Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 15:37:04 GMT -5
Misanthropy is folly.
People are what makes life worth living. If you were the only person on Earth, you could have all the comforts and amenities imaginable and you'd still be miserable.
The only reason you have comforts and amenities at all is because your ancestors fought and sacrificed for your safety while others invested lifetimes of study into understanding the natural world, building virtually everything we enjoy today. Without other people, your existence would be no better than the wild animals, scrapping and scavenging and fending off starvation throughout the entirety of your mercifully short life.
Without other people, you'd have nobody to love and nobody to love you. Nobody would serve you in a restaurant. Nobody would prescribe medicine for you if you got sick. Nobody would manufacture your food or clothes. Nobody would erect your shelter or procure your materials or accept your worthless paper dollars.
The Earth might be cleaner, but in time would fade into oblivion all the same. Murder, rape, genocide wouldn't exist, but neither would music, art, science, philosophy, or enterprise. Earth would be devoid of all knowledge, literature, and architecture. Charity and selflessness wouldn't exist. Beauty and romance would be meaningless. The physically and mentally disabled would be cast aside like refuse to ensure continuity of species.
Humanity is all of the relatives we love, the civil protectors who keep us safe, the professionals who build and maintain our world, the artists and entertainers that delight us, the thinkers and researchers who advance the frontiers of knowledge, and even the downtrodden who teach us about compassion and humility.
Misanthropy is folly. It's foolishness to magnify the actions of a minority into "justification" for a cold, cynical outlook on the whole of our species. Or if not foolishness, then ignorance. Man may not be an inherently good creature in his heart, but man is a good creation with inherent worth. Sometimes I worry that we so often neglect this fact that we eventually forget it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2013 15:41:17 GMT -5
I agree. I am awesome.
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Jun 18, 2013 15:42:10 GMT -5
Well said Virgil. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/thumbsup.png)
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Jun 18, 2013 15:42:39 GMT -5
I think humanity is inherently good. Do we, as individuals, fail to live up to our potential at times? Sure, we do. Do we do things we shouldn't do? Sure, we do. However, the vast majority of us will reach out to help where we can, cry over the pain and anguish of strangers, band together to mitigate disaster, and all sorts of other things that serve to illuminate the inherent good in our species.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Jun 18, 2013 15:42:48 GMT -5
Aw, Virgil is doing his happy meds today. Life is good. Virgil is good. People are wonderful. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/rose.gif)
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 16:06:06 GMT -5
Aw, Virgil is doing his happy meds today. Life is good. Virgil is good. People are wonderful. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/rose.gif) We'd just built up a critical mass of "People are crappy." threads over the past few weeks and I was compelled to offer another perspective. I once heard a motivational speaker say that when he asked an audience to put up their hand if the biggest problem they currently faced in their life was caused by nature (such as an illness, weather-related car crash, a natural disaster, etc.), and then asked them to put up their hand if their biggest problem was caused by another person or group of people, the overwhelming majority raised their hand to indicate that their biggest problem was caused by other people. And to me that seems like a reasonable reflection of reality. Human beings are (and will be) the source of most of the major problems we face in our lives. But this fact tends to "drown out" the overriding fact that human beings past and present are also the near-exclusive source of any good in our lives. Even if I stay holed up in my box apartment with a dozen cats because I can't stand other people, every facet of my ability to care for my cats securely and comfortably is facilitated by other human beings. My mother and aunt just got back from touring Africa. They said that among some of the glaring differences between Africa and North America, one of the most glaring was the African faith in human goodness as opposed to our ingrained cynicism. It's apparently a very stark difference.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Jun 18, 2013 16:10:47 GMT -5
Aw, Virgil is doing his happy meds today. Life is good. Virgil is good. People are wonderful. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/rose.gif) We'd just built up a critical mass of "People are crappy." threads over the past few weeks and I was compelled to offer another perspective. I once heard a motivational speaker say that when he asked an audience to put up their hand if the biggest problem they currently faced in their life was caused by nature (such as an illness, weather-related car crash, a natural disaster, etc.), and then asked them to put up their hand if their biggest problem was caused by another person or group of people, the overwhelming majority raised their hand to indicate that their biggest problem was caused by other people. And to me that seems like a reasonable reflection of reality. Human beings are (and will be) the source of most of the major problems we face in our lives. But this fact tends to "drown out" the overriding fact that human beings past and present are also the near-exclusive source of any good in our lives. Even if I stay holed up in my box apartment with a dozen cats because I can't stand other people, every facet of my ability to care for my cats securely and comfortably is facilitated by other human beings. My mother and aunt just got back from touring Africa. They said that among some of the glaring differences between Africa and North America, one of the most glaring was the African faith in human goodness as opposed to our ingrained cynicism. It's apparently a very stark difference.My ophthalmologist, who does the Doctors Without Borders thing, would agree with this. That's why he goes on his own dime and does surgeries for free. Oh, and there's no way you would live with a dozen cats. Before long, they would morph into mental snow leopards. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/muhaha.png)
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 18, 2013 16:12:26 GMT -5
Look what good all that faith has gotten them. Half of them don't even have a clean water source. I'll stick with my cynicism, and drinking water, thank you.
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Robert not Bobby
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Post by Robert not Bobby on Jun 18, 2013 16:21:22 GMT -5
Virgil, talk about over the top, saccharin purple prose...I would have been embarrassed to write that in grade ten.
But I share the sentiment, for the most part.
People are also ugly, vindictive, full of jealousy, intolerant, narrow minded, lazy scammers and fraudsters, full of inexplicable bile, hurtful, conniving, backstabbers, crybabies, liars, thoughtless, self-destructive, murderers, etc.
The ying and the yang of it all.
Ahh, that age old battle between good and evil.
If truth be told, I like a bit of evil in the mix (but not real evil). I like a person who is not afraid to speak their mind, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for some others to hear, who challenges the status quo, is a bit mischievous and proud of it.
Everyone should have some edge.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 16:22:30 GMT -5
My ophthalmologist, who does the Doctors Without Borders thing, would agree with this. That's why he goes on his own dime and does surgeries for free. Oh, and there's no way you would live with a dozen cats. Before long, they would morph into mental snow leopards. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/muhaha.png) I've watched a few episodes of "Hoarders" that prove otherwise. ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/sad.png) "Hoarders" is actually a glimpse into a misanthropic pathology. The "hoarders" invariably claim that they hoard because they find more comfort in possessions than in people, typically because they were hurt by an act of abandonment or betrayal. Hence they hoard possessions until they're living in absolute squalor, failing to address the deeper issue which is essentially sociological. Man cannot exist in a vacuum.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 16:28:39 GMT -5
Look what good all that faith has gotten them. Half of them don't even have a clean water source. I'll stick with my cynicism, and drinking water, thank you. You're assuming that one is the cause of the other. I would say that faith in humanity is one of the reasons our society flourished in the first place. We became complacent over the span of a few generations, to the point now where all but the most optimistic admit that we're in a protracted decline.
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mrsdutt
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Post by mrsdutt on Jun 18, 2013 16:30:26 GMT -5
My mother and aunt just got back from touring Africa. They said that among some of the glaring differences between Africa and North America, one of the most glaring was the African faith in human goodness as opposed to our ingrained cynicism. It's apparently a very stay
Maybe because they haven't been screwed every which way. There's so many people here willing to steal, lie, cheat, murder, kidnap, etc, that we have to have a form of cynicism. For survival in the concrete jungle.
From what I've seen we are born sweet and learn behaviors from those around us. Then we make conscious decisions to be good or (the easy way out) evil. (varied degrees)
I also believe the degree of suffering in this world is in direct proportion to the evil. One must balance the other.
So am I cynical? Indeed I am. Will anyone see it on a day to day basis? No. But the antenea is always up.
I know the word antenea is mis spelled, but spell checker said all is fine.)
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steff
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Post by steff on Jun 18, 2013 16:31:19 GMT -5
Get a cat...it helps make people tolerable in small doses. ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/grin.png)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2013 16:48:57 GMT -5
People are also ugly, vindictive, full of jealousy, intolerant, narrow minded, lazy scammers and fraudsters, full of inexplicable bile, hurtful, conniving, backstabbers, crybabies, liars, thoughtless, self-destructive, murderers, etc.The ying and the yang of it all. Ahh, that age old battle between good and evil. If truth be told, I like a bit of evil in the mix (but not real evil). I like a person who is not afraid to speak their mind, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for some others to hear, who challenges the status quo, is a bit mischievous and proud of it.
Everyone should have some edge. Yes, I got your point. Robert But you don't have to react to do that negativeness. Which is do nothing but brings you down. If you choose to you can able to find a beauty that surrounds you.I am that way too. Since the day I was born and I am not about to change it now. I can be many faces at different time. But others saw it before I did what my intentions were.
Don't let anyone changes you which you are not accustomed to and try to live according to your rule. Don't let others have a upper hands.
That's all I am going to say it to you as your friend.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 16:49:29 GMT -5
My mother and aunt just got back from touring Africa. They said that among some of the glaring differences between Africa and North America, one of the most glaring was the African faith in human goodness as opposed to our ingrained cynicism. It's apparently a very stay
Maybe because they haven't been screwed every which way. There's so many people here willing to steal, lie, cheat, murder, kidnap, etc, that we have to have a form of cynicism. For survival in the concrete jungle. From what I've seen we are born sweet and learn behaviors from those around us. Then we make conscious decisions to be good or (the easy way out) evil. (varied degrees) I also believe the degree of suffering in this world is in direct proportion to the evil. One must balance the other. So am I cynical? Indeed I am. Will anyone see it on a day to day basis? No. But the antenea is always up. I know the word antenea is mis spelled, but spell checker said all is fine.) There's such a thing as gullibility. Life is a tradeoff between type I error (having faith in an individual who will betray it) and type II error (having no faith in an individual who would not otherwise betray it). It's a spectrum, not a set of discrete states. Our society circa 2013 is apparently much further to the type II error side than most African societies. I can't claim to have read any research claiming that cynicism begets betrayal begets greater cynicism, but I have read countless studies that contend there is an strong positive correlation between how likely an individual is to suspect wrongdoing in others and how likely that individual is to commit wrong themselves. The correlation holds up with respect to cheating, theft, bad driving, racism, and virtually any vice imaginable. I'm also mindful of stories by older colleagues of mine who talk about university examinations in "the good old days" where a professor would leave a stack of exams at the front of the class and tell students they had exactly three hours to complete the exams and drop them off at his office when they were done. He would then leave and they were on their honour not to cheat and to stick to the time limit. And everyone did, and they were proud of it. Contrast that to today where exams are literally patrolled for cheating and contraband, students are madly writing minutes after time is up, and issues like electronic cheating and drug use have entire departments devoted to combating them. It seems to me that if you turn good behaviour into a competition as to who can get away with what--which is what our society is turning into--the inevitable result is an over-policed, over-monitored mess rife with exactly the behaviour you were hoping to eliminate.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Jun 18, 2013 16:49:41 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2013 16:52:59 GMT -5
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 16:59:16 GMT -5
It's meant to be satirical, but how many people would say the same thing? ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/undecided.png)
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 18, 2013 17:00:31 GMT -5
I'm not sure there are many people who are that clever.
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 17:02:04 GMT -5
Clever enough to realize the absurdity of the statement?
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mrsdutt
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Post by mrsdutt on Jun 18, 2013 17:02:27 GMT -5
I have little faith in humanity as we see and know it. I give people chances until they prove otherwise. They normally prove otherwise. I move on. No harm to me as I don't invest emotion to those outside of my family and close friends. If I didn't give people a chance, I wouldn't have any close friends. My attitude comes from my personal experiences and observations. Yours may be different.
I would even help a person who doesn't like me, but there would be no emotion involved. Then I'd move on. I do what is right, but my heart is closed. Society has trained me, I found a way to accept what I don't like and live within the bounds of our current society.
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mmhmm
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Post by mmhmm on Jun 18, 2013 17:05:08 GMT -5
I guess I must be the rainbows and roses type. Dunno. I do know it makes me sad to read so many people who say they don't like/trust/embrace other people. I've had some bad experiences, sure; however, those aren't the experiences I remember, and they're not the experiences that drive me onward. It's the good experiences that do that, and there have been many of them over the years.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 18, 2013 17:06:31 GMT -5
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wyouser
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Post by wyouser on Jun 18, 2013 17:10:24 GMT -5
For some additional feedback, I ran this thread by a group of migrating snowleopards. After some discussion amongst themselves, their leader indicated the group agreed with the premise that people are wonderful. Sauted, baked roasted, fried, in casoroles, with salad, even served like sushi...people are wonderful (and delicious). They were also unanimous in agreement with your statement that "man cannot exist in a vacum". To a cat , they all agreed people exist best in the tummy of a snowleopard while basking on the sunny side of a mountain somewhere. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/drool.gif)
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 17:14:45 GMT -5
I have little faith in humanity as we see and know it. I give people chances until they prove otherwise. They normally prove otherwise. I move on. No harm to me as I don't invest emotion to those outside of my family and close friends. If I didn't give people a chance, I wouldn't have any close friends. My attitude comes from my personal experiences and observations. Yours may be different. I would even help a person who doesn't like me, but there would be no emotion involved. Then I'd move on. I do what is right, but my heart is closed. Society has trained me, I found a way to accept what I don't like and live within the bounds of our current society. Elaborate on "they normally prove otherwise". When you order an egg and toast, do you "normally" expect the egg to be properly stored and cooked? Do you expect that the grain in the bread was properly inspected, that the inspector didn't take a bribe, and that the company took reasonable precautions to prevent contamination of the grain even in the places an inspector might not look? When your mechanic certifies your brakes are safe, do you expect he's telling the truth and is competent to make the assessment? When you make an appointment with somebody, do you expect them to show up within a few minutes of the agreed-upon time? If they claimed they'd pay for the meal, do you expect them to make good on that promise? If the government collects survey data with a strict disclosure policy, do you expect them to honour that policy? If CNN reports that a fire took place at 252 North Point Ave., do you normally expect that such a fire actually took place? How do people "normally prove otherwise"?
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 17:15:38 GMT -5
For some additional feedback, I ran this thread by a group of migrating snowleopards. After some discussion amongst themselves, their leader indicated the group agreed with the premise that people are wonderful. Sauted, baked roasted, fried, in casoroles, with salad, even served like sushi...people are wonderful (and delicious). They were also unanimous in agreement with your statement that "man cannot exist in a vacum". To a cat , they all agreed people exist best in the tummy of a snowleopard while basking on the sunny side of a mountain somewhere. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/drool.gif) Ayyyyyy-men!
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jun 18, 2013 17:16:09 GMT -5
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Jun 18, 2013 17:21:22 GMT -5
And now Thyme has gone and befouled a perfectly good thread to prove that people are indeed vindictive at times. ![](http://syonidv.hodginsmedia.com/vsmileys/miserable.png)
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mrsdutt
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Post by mrsdutt on Jun 18, 2013 17:22:19 GMT -5
No to everything but the fire. I make choices based on the knowledge that indeed there is a high level of deceit probable. He who screws me the least gets my business. Trusting anyone I don't know would involve emotion on that level. I don't have any to spare. This is a learned behavior.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2013 17:23:35 GMT -5
Good night everyone. ![](http://images.proboards.com/new/smiley.png)
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