So, what encourages your faith in the human species?

[NerfedFalcon]

Mirror's Edge: a mechanically creative, visually striking game with a few imperfections, but possibly more notable for it...published by EA, a company known for either A) being one of the two biggest dicks in the industry or B) Battlefield, second only to Call of Duty when it comes to yearly sequels and skewing sales ratings against unique, interesting games from other publishers. (So, yeah, just being dicks.)

Also, our government is actually doing something: getting an R18+ rating for video games. I know that it's not much, and that I'm not really helping the discussion by focusing on games, but hey, it's something to feel good about.

 

[StellarViking]

Things that reinforce faith in humanity happen around us every day. Misanthropy solves nothing, look around and see the good in the world every once in a while.

 

[Pebkio]

Wow, that's a pretty big assumption there. I could, very well, not have faith in the human species. Which I don't. But, I also don't think that we're on our way to a grave in just a few short centuries either. Why? Because I have faith in the human person.

People are dumb, violent, mob-led sheep with fangs.
A person can be a bright, intelligent hero who will save us all.

I'm talking about the scientist who finds a way to scrub nuclear fallout on a global scale. I'm talking about the philosopher who is able to convince most people that being nice takes strength, not weakness. I'm talking about the engineer who will eventually find a way to sustain cold fusion. And I'm talking about the visionary who will come up with a new way to manage our modern lives. I'm talking about the philanthropist who will solve a problem we don't have yet.

I believe that the human species will live on because I have faith in those individuals... whoever they might be some day...

 

[Jazoni89]

I read this story, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside


This happened on TAM Airlines

A 50-something year old woman arrived at her seat, and saw the passenger sitting next to her was a black man.
Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What´s the problem ma?" the hostess asked her.
"Can´t you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man, I can´t sit next to him, you have to change my seat"
"Please calm down ma" the hostess replied "all the seats are occupied, but i´m still going to check if we have any"

The hostess left, and return a few minutes later.
"Madam, as i told you, there isn´t any empty seat in this class- economy class. But i spoke to the captain, and he confirmed that we only have seats left in the first class."

Before the woman could say anything, the hostess continued.

"Look, it´s unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class. However, given the circumstances, the captain thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger sit next to a person this unpleasant."

Turning to the black man, the hostess said:
"Wich means sir, if you would be so kind to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in first class."

All the passengers nearby who were shocked watching the whole scene started applauding, some standing on their feet.

I heard about that on Facebook.

God would I of loved to be a fly on the wall when that happened, brilliant stuff.

 

[Kermi]

I read this story, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside


This happened on TAM Airlines

A 50-something year old woman arrived at her seat, and saw the passenger sitting next to her was a black man.
Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What´s the problem ma?" the hostess asked her.
"Can´t you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man, I can´t sit next to him, you have to change my seat"
"Please calm down ma" the hostess replied "all the seats are occupied, but i´m still going to check if we have any"

The hostess left, and return a few minutes later.
"Madam, as i told you, there isn´t any empty seat in this class- economy class. But i spoke to the captain, and he confirmed that we only have seats left in the first class."

Before the woman could say anything, the hostess continued.

"Look, it´s unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class. However, given the circumstances, the captain thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger sit next to a person this unpleasant."

Turning to the black man, the hostess said:
"Wich means sir, if you would be so kind to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in first class."

All the passengers nearby who were shocked watching the whole scene started applauding, some standing on their feet.

Shame it's a completely unsubstantiated urban legend which has been circulating since the late 90s, but still, it's nice to dream.

 

[ChadSexington]

My best friend actually. Not too long ago my sister was really upset so she bought her a cake and drove for (I think) just over half an hour to give it to her. She's a pretty amazing person.

 

[TheEmoSpeeds666]

The good men and women of Valve, who still care about gaming, and not just about their bank balance. Also, people like Swedemason, who create videos for the fun of it and allow people to view it for free.

 

[Esotera]

GNU/Linux...not the project itself but the people. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people round the world can successfully get together and produce a highly successful OS makes me very happy. It also shows that when people are interested in something and team up, we can accomplish great things.

 

[Wave Summers]

Honestly (and not trying to be one of the anoying gotta post it everywhere ones) bronies have restored my fait at least a bit in the human race. a group of poeple of all creeds, races, religons, sexual orientations, and genders coming together with the express goals of spreading love and tolerance in this day of internet ragers, XBOX Live profanity slingers, and Jersey Shore initaters, made me feel that maybe, just maybe we can all just get along and make the world a better place

 

[MasochisticAvenger]

I believe we've all seen our fair share of threads and whatnot by people who have lost their faith in the human species, or some jumble of words to the same effect.

Well, just to inject some optimism into your eyeballs, what things have happened that make you look at the human race, tousle it's hair and say "D'aww, you just want to be loved, don't you?"

Spoiler: For me, it's this not-all-too-long story

It actually starts with a youtube comment.
First off, I'll introduce StoryCorps in case you haven't heard of them. It's a brilliant group that has dedicated itself to listening to and recording the stories of interesting people around the world - Anything from a grieving parent, to lovers a world apart who met by e-mail, or fond memories of a childhood teacher. All of their videos are on youtube, and they are quite emotional... Bring kleenex.

Anywho, there was this one video called Germans in the Woods. It was the sad tale of a War Vet, still haunted by the memory of killing a German soldier. The man has since passed on, and he claimed that he still lost sleep over the memory of that kid.

I was moved by it, as most people would be, and that made me all the more irked to find the top-rated comment. Now I'm not a religious man, and I dislike the idea of religion because it seems illogical, but I understand that not everyone's like me and Religion is important, so I'm tolerant.
This top rated comment addressed the war veteran. It said something along the lines of "Sir, I'm sure that when you went to heaven, the man you killed greeted you as an angel and forgave you in embrace."
Now, something about that really bugged me. Believe what you want and whatnot, but I couldn't bear to think that this carefully preserved story should be tarnished by a viewer who just couldn't bear to face that there could be something with a sad ending in life. No, something inside me said, it wasn't all fine and dandy when he went to heaven. It was a sad story, and it's our job to learn from it, not staple on a hollywood ending to soothe our own minds. There's no progress if we can't admit there was a problem.
And I didn't like seeing someone use Religion that way, because I'm sure it can be applied in much better ways. Anywho, I made a comment encapsulating my thoughts because otherwise they'd just rattle around in my head.

I returned later, prompted by someone who'd replied to my comment placing a message in my inbox and I found that my comment had received enough likes or votes or whatever to have replaced it as top comment.
I dunno, I mean I don't really care for getting top comments, but this made me feel good.
Whether I was right in my argument or not is irrelevant - In supporting my little rant people seemed willing to acccept a harsh truth in order to combat something.

The fact that those kinds of people exist, hell they even exist on YOUTUBE of all places, made me feel all fuzzy and warm.

(Not going to post the video but google it if you want - In fact, I advise it.

So you're proud of the fact you're calling someone out who was, like you, simply expressing an opinion and probably trying to give their condolences to the War Veteran in their own way. Even if you disagree with their sentiment, that seemed like a pretty low thing to do. Not something I would really be bragging over, in my opinion.

Honestly (and not trying to be one of the anoying gotta post it everywhere ones) bronies have restored my fait at least a bit in the human race. a group of poeple of all creeds, races, religons, sexual orientations, and genders coming together with the express goals of spreading love and tolerance in this day of internet ragers, XBOX Live profanity slingers, and Jersey Shore initaters, made me feel that maybe, just maybe we can all just get along and make the world a better place

And if you don't agree, we'll blow your ass off with love and friendship . In all seriousness, while I do think some bronies could tone it down a bit (seriously, some bronies are bordering on extremists), it is beyond awesome how a show aimed at little girls could become this popular.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

I believe we've all seen our fair share of threads and whatnot by people who have lost their faith in the human species, or some jumble of words to the same effect.

Well, just to inject some optimism into your eyeballs, what things have happened that make you look at the human race, tousle it's hair and say "D'aww, you just want to be loved, don't you?"

Mine is quite similar to yours.

I read an article on BBC.co.uk/News about one of our MPs who was claiming that "Militant Secularists" were destroying our countries faith and faith based establishments. She claimed we should move to increase the role religion has in our country.
In the comments section nearly every single response said "Good, we are making progress" or "Militant? Atheists don't hijack planes!?" it just reminded me that intelligence is winning out over superstition for the first time in recorded history and that gives me the only faith we need, faith in ourselves

 

[masticina]

I expect one to fail
And am happy if one succeed

I know that no matter how stupid humanity can act, like one of those lifeguard boats they always bob up in the end...

 

[George Francis Gaspar]

Seeing threads with decent conversation and debate...It lets me know that there are reasonable people on the planet.

 

[Simon Pettersson]

Well my friends! Sometimes ....

 

[LordFisheh]

I don't think the world is a craphole, but nevertheless I can't stand the 'context' argument. I'm sorry but someone handing another the phone he dropped on the tube does not outweigh a war or murder. And even if the evil in the world was well and truly outnumbered by common decency, that won't bring back the dead or see criminals in prison.

I think we should be striving for a perfectly just world, even knowing that it'll never be achieved. The 'lots of nice people too' argument seems kind of delusional in that respect - like we should be striving for only 90% love and bunnies and we just realised that, factoring in everyday kindness, we hit 85% instead of 60%. Like I say, I don't think the world is irredeemably terrible, but we shouldn't dismiss everything that's wrong with it as 'just the extreme bits that make it onto the news' in order to make ourselves feel better.

Because that's one of the most common reasons people make this argument. They want to feel better about the world, and trivialise or brush aside the harsh facts that stand in the way. Because however many people have met a kind stranger, those civilians are still dead. Still the name number, still the same people, still the same unpunished perpetrators. Does context really change that? We shouldn't hate the world, but nor should we sit back and think 'yep, if you put the news in context, the world is largely sunshine and bunnies' until we truly have dealt with all of these problems, even if that will never happen.

 

[RickyRich]

The knowledge that our current politicians are going to eventually die of old age and a new generation will come in and take charge.

 

[Guffe]

Well, me for one. I know it might be a bit egoistic to say that I am someone who I find that takes away all shit from the world. But that also means, as the third post sais, that normal people, and knowing that they excist, actually makes the world a pretty good place.
Then also.

Spoiler: People are awesome

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Every time I see or hear about people doing nice things for other people. It's nice to know not all people are selfish greedy assholes...