The Big Picture: Magneto Was Right

[Jjkaybomb]

Is this a boy thing again?
Because I was bullied up through high school and I barely think of the bullies anymore, I never think I was to be better than them, or want to be better for revenge.
Tho I guess when girls are bullied we tend to just loose self esteem and become anorexic or something.

 

[DanDeFool]

I have a possible answer to Bob's question of why people get bullied even if they're not 'different'.

Bullying doesn't always happen because you're intrinsically different (sometimes it does, as in racism for e.g.), sometimes it happens because your BEHAVIOR is different.

I'm not an evolutionary biologist, so I don't know for sure, but I suspect from an evolutionary standpoint, different is usually not better. Prehistoric humans, who most likely relied on well-tried hunter-gatherer techniques and extensive teamwork to gather resources, and rigid cultural traditions to distinguish themselves from other groups, probably adhered to very rigid, yet unspoken, rules of behavior. Behaving in a way that was even slightly different from your peers was probably a good way to get brutalized back into line.

This was (again, probably) because nature selects for 'better' and not 'different'. Of course, better means different things depending on your circumstances. In the wild, usually 'better' meant taller, stronger, and better able to work well with others. If you were smaller, weaker, and more awkward, the group didn't want you around. In another age, 'nerds' would probably be kicked out of the group or relegated to servitude.

Then technology got invented, and all of a sudden being tall and strong didn't matter as much anymore. But think about it; who usually achieves the most in modern society? Who gets paid the most, gets respected the most?, gets admired and praised the most?

Top salespeople. Upper management. Entrepreneurs. Senators. Military Generals. These are all people with superior social skills. People who are good at influencing, organizing, and leading others. You almost never hear or see these types of people ever behave awkwardly, or do anything the slightest bit 'weird' unless maybe they're under lots of pressure.

I, personally, have never heard of someone who achieved that level of financial and personal success AND had not mastered social skills.

Bottom line, natural selection for physical strength and overall health may have been short-circuited by technology, but we're still programmed to select for superior social skills and 'social skills' are still defined by a fairly narrow set of behaviors. Deviate, and you're going to get singled out.

Bottom line: Nobody likes people who pick their nose, nobody wants to be the guy with the squeaky, nasal voice who trips over every other word, nobody wants to be the girl who wears frumpy sweatshirts all the time and doesn't use common slang correctly in conversation. These are all behavior things, and they're probably what decides who gets bullied and who doesn't, all other things equal.

The above is why this comic makes sense:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/misusing_slang.png

Think about if you ever heard someone say something like that. Would you briefly entertain the thought of slapping them across their stupid faces? If so, congratulations! You're a closet bully!

 

[Whodat]

I would be like Spawn. Not on any side, just blaming a higer power for everything and killing anyone who pisses me off.

 

[Astoria]

Well, I'm with Movie Bob on this one. Magento all the way.

 

[DanDeFool]

I'm seriously considering that I'll stop watching this piss. I've disagreed with Bob on numerous occasions before, but The Big Picture is like a newly-grown tumor on his brain. I can understand the bitterness and overall disinclination from society, but the sheer egotism in this episode was unparalleled to anything I've ever seen in regards to nerd culture.

Bob, you and I and most other people weren't bullied in school because we're different/special/"superior" - it's often part of the reason, but what makes others bully you is the social factor. It's also the reason for why they CAN bully you in the first place - you're not a part of any real social circle, or the one or two friends you do have are shite. And hand in hand together with that goes the fact that you're psychologically weak. You may lull yourself with the comforting thought of your superior intellect if you want to, Bob, but answer me this: does he who is really so goddamn smart allow himself to be continually bullied? Of course not! Again, it's comforting to think that the world is divided into the big bad jocks and the oppressed but good nerds, but back then at least it was the other way around - you were the idiot, and they were smart. Smart and consciously evil to some extent. They started bullying you because they identified the psychological weakness and thus an opportunity for entertainment, and kept going at it because they knew you wouldn't fight back.
I'd be willing to bet my life that this is how it was with at least 95% of us.

AND WE ALL FUCKING DESERVED IT.

I agree.

I already posted on this thread before I read this post, but Maverick mirrors my beliefs on the subject.

The cause of bullying (with the exception of blatant racism) has nothing to do with differences and everything to do with social skills. Does that make it right? No. But like so many human failings, bullying is something that's a part of our makeup, and something that we need to anticipate and address appropriately.

Looking back on my experience being bullied, I realize that if someone (like my parents) had slapped me across the face and said, "You're being bullied because you're not socially adequate. Here's how you fix that. Now go and fix it.", I probably would have been better off.

And yes Maverick, the lesson here is that we did deserve to be bullied, and that we are the common denominator in all of our interactions with others. If our interactions aren't going the way we want them to, it's our problem.

Is this blaming the victim? Yes, but I think it's appropriate in this case because victims of garden variety bullying (excluding victims of homophobia and racism, of course) are victims of their own lack of ability and understanding; two things that can be rectified with the right know-how and hard work. We may not all have had access to the know-how as kids, but that's no reason not to take the right lessons from our experiences.

Don't we usually ridicule people who are the victims of their own ignorance and lack of ability?

<youtube=zYCoXKSCQcM>

The answer is yes.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I laughed.

Yeah I'd totally be a dick if I had super powers. Though I don't think I'd have such ambition to become a full on super villain.

 

[mr_pants66]

lets just put it like this given time the "bad guys" always win so i am just going to join them and cut out the screwing around with "good"

 

[UrbanCohort]

I'm a rare case in that I was/am a nerd but wasn't really bullied too hard (possibly due to the fact that I fight incredibly dirty *cough*)... So I'd probably be inclined to side with the goodies.

More likely, I'd just join the side that would involve the least amount of work, or possibly the one that paid better...

 

[mega48man]

ok bob, normally i agree with you on a lot of the things you say, almost all, but this is where i draw the line.

i use to get bullied a lot in middle school, i did, but i got past it. its my senior year and i have a lot of friends now. come to think of it, bullies become non existent. although i do admit to being the only bully in my enitre school sometimes (i like to mess with this one quirky asian kid, god he is so weird) however, i'm not picking on him b/c i'm scared he's superior to me, i'm picking on him b/c it's funny as hell.

this kid is the least superior kid ever, inferior is more like it; he's short, i'm tall. i have a ton of awesome friends, he's got a couple weird unsocial freinds and the social consuluer. this might sound gay but i have a sense of fashion and what i'm wearing, he where's the same huge ass coat everyday. seriously, this kid is like a bug compared to me. my face is handsome, his is acne ridden. i'm good with people, he isn't. did i mention he's super dorky asian? there's an extremely low asian population at my school, he's actually one of the only few residential asian kids, the other asian kids are foreign exchange, and they just talk amongst themselves. to top it off, the other asians at my school are pretty hot. this kids like a fish out of water.

to further my point, yes, i'm with magneto, but no, we weren't picked on b/c of fear of being superior. we were picked on b/c bullies get the reaction they wanted from us; something humorous. like one time i shouted and pointed "OH LOOK GODZILLA!" and he sat there staring at me with this HILARIOUS expression and after a pause he said with a very dork accent; "umm, act-twelly, i am not jahp-ahn-eez, i am souf ko-wean". i was laughing so god damn hard, everyone else was to.

so that's the bottom line. it's funny. i love to see dorks do dorky things, it's part of what makes some of those viral youtube videos so funny.

p.s. - i am still a nerd who's on the robotics team. now what does that say about the bully food chain?

 

[Jopoho]

I didnt mean to degrade Micheal Jordan or any of his achivements, I belive that perciverence is important. Personally I think that Bobs choice of subjects in the comparison was rather poor in retrospect (mind you those are the two most well know members of that group, so we have to give him that).

Lets break it down to minimulist terms.

Person (A) has made billions of dollars by creating technology that has helped advance socity and help millions derectly and is made by the media to apper evil.

Person (B) has made billions by playing a sport which has had no reall binficall impart of society and is made out by the media as a hero.

Assume that both of these people (whome have no history of which to speak of, they have simply popped into existance for the purpose of this thaught experiment)are of the same mildly pleasnt demenor its seems rather odd that (A) is demonized simply becuase he able to think of this that most people are unable to grasp.

i think I said what I meant poorly, because that's pretty much what I meant to say. However, the reason I would guess that Jordan is still probably the top basketball example is because he goes beyond the normal player. Also: Space Jam. I mean, even his movie is better than other basketball stars and their movies (admittedly the only other movie starring a basketball player that comes to mind is Kazaam).

 

[Jader7777]

I was always hated and picked on at school. Though I was a weird and obscurely different kid I never did anything to warrant having the back of my head punched or my bag thrown out windows.

If I was in actual fact some super cool super powered whatever I could never stoop back to their level, their idea. This is a personal matter, there's no revenge because I would become the same as them- I would in affect create some sort of horrid nightmare where I am now the bully.

I guess the best thing to do is to use your power to make more friends, keep doing your thing and make the world a better place. Imagine if you were the nerds who wrote computer programs along side Bill Gates? They would of been great friends who would of no doubt shared in a lot of financial success. What about those who bullied Bill Gates? Living in trailer parks reading newspaper headlines. That would be more revenge than any violence or retribution could make.

 

[fulano]

The video needs moar Abobo. Damn, at least someone still remembers the guy...

 

[BrunDeign]

If I had to choose between the two, I'd be on Gandalf's side. Captain Picard and his psychic ass can suck it.

If I didn't have to choose between the two, I'd choose to be a third party. However this branches into mental fan fiction territory so I won't get into that here.

However the third choice would, obviously, be Deadpool. Because he's AWESOME, that's why. And DELIGHTFULLY INSANE.

 

[Windcaler]

Interesting take on the topic, the first from the big picture that I was interested enough in to actually comment on. Like Bob I was also bullied constantly all throughout school and high school, even some as I entered the military. Thankfully the army made me see worth in myself and I found strength in knowing that I was better as a human being and as a man then my tormentors. Since that day I have strived to prove myself to be a good man to the world

That said, I would be in Xavier's camp. I hold the individuals responsible, not all of humanity. I know there are good people out there who are "normal" and I would never want an undeserving person to experience my wrath. At the same time I probably would make my tormentors pay for what they did

 

[Oliver Pink]

Well, see, everyone here seems to be answering based on EXISTING X-Men.

If I had to choose just the 'idea' to side with, assuming None of the current X-Men actually existed - I'd be all over the 'lets punish those bastards' like a wet blanket!

Though to be fair, I wouldn't punish Everyone... I'd just punish anyone I felt deserved it.

Which would be great if I had the power of invisibility.

 

[theshadowcult]

With so many pages, it's probably already been said, but the notion that your bullied because your superior actually doesn't come from any egotistical emotion, it is a simple self defense mechanism, that allows your brain to deal with the torture (and some of us were tortured not just simple bullying). If you have a reason for the why, then it is easier to handle.

 

[Swaki]

well as a answer to the last question, if what we where bullied for became our superpower (smart = telepathic, size = strong etc) my uniform would probably be a pretty rainbow, so yeah i would end up with magneto just so people wouldn't laugh too much.