Why are you people so negative?

[Zarkov]

I agree. The Escapist in general doesn't have to positive outlook on the world. I always see some people talk about how the world is shit and love doesn't exist. Then there is all these stupid CoD threads about how its such a shit game and the community blows men or something like that. Its annoying and not needed.

Heheh, you may not need them, but it's gives me endless entertainment over here.

Why do I come to the Escapist? To laugh at other peoples problems and start intelligent conversations. Really, the Escapist community provides well on both fronts.

 

[Amphoteric]

so i typed a whole long reply analyzing your points and i got the "forum overlaoded error" and its all gone. GREAT.
so lets jut keep it simple then - life is negative. look around you.

Depends where you live.

 

[Raven_Operative]

some bullcrap about how half of humanity should die off.

Well I hate to say this, but that honestly needs to happen. Currently the human population is growing so rapidly that it is straining the earth's resources. If things continue like this, its either half of us die, or all of us die.

 

[CrawlingPastaHellion]

Heh, what was gabe12301's point again? He doesn't exactly have the best oratorical talent around, does he.

 

[robotichunter]

I'm having trouble understanding why so many of the people on the site are so pessimistic. Every other comment is "That greedy (insert company name here) is making money! RAAAAAGGGEE." I'm just happy that the company isn't going bankrupt and firing thousands of it's employees. or when you say "humanity has no value" or some bullcrap about how half of humanity should die off.

Plus gammers aren't exactly the most worst off group of people. We can afford a current gen console or a used ps2 if we're short on cash. In fact, some of us can afford crazy powerful gamming PCs.

My brain hurts just trying to make sense of you soulless depressed group of people.

Have you ever stopped to consider that this "soulless depressed group of people" might have a legitimate reason to be so down on the world. Let me use myself for an example. About four years ago I watched my Grandfather, the only real father figure in my life, die from a heart attack. This led me into a tailspin of suicidal depression and debilitating anxiety that in the end led to me dropping out of highschool without ever completing my freshman year. I've been sent to mental hospitals twice, and threatened with removal from my own home. I live with a well meaning mother who, unfortunately, is addicted to prescription medicines so it's not uncommon for medicine prescribed to me to go missing.

Now here I am preparing to enter college with a GED, completely unprepared socially and educationally. So I wanna ask you now, does the High powered gaming rig I'm typing on right now make me feel any better? Do the next generation consoles sitting on a shelf behind me comfort me in some way? Let me say this now, I'm not a pessimist and I have great faith in humanity as a whole. I love life, and I realize that even for someone like me there are thousands of opportunities. However I respect those Soulless depressed people more than a fool who thinks money can buy happiness.

 

[gabe12301]

I'm having trouble understanding why so many of the people on the site are so pessimistic. Every other comment is "That greedy (insert company name here) is making money! RAAAAAGGGEE." I'm just happy that the company isn't going bankrupt and firing thousands of it's employees. or when you say "humanity has no value" or some bullcrap about how half of humanity should die off.

Plus gammers aren't exactly the most worst off group of people. We can afford a current gen console or a used ps2 if we're short on cash. In fact, some of us can afford crazy powerful gamming PCs.

My brain hurts just trying to make sense of you soulless depressed group of people.

Have you ever stopped to consider that this "soulless depressed group of people" might have a legitimate reason to be so down on the world. Let me use myself for an example. About four years ago I watched my Grandfather, the only real father figure in my life, die from a heart attack. This led me into a tailspin of suicidal depression and debilitating anxiety that in the end led to me dropping out of highschool without ever completing my freshman year. I've been sent to mental hospitals twice, and threatened with removal from my own home. I live with a well meaning mother who, unfortunately, is addicted to prescription medicines so it's not uncommon for medicine prescribed to me to go missing.

Now here I am preparing to enter college with a GED, completely unprepared socially and educationally. So I wanna ask you now, does the High powered gaming rig I'm typing on right now make me feel any better? Do the next generation consoles sitting on a shelf behind me comfort me in some way? Let me say this now, I'm not a pessimist and I have great faith in humanity as a whole. I love life, and I realize that even for someone like me there are thousands of opportunities. However I respect those Soulless depressed people more than a fool who thinks money can buy happiness.

When did I ever say money could buy happiness? I was just stating that gamers shouldn't use their financial situation as an excuse to be pessimistic. I never told anyone to go roll in their piles of discs and cartridges for comfort. But I could see how that was misinterpreted.

 

[gabe12301]

Heh, what was gabe12301's point again? He doesn't exactly have the best oratorical talent around, does he.

nope I don't. never claimed I did.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I'm negative? I hadn't noticed...

 

[CrawlingPastaHellion]

Heh, what was gabe12301's point again? He doesn't exactly have the best oratorical talent around, does he.

nope I don't. never claimed I did.

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

 

[gabe12301]

Heh, what was gabe12301's point again? He doesn't exactly have the best oratorical talent around, does he.

nope I don't. never claimed I did.

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

yep never said it was. I agreed with your statement.

 

[chocolatekake]

The "I've lost faith in humanity" bullshit is a common sentiment among teenagers, especially ones with internet access. It's not restricted to this website.

Misanthropy has become popular, so you're going to see it in a lot of places. However, pessimism is so common on the Escapist because most people are attracted to the site by Zero Punctuation, and Yahtzee doesn't paint himself as a happy go lucky kind of guy.

Well, I'm just going to throw it out there and say, just because you have a current gen console doesn't mean you live a charmed life. Sure you're not as worse off as others, but there's the whole rest of the world where there's plenty of people way better off than you and of course plenty of people way worse off than you. Comparing your status in life, especially by monetary standards isn't exactly...constructive.

And as for me, I think half of humanity should die off not necessarily because they're terrible people or I hate them, but just that we're overpopulated and I think we could do with at least some "pruning".

I agree with the first paragraph of this post, but the second... what the fuck? Genocide is an agreeable alternative to overpopulation? How about increasing the presence of birth control and/or removing the tax breaks parents get for having children? It makes no sense to jump straight to murdering every other person you see when there are more sane, practical solutions that should at least be given a fair try first.

Well, I wasn't exactly saying we should go out and kill off half the world. I was rationalizing why someone might say we should kill off half the world. I definitely think better birth control and education and no parenting tax breaks would be great. Hell, even a strict, government enforced birth restriction would be a good choice for controlling the population.

And we should definitely get rid of the ridiculous assertion that birth control is unnatural and morally wrong/sacrilegious (I'm looking at you Catholicism). Because, as much as I support freedom of religion and action, you having 9 kids because you don't use a condom puts a burden on the world. And because you had 9 kids, that means that there's 8 or 9 couples out there that can't have a child of their own without putting additional stress on the world. And with the population situation as it is, it's a very selfish and irresponsible thing to do.

Well, /rant on that. But what I was basically trying to say is, I didn't think homicidal population control was the answer. But if we do happen to go out and murder half of the world, that damn well better be why.

 

[ultrachicken]

Well, I wasn't exactly saying we should go out and kill off half the world. I was rationalizing why someone might say we should kill off half the world.

Uh...

And as for me, I think half of humanity should die off not necessarily because they're terrible people or I hate them, but just that we're overpopulated...

Yeah, you pretty much did. I'm not going to make the ludicrous claim that this is actually your belief "because you said so," as you clarified it later, but surely you understand why this led me to believe that you were advocating genocide.

I definitely think better birth control and education and no parenting tax breaks would be great. Hell, even a strict, government enforced birth restriction would be a good choice for controlling the population.

And we should definitely get rid of the ridiculous assertion that birth control is unnatural and morally wrong/sacrilegious (I'm looking at you Catholicism). Because, as much as I support freedom of religion and action, you having 9 kids because you don't use a condom puts a burden on the world. And because you had 9 kids, that means that there's 8 or 9 couples out there that can't have a child of their own without putting additional stress on the world. And with the population situation as it is, it's a very selfish and irresponsible thing to do.

Well, /rant on that. But what I was basically trying to say is, I didn't think homicidal population control was the answer. But if we do happen to go out and murder half of the world, that damn well better be why.

I agree with everything you said, but one thing that you and I both forgot to mention is adoption. If the arbitrary preference towards blood-related children were abolished, people who wanted kids would be more likely to adopt than to pop out another.

 

[zfactor]

I'm having trouble understanding why so many of the people on the site are so pessimistic. Every other comment is "That greedy (insert company name here) is making money! RAAAAAGGGEE." I'm just happy that the company isn't going bankrupt and firing thousands of it's employees. or when you say "humanity has no value" or some bullcrap about how half of humanity should die off.

Plus gammers aren't exactly the most worst off group of people. We can afford a current gen console or a used ps2 if we're short on cash. In fact, some of us can afford crazy powerful gamming PCs.

My brain hurts just trying to make sense of you soulless depressed group of people.

Positive people don't go on forums and complain about how bright the sunshine is or that their rainbows and unicorns aren't shiny enough.

In less sarcastic words, people in the "soulless depressed group" complain about their depressing lack of souls on the forums to make themselves feel better, whereas the happy soulful (?) people go... do whatever it is happy people do... It's not complaining on forums, that much I know...

You only hear about the pessimistic people, it doees not mean the optimistic people do not exist.

Also, WHAT DO YOU MEAN "YOU PEOPLE!?" What is that from and why does it sound right when Samuel Jackson says it?

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

-snip-

No, what the Escapist has isn't a surplus of misanthropes. What we have is a surplus of people who THINK they are misanthropes, brought in by lure of Yahtzee and his weekly dumps on the world. And then they stay when they find the forums, a sufficiently validating dumping ground for their grievances with the world, their regrets in life, and their general angst.

But no, most of them aren't misanthropes through and through. They've just diluted themselves into thinking so, because the community here is accepting to those types. It becomes their alter-ego, in a sense. They can be as negative as they want to be without the consequences and demands of social norms that functioning real society offers.

Dude, I hate grammar nazis and other people who do this sort of thing, I really, really do, but I think the word you're looking for is deluded, not diluted.

Also, I think you've hit the nail on the head. The people on here who offer forth those sort of views seem to be the same sort of vaguely miserable teenager, probably a bit emotionally stunted and immature, who thinks that they're weary with the world despite having no experience of it. They've probably been watching too much Bill Hicks stand up and have decided that raging against the machine is their forte.

The best test to see if someone is truly a misanthrope is to see what emotion drives them. Hatred, anger and angst are teeny emotions (pun intended), they usually signify frustration more than anything else. You can hardly blame teenagers for being frustrated. I used to be filled with such emotions when I was a teen. Now I don't have a problem with most people on an individual level, and I treat them with courtesy. Rudeness doesn't accomplish anything, and frankly neither does arguing person to person or any of the other things angsty teens like to do. You really have no power on the individual scale, and your interactions with other insignificant individuals won't do anything to change society. If you want to change society, you'll have to do it with the power of your ideas, not by ranting on the internet. In essence: there is a difference between a convincing argument and an argument wherein you try to convince someone. In fact, I've found that person to person arguments are almost always driven by psychological and social relations between the two people, rather than by the force of the ideas themselves.

I still can't help but feel disdain for mainstream society, but I largely keep it to myself. That being said, it is this disdain that also affects my tastes, which is why I find Yahtzee amusing and why Aenima is one of my favorite songs. So let's not go overboard and say that anyone who displays a negative attitude toward society is an angst filled teen, and that blind conformity and nonchalance are the signs of maturity.


[Edit] Whoops, Necro! My bad.