You know what I hate? Misanthropes.

[The Cap]

im sad that all you people know big fancy words that i dont, for example a misanthrope

i wish i knew big fancy words

 

[AquaAscension]

Okay, seriously, when did we as a community collectively become so emo?
I swear we've had more topics in the last month about teenagers, and especially teenage relationships, pretty much existing so that people can go on and feel smug and superior while belittling them.
This is bullshit.

There is a subtle difference between a stupid idea (a girl getting pregnant at 14 on purpose / as a result of alcohol) and unfortunate circumstances (a girl getting pregnant at 14 because her boyfriend was a prick who didn't use contraception). It really angers me when people fail and at times even refuse to make this distinction.

There was one particular thread on "young love" that especially annoyed me (can't remember the name though), because half of it was filled with people moaning about unrequited crushes and much of the other half with people saying that it was pointless because it never worked out and wishing people would stop. By far the worst one though is that people assume it only happens to stupid people who can't control their feelings. (I'm paraphrasing but sense this is not an uncommon viewpoint)

I've spent this weekend trying to comfort a female friend of mine who split up from her boyfriend of two years or so. Now, maybe it's because she hasn't gone through it before, and maybe it's because her body isn't able to deal with all the hormones and issues of a break-up, but that doesn't make it any less real and it certainly doesn't mean she can just stop feeling it. People at a young age need to experience things like this, and as they do so they'll need support, which is why it needs offering.
More to the point, this girl is 17 next month and got A*s in most of her GCSEs. She is not stupid and to assume that youngsters in love are is childish. She is just dealing with something unknown that carries with it, as Cracked.com are frequent to relate, withdrawal symptoms similar to those of cocaine.

TL; dr: PLEASE can we just cheer the fuck up as a community? I know we tend to attract the nerdy types with all the nerd stereotypes attached but it's been really bad recently.

Oh, and for discussion value, um... Misanthropy, good or bad?

Well, you have a lot of rhetorical questions there, so I'll let most of them be, but I may try to put out my point of view a bit if that's alright (and I assume it is because this is the internet after all). As for the question you actually did ask: misanthropy I would classify as bad because it would necessarily mean that you hate yourself, and doing that is absolutely silly. Humans are beautiful (maybe not to ourselves, and my next argument is slightly counter-intuitive/can't be made I suppose?) I think if looked at from aesthetics that are removed from our understanding of them (except we technically can't see something from outside of ourselves). I think the bottom line I'm trying to get down to is that if you sit and think about anything for too long, it starts to lose its meaning and starts to seem disgusting, I think. So when we sit and think about the human condition as humans, we start to see it as disgusting and unsettling and then start to hate it because we quite literally cannot escape it. Dying is only a cessation, it's not an escape because sensing nothing is not the same as sensing things and caring/thinking nothing about them.

So, I was watching a Day9 daily recently in which he did an hour of AMA (ask me anything) question and answer from his audience. The points that I distilled from his conversations with questioning fans/assorted audience was that you've got to just do things rather than analyzing them; if you want to be something, pursue it, and it really, really helps to have someone by your side who says, simply, "It's okay." "You made a mistake, it's okay; you destroyed your room because you were tired and angry, it's okay" was essentially the example he used. So, I understand the want to be in a relationship - to have someone with whom you feel "okay." We need that because we often don't get it from ourselves. After all, with so much time spent thinking about things we could have done differently, we start to become misanthropic and angry. Emotions happen; you cannot stop them. All you can hope for is someone there (later in life it is more likely to be the self) saying, "it's okay."

But until that point, give other people (and yourself for goodness sake) a break. If Rome wasn't built in a day and your body is akin to a temple, you can't expect to be fully furnished with beautiful stained glass windows or enough pews to keep all your emotions sitting in check from the moment you're born. After all, only by making mistakes and living life does our glass-covered outlook get broken, do we find cracks across our understandings of this thing called life, but only after we've been broken can we truly shine with any amount of brightness.

So, yeah, teenagers are learning that they still shine even after their hearts have been broken - give em a chance to mend.

Or, you know, something like that. That's what I'd put my 2 cents in as.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I don't mind Nihilists/misanthropists necessarily, I hate the ones that spout on about it for now reason. Like, I was having a conversation about the best time to pet a cat (after they've been lying in the sun about they're all sleepy and warm) and someone else started going off about how we shouldn't be happy, and that there wasn't a point to it. It's like as soon as he saw happiness he was like "well fuck, I'm bad at being happy, so you shouldn't be, either", and it was annoying.

Ah yes, fair enough, although rather than nihilists/misanthropists I think those people are much more easily defined as arseholes.

Oh, definitely. And sadly, they give everyone else a bad name.

Man, assholes are just such... assholes.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

...er... I guess I'm a bit of misanthrope because I don't care much for people, knowing what they are capable of. Sorry if that offends anybody...

 

[SixWingedAsura]

I'm what you'd call a happy misanthrope.

Yeah, make sense of THAT!

 

[BlumiereBleck]

I'm so emo and heartbroken right now, but to smart to think I'm in pain...must be smug. Naaaaah I'm just messing with ya, I'm hipster. You guys want the pain to go away, don't fall into the friend zone, be nice but not so nice you'll be obsessed with her and then see feels annoyed by you.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

TL; dr: PLEASE can we just cheer the fuck up as a community? I know we tend to attract the nerdy types with all the nerd stereotypes attached but it's been really bad recently.

When did nerd become bad? And you do realise you're complaining about people complaining all the time?

Oh, and for discussion value, um... Misanthropy, good or bad?

Misanthropy, for lack of a better word, is good. It is right. It works. It clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Misanthropy, in all of its forms; for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and misanthopy, you mark my words, will not only save the Escapist, but that other malfunctioning product called the Internet.

 

[tomtom94]

I think your example is a bit bad. I'm a misanthrope because of other shit not related to your example of teen bullshit. These reasons aren't all that much personal, as much as a look at people and humanity as a whole. So you could also say that I'm a cynic & nihilist too. Our governments suck, and we are destroying the planet. People HAVE to prove themselves.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

TL; dr: PLEASE can we just cheer the fuck up as a community? I know we tend to attract the nerdy types with all the nerd stereotypes attached but it's been really bad recently.

When did nerd become bad? And you do realise you're complaining about people complaining all the time?

Oh, and for discussion value, um... Misanthropy, good or bad?

Misanthropy, for lack of a better word, is good. It is right. It works. It clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Misanthropy, in all of its forms; for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and misanthopy, you mark my words, will not only save the Escapist, but that other malfunctioning product called the Internet.

SO wait.... the upward surge in humanity is noooot because we all started working together in society and stopped slaving people and declaring crusades but because we all started hating each other a little bit more? Is this how we cure aids? Nice? Misanthropes probably think and or want people to see them like this.

Spoiler

But i tend to see them more like this.

Spoiler

Sorry, its not personal, its just many of not almost all teenagers go through the angsty teenage cynic phase. And its really annoying. Most come out of it though. Misanthropy doesnt help anyone, its like professional parade raining. We live better then we ever have and people are getting more misanthropic because people who have everything like to... what? Complain.

These people say mankind sucks. Well i sure as hell bet no one ever saw them down at the soup kitchen, why dont they pick up a goddam ladle.

Then again some see it as a personal view. And thats fine. Just dont go judging me or telling me im inherently a dick. People who call all 7 billion on this planet people dicks need to take a long look at that statement and think about how we define those that pointlessly and randomly insult and make assumptions about others.

I think your example is a bit bad. I'm a misanthrope because of other shit not related to your example of teen bullshit. These reasons aren't all that much personal, as much as a look at people and humanity as a whole. So you could also say that I'm a cynic & nihilist too. Our governments suck, and we are destroying the planet. People HAVE to prove themselves.

I had the strong urge to mindlessly insult you. But i wont. And im sorry for even considering it. Im going to take a deep breath. And ask a few honest questions. Maybe im wrong about misanthropes. Can you help me a bit here?

1: Humanity has to prove themselves. You or i or anyone hardly has a global view of all good/bad occuring in the world at any given time (dont you dare mention the media >.> faux is in that category) how do we jugde that they failed your supreme test?

2.What is the arbitrary unit/jugdement on how much we suck/rock? Who decides this? Why is your jugdement on humanity any better than anyone elses? Is it a purely personal experience? Is it stuff you see online? Can you REALLY REALLY, look at 7 billion people ALL AT ONCE and make such a snap jugdement on if they are worthy or not worthy in your eyes? Is that really fair?

3. Isnt the whole idea insanely counter intuative. I mean people hardly act nicer because they are misanthropic... surely the realisation the world sucks would drive someone to try harder to improve it? Are these people lazy? Entitled? Do they want to sit on their golden thrones while the filth peasents improve the world for them and they watch and jugde if they are worthy yet? I dont understand at all, and that wasnt aimed at you tbh, funny image. I mean i figure if you dont wanna be part of the solution why complain?

4. Isnt to assume the worst in people horrifically jugdemental? Isnt that like asking the time from someone and having them scream in your face about how terrible you are? Arnt all baseless broud assumptions always wrong and ignorant? Why is this an exception?

I hope you can answer these. Im confused. Can ANYONE answer these?

 

[gallaetha_matt]

Whiney emo cynicism is pretty irritating. But then so is fluffy, power of friendship, optimism. In my mind it's the same thing from different perspectives.

I.e: My life is so wonderful/horrible. I'm in a great relationship with great friends/lonely and eating packets of sugar in my underpants. The world is a fantastic/awful place to be alive. If I'm happy/sad then that means everybody else in the world needs to be happy/sad too so I can validate my own existence. Are you saying that you're not happy/sad? THEN FUCK YOU I FUCKING HATE YOU! WHY ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE!? STOP WASTING OUR OXYGEN AND GO LIVE ON ANOTHER PLANET!

Delete as appropriate. Or make your own mad libs or something. It's all the same crap. The world is not set in shades of black and white (except on my piano keyboard). Sometimes people get into destructive hateful moods and wish the whole world would end. Sometimes people just feel so glad to be alive. Most of the time it's just shades of grey, getting on with life without being over the moon happy or six feet below the earth sad.

A little bit of tolerance for other people's feelings, folks. Both misanthropes and the people who hate them.

Side note: I have a bottle of Glenfiddich scotch and nothing to do tomorrow. Nobody is happier than I am right now.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

SO wait.... the upward surge in humanity is noooot because we all started working together in society and stopped slaving people and declaring crusades but because we all started hating each other a little bit more?

What does hate cause? Wars.
When does the greatest leaps forward occur? Wars.

Is this how we cure aids?

That's for Greed. Just think of how much those people will pay not to die.

What has "caring" for people given us?
Political Correctness, Health and Safety, Safety Reviews, Best Before Dates, Law suit after law suit after law suit, Disease, Infection, Invasions, Star Trek:Enterprise...and all "just to help".

And "not caring"/Hating?

Orwell, Huxley, King, Lovecraft, SHODAN, GLADos, AM, HAL, Yahtzee, Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Freddie Krueger, Agent 47.

Long ago we gave up evolving and just decided to settle down, to give up.

But i tend to see them more like this.

Spoiler

So you hate people like that? Wouldn't it be a better world if we got rid of all THOSE people? THOSE people just take up our houses and our jobs, they should go back to where THEY came from.

And you wonder why they're angry?

Misanthropy doesnt help anyone,

It helps the misanthropes. Something that "caring" doesn't do. "Caring" is what made them taht way.

We live better then we ever have and people are getting more misanthropic because people who have everything like to... what? Complain.

Must be pretty bad then if it's driving us to become more misanthropic. Possibly because everyone's CARING so much. Like everyone else you're CARING about misanthropy. They can't BEAR to leave the misanthropes to their own, they just have to CARE for them.

These people say mankind sucks. Well i sure as hell bet no one ever saw them down at the soup kitchen, why dont they pick up a goddam ladle.

Because some of them need the soup.

People who call all 7 billion on this planet people dicks need to take a long look at that statement and think about how we define those that pointlessly and randomly insult and make assumptions about others.

What are you doing at the moment?

Spoiler

Think about it...am I likely to be being strictly honest here?

 

[BakedAlaskan]

Emos aren't misanthropes, individuals are, particularly those who seek the comfort of isolation and fail to engage in normal human interaction.

You know what misanthropes hate? You.
(Joke)

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

The majority of people I've met are both stupid and annoying with a good amount of obnoxiousness and untrustworthiness. I feel like some misantropy is due in some places.

 

[Svenparty]

Oh the sweet sweet irony, well if nothing else OP you made me laugh
You also may wan't to check out threads like: "Why I hate haters", "I'm here to complain about complaining", ... all very amusing.

But seriously if you haven't noticed people on the internetz tend to exaggerate, you really need to take it with a grain of salt... or a truck load.

This is when the thread should have stopped existing. Give me a 100 slightly negative threads over one complaining about it. Every week a new dictator of the forum starts a thread declaring too many threads on such and such. "oh it's this thread again"

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

What does hate cause? Wars.
When does the greatest leaps forward occur? Wars. Ch

Thats just wrong. Think of all the unrelated breakthroughs we had that had nothing to do with war. Penicillin. Small pox vaccine. Charity aid, earthquake aid, helping in africa, people aspiring to be doctors.

That's for Greed. Just think of how much those people will pay not to die.

Its for people in crippling poverty? They cant pay. I know a friend who went and helped cure cateracts in africa for free. This shit actually happens :O Im studying to apply for a doctorate. :O also shocker.

So you hate people like that? Wouldn't it be a better world if we got rid of all THOSE people? THOSE people just take up our houses and our jobs, they should go back to where THEY came from.

And you wonder why they're angry?

I dont tend to respect their opinions no. No i dont. They are childish and arent really worthy of respect in terms of real thoughts and ideas.

What are you doing at the moment?

Judging people based on what they say and do? Not an entire planet.

 

[retyopy]

I think the real issue at hand is misogyny. I'm not arguing that "gamers" or this community in particular are misogynistic, but society as a whole. It knows no boundaries, no race, and no religion. Do yourself a favor and seek out James Tiptree's short story "The Screwfly Solution" or the Masters of Horror television adaptation. It's chilling in its ongoing relevance. These threads don't seem to be about "dumb little hormonal boys," but rather "bitches, whores, sluts, nymphomaniacs, prudes" and whatever derogatory female stereotype one can come up with. It's all "her" fault because she's crazy and because she's female.

Did you get a little offended at my use of "boys" to describe male teenagers? Imagine being referred to as a "girl" 24/7 until you were 40.

I honestly see none of this.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

I'm what you'd call a happy misanthrope.

Yeah, make sense of THAT!

Not too difficult. Im a happy misanthrope, and I find it to make perfect sense.

It's just a matter of accepting the way you are and the way mankind is (that is "shit"), and thus you will care less and less about the fact that mankind is shit since it's just an everyday fact of life (like gravity).

I mean, you don't really see people being all pissed and depressed about the fact that birds can "defy" gravity (yes, I know that they technically don't DEFY gravity but they can fly, and we can't do that unaided) do you? It's just been like that forever and even if you once entertained the idea of jealousy of the birds because they can fly and you can't, sooner or later you just accepted that very simple fact and probably moved on to something else that made you happy.

So the real mistake that these pseudo-emo, whiney ***** misanthropes do is to still... Well "care" to much about their misanthropy.

-"Oh mankind is shit, how depressing, now I must be all depressed, angry and angsty about it!.. Or at least until I grow up and suddenly have a change of heart (around the same time my hormones settle down for some inexplicable reason) and decide not to be a misanthrope anymore."

The thing is, if you're really misanthropic, you can't just "give it up" just because you happen to have a sudden change in mood. Being a misanthrope is having an opinion that mankind is awful for several reasons (some more arbitrary than others, but then again all opinions are arbitrary hence why they are called "opinions"). But arbitrary as it may be, a true opinion is based on certain intellectual standpoints and not just a momentary emotional state.

Hence why it's perfectly natural to be able to be a "happy" misanthrope. I mean, just because you have an opinion about something, it doesn't really have to stand in the way of your own personal happiness or influence your current emotional state.

In fact, I'd say that being as misanthropic as I am has actually made me more impervious to factors and events that is considered to be rather depressing according to most non-misanthropes. For instance, when people whine about some newsfeed telling of the mass casualties of war, or that two very large towers on Manhattan got toppled because some terrorist nutjobs in hijacked airplanes decided to do the kamikaze-move on them in the name of their prefered tribal fetisch, and everyone goes: "oh what a tragedy!"

I pretty much go: "Oh? A bit more people than usual died today due to your average human stupidity? Good! Perhaps next time they manage to wipe us all out."

And then I pretty much put the kettle on the stove and have myself a cup of tea, knowing that someday somehow we're all going to be exterminated by ourselves or some natural disaster since we're pretty much racing towards that objective as a collective species. And the universe will be a much better place without us.

I mean, why wouldn't that fact make a misanthrope happy?

 

[PancakesSUCKTHEYDO]

I don't even know that many actual misanthropes. People like being grouchy on the internet. They like to ***** and complain about everything too. Everyone has done it at some point; just some do it more than others.