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Post by Dominus on Dec 21, 2010 17:55:23 GMT -5
If you look at how the world has "developed" for the last decade or so, it's not surprising that someone who grew up in this crap will have an increased capacity for cynicism. I think I'm actually not that person. I consider myself typical for my generation as far as how jaded I am or am not. I just like speaking pessimistically because it makes me smirk. Speaking optimistically feels like a joke no one gets (including me), speaking moderately is boring and equally unrealistic (Happy mediums are both an oxymoron and uncommon), so I find smiles in the worst case scenario. I think I might print this and hang it in my room. It is very quotable. Malice is a Dave Berry for our generation.
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Post by WildKnight on Dec 21, 2010 17:55:56 GMT -5
If you look at how the world has "developed" for the last decade or so, it's not surprising that someone who grew up in this crap will have an increased capacity for cynicism. You're a victim of your youth. I felt that way when I was your age, too. I find it kind of odd that you seem to think that the last decade has been worse than the rest of human history, though. Don't get me wrong, I laugh just as hard at people that think we're getting better... I just think that the last decade was, at absolute worst "more of the same."
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Post by ironfox on Dec 21, 2010 18:37:47 GMT -5
If you look at how the world has "developed" for the last decade or so, it's not surprising that someone who grew up in this crap will have an increased capacity for cynicism. You're a victim of your youth. I felt that way when I was your age, too. I find it kind of odd that you seem to think that the last decade has been worse than the rest of human history, though. Don't get me wrong, I laugh just as hard at people that think we're getting better... I just think that the last decade was, at absolute worst "more of the same." Ditto.
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Post by malice on Dec 21, 2010 20:04:08 GMT -5
You're a victim of your youth. I felt that way when I was your age, too. I find it kind of odd that you seem to think that the last decade has been worse than the rest of human history, though. Don't get me wrong, I laugh just as hard at people that think we're getting better... I just think that the last decade was, at absolute worst "more of the same." Except that I didn't say it was the worst in human history. I think there have been many worse, especially the ones before we discovered fire. Even in Africa, where apparently the first people were... people, it can cold at night. I won't deny that certain attitudes are more prevalent in certain age groups. However "victim of my youth" is not the phrase I'd use, since I feel more like my youth is the victim of me . I think if I had to stack this decade up against others I would make two concessions: 1. I wasn't really around for most of the others, and I understand that this makes me a horrible judge of any of them other than the latest. 2. I wouldn't want to stack this one up against any others. However if I must bring this mediocre dog to a fight I'd say that of all the decades, I think they're getting progressively more irrelevant, which would make this latest one the one where people are the least relevant of any decade. I think things just matter less now than they once did, and they'll matter even less tomorrow.
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Post by WildKnight on Dec 21, 2010 21:00:49 GMT -5
They're not getting more irrelevant. That's one of those "short sightedness of youth" things I was talking about.
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Post by Brainstem on Dec 21, 2010 21:13:05 GMT -5
WK's right. I mean, it may seem like we're so terribly jaded, but every generation has always thought that. Every past generation looks at the current thinking that they're arrogant and naïve, with the younger generation developing a narrow-mind as a reaction to that.
Sure, things could be more widespread now, due to more access to communication, but young people will always be hot headed and older people will always be stuck in their ways. Generations work in cycles and to think you've escaped it is, at the very least, only proving my point.
This isn't to say that you should just accept the cynicism and let it lead your life, but that you shouldn't think we're any worse off for being cynical. If the past wasn't cynical, how would any of the world's great satires have been written? Sure, Voltaire was no child, but cynicism is also nothing new.
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Post by WildKnight on Dec 21, 2010 21:17:07 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that's not what I said
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Post by malice on Dec 22, 2010 1:04:43 GMT -5
Looks like multiple people missed the part where I said "I'm not special, I just like saying cynical things because I think they're funny."
What is also kinda funny is that points I edited out of my original post have since been proven. Lol, I suppose if we could see our opportunities before they happened then we wouldn't be the same species.
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Post by samurai6966 on Dec 22, 2010 23:51:18 GMT -5
So we go from Getting away from DnD Hack and Slash to how jaded the young people of our world is. Mods in PA would have shut this thread down by now.
For me, I wasn't jaded until I joined the military and had to deal with some of their bullshit. But that's also when I started playing TTRPGs. Maybe there is a connection...
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Post by ironfox on Dec 23, 2010 8:28:54 GMT -5
So we go from Getting away from DnD Hack and Slash to how jaded the young people of our world is. Mods in PA would have shut this thread down by now. For me, I wasn't jaded until I joined the military and had to deal with some of their bullshit. But that's also when I started playing TTRPGs. Maybe there is a connection... Correlation isn't necessarily causation. It could easily be a coincidence. There's a little Penn & Teller wisdom for you.
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Post by Brainstem on Dec 23, 2010 21:26:02 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that's not what I said Mostly I'm just agreeing that it's silly to think that we're in such a miserable place now and then adding my own reasoning.
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