Do we behave as rudely in real life as on R&S?

I was just called a "dumb@ss" for no apparent reason. Since i frequent this place a fair amount, i'm used to it and it's water off a duck's back, but i wonder if people behave towards people they know as rudely as some people do here. Perhaps it's because i'm English and people really are that rude to each other across the pond. Many of us would claim to be humanist or to be guided by the moral principles of a religious text or the examples of a religious or other figure. How meaningful is that if we behave towards each other that way?