bangor University's School of Psychology has spent a good deal of time researching the reason why so much more energy seems channeled into anger instead of happiness, and why angry people get more attention than the positive ones. For an example, just look to the comments section of most websites: You'll generally see a lot of positivity there at first, but little by little, it will all start to go wrong. Insulting comments start to crop up, and they are responded to--again insultingly--until the whole thing devolves into a giant pantie-fight over minor technicalities and personal opinions.

"It's 'there,' not "their,' and there's no "the" in front of "Watchmen" and RRRAARGHAAAAAAHHHH!!! I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE!!!"

But it's not entirely the Internet's fault. When the Bangor scientists studied the section of the brain that responds to angry, happy or neutral faces, they found something interesting: This area is also tied closely to areas of the brain associated with survival instincts--like your fight or flight reflexes. When you detect anger in your vicinity, your facial recognition center suddenly lights, allowing you to better detect possible threats. Or, as one researcher puts it, "The ability to remember who is angry may have been of evolutionary importance in enabling us to respond to a threat situation. Remembering who's happy is less important as it bears no relation to our own immediate safety." As a side effect of this--our brains being wired to pay more attention to anger--any pissed off dickhead who is otherwise irrelevant, will still seem much more important to you than a reasonable person who should otherwise take priority. It's not necessarily the case that there is more negativity, it's just that you pay more attention to it. So basically, the concept that "all you need is love" has officially been disproven by our very genetics. Sorry, hippies, but the brain has spoken: Impending punches are just flat out more important than Eskimo kisses.