Why Do People Avoid Changing Their World?

[Devour]

So, yes, people of the Escapist, I have this to ask of you:-
Why do people avoid changing the world?

I personally enjoy switching myself "on", as it were, and make a place, thing or person mine. I've done it on Facebook, by shifting moderator and administrative opinion on anti-disablist groups ( getting hundreds of IPs banned in the process for repeated harassment of disabled people and their Facebook groups ) and I did it in college ( the college had an canteen inside it which claimed to sell good quality "healthy" food, which I proved to be unhealthy and forced them to change the products they sold ) and with a creation of a student union.

However, I had to really work with other people to get these things working. I had to use coercion, bribes and threats to get enough people to run the student union and collecting the figures for the canteen was ridiculously unbelievable. Facebook was probably the easiest.

I have a mild suspicion that it's due to my physical appearance ( I am really not a skinny or truly attractive person ), and that's what's causing the trouble of convincing others, but I'm not sure.

So, yes, why do people actively avoid changing their little piece of the world?

NB: I have no doubt I sound a little bit crazy. I probably am.

 

[The Kangaroo]

Probably because people are lazy

 

[DarkLordofDevon]

Because people are blind, and would rather live in this corrupt world rather than make the sacrifices required to make a better one...

I'd give up on humanity if I were you. Closer investigation will show they are fundementally flawed and there is no hope for them.

 

[ThePoodonkis]

It's easier to complain about a problem than to actually try to go fix it.

 

[cainx10a]

Probably because people are lazy

It's not just laziness per Se, but more a sense that if something is wrong we expect others to fix it for us. There are multiple reasons for that; laziness is only one small part of that, sometimes you just don't want to do your part because you might do a mess of what you are trying to accomplish. There is a lot of injustice I would love to fight, like a certain massacre that went completely unnoticed in the country where it occurred because the community targeted were a bunch of minorities, that would mean if I wanted payback I would either need super powers or join a bunch of 'bad guys' with little to no resources to fight back.

It's more of a delegation of responsibility, others will fix it for me. I will just sit back on my couch and watch TV now.

 

[SmartIdiot]

Probably because people are lazy

First this.

It's easier to complain about a problem than to actually try to go fix it.

Then this.

That pretty much clears things up. If people can't be bothered to make the effort they don't deserve any better. You have to put something in to get something out. Thanks to the instant gratification society we live in today many people just expect things to magically spring out of thin air.

Also people LOVE to complain. It's easy to run your mouth when you're discontent then when it comes to fixing it no one can be bothered, coming back round to point #1.

 

[Iron Mal]

It might have something to do with the fact that not everyone is willing or can be bothered to try and do something, there can be many reasons for this:

They might simply not care.
It might not effect them.
They might have other concerns that are more pressing than yours.
They don't believe anything is wrong or that you are exaggerating.
They prefer things the way they are or may benefit from it and many others I can't think of off the top of my head.

If you've had to resort to coercion, bribes and threats then I think you might find that the largest problem is simply people not agreeing with your opinion, if you have to force people to follow you then you should start asking yourself a few questions on how you do things...

 

[Nickolai77]

I concur with lazyness (well sort off). Its easier to put up with something annoying (like how you say, supposedly healthy food which is really unhealthy) or adapt to the situation. If i wanted to eat healthily at your school, i would simply bring in my own packed lunch which is healthy.

After doing a cost-benefit analysis, it's usually better for most people to adapt, tolerate or remove oneself from a flawed system, rather than actively try to reform the system. I respect people who want to change the system, but as you say-

However, I had to really work with other people to get these things working. I had to use coercion, bribes and threats to get enough people to run the student union and collecting the figures for the canteen was ridiculously unbelievable.

Well, rather than constantly lobbying, bribing and coercing other people to obey your will, i could be enjoying a nice pint or two at the pub, playing video games or hanging out with mates. The question really is, does the cost outweigh the reward? The answer is different for different people, for me the cost often outweighs the reward, so i either leave, tolerate or adapt to a flawed system. Where the cost does not outweigh the reward. Live and let live, it makes me happier.

 

[cobra_ky]

I have a mild suspicion that it's due to my physical appearance ( I am really not a skinny or truly attractive person ), and that's what's causing the trouble of convincing others, but I'm not sure.

As a towering Adonis, i can assure that it has nothing to do with looks, convincing people is genuinely difficult. that's probably why you see it happen so rarely.

 

[Baby Tea]

It might have something to do with the fact that not everyone is willing or can be bothered to try and do something, there can be many reasons for this:

They might simply not care.
It might not effect them.
They might have other concerns that are more pressing than yours.
They don't believe anything is wrong or that you are exaggerating.
They prefer things the way they are or may benefit from it and many others I can't think of off the top of my head.

If you've had to resort to coercion, bribes and threats then I think you might find that the largest problem is simply people not agreeing with your opinion, if you have to force people to follow you then you should start asking yourself a few questions on how you do things...

This is an excellent post.
The two examples the OP provided aren't very compelling in terms of 'changing your world'.

The Facebook group: There are thousands of stupid, asinine, and flat out offensive facebook groups. Getting them 'shut down' or getting people banned is a band-aid solution to a deeper problem (The fact that they hate disabled people in the first place). The OP makes it sound like a big human rights crusade.

Hip hip hoorah. You got a group shut down. What about the other thousand or so?
I'm more curious how you might feel so big after doing something so small.

The Canteen: Again, you make it sound like you've done more then you have. Everywhere claims to sell healthy foods! Heck, the salads at fast-food places have more calories then the burgers, usually. So you got a student group together to force them to change products, but you had to resort to coercion, brides, and threats in order for that to happen?

You know why?

Because people don't care about the small stuff. If I was a student there, and you came up to me with some flyer or something saying 'Hey! The canteen claims to sell healthy food! but they don't! It's unhealthy!', then I'd say: Then don't eat there.

Who cares? Aren't there more important things to think about? Or to fight for (No, not Tekken 6)?

Pardon me if how healthy the food is at a college canteen isn't high on my list of 'things to do'.

Really, the OP reeks of a pretentious, self righteous attitude.
"I did all this, why don't YOU?"
But yet you didn't really do much of anything.

 

[Devour]

If you've had to resort to coercion, bribes and threats then I think you might find that the largest problem is simply people not agreeing with your opinion, if you have to force people to follow you then you should start asking yourself a few questions on how you do things...

To be honest, the threats were more around the area of, "You're just going to get walked over forever if you carry on like this" to the lazier, more downtrodded members of the community.

 

[Devour]

I'm not pretending that I've changed THE world. It's just that I have, through various tactics, changed a small corner of it. My world, so to speak. Yes, the anti-disablists are still a major problem, but we got ten to twenty groups shut down and IP banned due to our action. It's a small win, but that's what a war against anything is made up of. Small battles that lead to an agreement being made, or one side gives up.

 

[Sonicron]

Because people are ultimately scared of change. As much as people keep bitching and moaning about a number of circumstances, at least these are circumstances they know, and while change is often a good thing, it is often hard to achieve, and the possibility of failure (and the repercussions of said failure) just adds to the feeling of fear the prospect of change invokes.

 

[Aulleas123]

1.) You're talking about College students, they're busy with classes and workload.

2.) If you mean 'changing our world' as in our personal outlook on life, then I'll agree with most folks in that we are naturally lazy, i.e. if it works then don't try to fix it.

3.) If you mean 'changing our world' as in a universal change for every person on earth, I'd say it's a little bit of #2 and it's the notion that if we've been doing certain stuff for thousands of years then why should we change now? Plus, if we change universally, we screw over a lot of other people, and that would lead to a personal change which is explained in #2.

I think #3 went well above what you wanted. Sorry about that, just stick with the first 2

 

[Baby Tea]

I'm not pretending that I've changed THE world. It's just that I have, through various tactics, changed a small corner of it. My world, so to speak.

So then who are you to charge others to change theirs?
And, really, how can you be sure they aren't?

Apathy about a silly Facebook group or a college canteen isn't an indication of a over-all spirit of unwillingness. Perhaps you view those two things as a higher importance then those who you had to coerce and bribe to join your 'crusades'.

Some things, to some people, aren't worth the time because they simply aren't important.
And the level of said importance is completely subjective.

Yes, the anti-disablists are still a major problem, but we got ten to twenty groups shut down and IP banned due to our action. It's a small win, but that's what a war against anything is made up of. Small battles that lead to an agreement being made, or one side gives up.

No, it's not a small win. Again: It's a band-aid solution. They still hate disabled people, and they'll just make another Facebook group. If anything, you've made them (digital) martyrs to their 'cause'. You don't change minds by simply silencing the one group. Just ask China how well that works. 'Out of sight, out of mind' is a weak response.

Again, all I'm getting is this 'vibe' of pretentiousness.

 

[VanityGirl]

Maybe because problems that bother you may not bother a certain person.
The OP said the canteen said they sold healthy food when they did not, perhaps this bothered him, but didn't bother other people, hence they did not actively join the fight for better food.

Honestly, some things to me just aren't worth fighting or causing a ruckus over. For one, I don't want to look like some spoiled brat who wants to get their way for every LITTLE thing. Second, I don't care.
If there's something MAJOR, then yeah, I'll fight for it. I'll try to change the world.

 

[traceur_]

Because I don't need to, want to, or have the means to.

It might have something to do with the fact that not everyone is willing or can be bothered to try and do something, there can be many reasons for this:

They might simply not care.
It might not effect them.
They might have other concerns that are more pressing than yours.
They don't believe anything is wrong or that you are exaggerating.
They prefer things the way they are or may benefit from it and many others I can't think of off the top of my head.

If you've had to resort to coercion, bribes and threats then I think you might find that the largest problem is simply people not agreeing with your opinion, if you have to force people to follow you then you should start asking yourself a few questions on how you do things...

This is an excellent post.
The two examples the OP provided aren't very compelling in terms of 'changing your world'.

The Facebook group: There are thousands of stupid, asinine, and flat out offensive facebook groups. Getting them 'shut down' or getting people banned is a band-aid solution to a deeper problem (The fact that they hate disabled people in the first place). The OP makes it sound like a big human rights crusade.

Hip hip hoorah. You got a group shut down. What about the other thousand or so?
I'm more curious how you might feel so big after doing something so small.

The Canteen: Again, you make it sound like you've done more then you have. Everywhere claims to sell healthy foods! Heck, the salads at fast-food places have more calories then the burgers, usually. So you got a student group together to force them to change products, but you had to resort to coercion, brides, and threats in order for that to happen?

You know why?

Because people don't care about the small stuff. If I was a student there, and you came up to me with some flyer or something saying 'Hey! The canteen claims to sell healthy food! but they don't! It's unhealthy!', then I'd say: Then don't eat there.

Who cares? Aren't there more important things to think about? Or to fight for (No, not Tekken 6)?

Pardon me if how healthy the food is at a college canteen isn't high on my list of 'things to do'.

Really, the OP reeks of a pretentious, self righteous attitude.
"I did all this, why don't YOU?"
But yet you didn't really do much of anything.

Bullseye. It seems a lot like the mantra of the insane environmentalist, "I can compost my own crap, you can too!", my response to that is: Fuck. That. Noise.

I know we're guilty of the Nirvana Fallacy here, but in this case I think it's valid.

 

[Iron Mal]

If you've had to resort to coercion, bribes and threats then I think you might find that the largest problem is simply people not agreeing with your opinion, if you have to force people to follow you then you should start asking yourself a few questions on how you do things...

To be honest, the threats were more around the area of, "You're just going to get walked over forever if you carry on like this" to the lazier, more downtrodded members of the community.

Granted, that's not as bad as what I initially thought you meant there is still the issue of coercion and bribery (neither of which will further your causes as far as opinion and attitudes go, coerced people will eventually find a platform to express their differences in opinion and bribes only last so long), if you have to hound people to get them to see things your way then it could be argued that you've achieved nothing more than annoying a few passers by.

I'm not pretending that I've changed THE world. It's just that I have, through various tactics, changed a small corner of it. My world, so to speak. Yes, the anti-disablists are still a major problem, but we got ten to twenty groups shut down and IP banned due to our action. It's a small win, but that's what a war against anything is made up of. Small battles that lead to an agreement being made, or one side gives up.

There's small victories and then there's tiny victories, yes, a few negligable advancements are required to ultimately change the world but this is like saying that spending a couple of hours in the local park picking up litter is contributing towards saving the Earth from Global Warming (it might be the case but this role is so small that to try and claim any progress as a result is very much debateable), yes, the local area looks nicer and you are technically cleaning up but don't expect thanks, heroics or anything in the way of help (it's simply not big enough).

 

[GDW]

Yeah, I'm going with lazy.

Familiarity breeds change within' itself because, in the end, it's all going to be adapted to fit with whatever situation the human-condition is stuck in.

Me, I'm balls lazy and I'm not going to change a fucking thing. By your thoughts/observations the rest of the world must feel the same way. This also clumps in with the "don't care" and the "can't be bothered" demographic, but most peopel don't honestly FEAR change, they just don't want it to actually have a direct affect on them before they can do anything about it.

In truth, that's sound thinking. But, also in truth, most people just don't care.