Where is our cynicism and sarcasm taking us?

It's everywhere. Lack of compassion and respect for your fellow neighbor. Comradery is being replaced with jealousy and forced overinflated competition. Tv outlets on all spectrums are exemplifying this ever increasing web of drama and incivility. The internet is becoming nothing more than a vomit of ego-ridden retort and showcasing wit and needless grandeur. Even our beloved ATS is rife with ad hominem, derailment, and abusive attacks on all fronts. Rarely do discussions evolve past "My information is more sound than your because...".

Youtube is a prime example of our decaying community and decentralization. In music and movies both of which are meant to bring us closer together in mind and soul, are being used as a means to disconnect and sabotage our collective spirit, arguing, overanalyzing and perpetuating overzealous opinions that are inherently negative and without substance.

Where does all of this ego-clashing come from? I believe we are losing sight of really important issues because of our blind aggression. We humans are capable of so many wonderous things, and of those things something as basic as companionship and cooperation seems to be left in the dust. Why? More importantly where does that put our species if we continue to needlessly hate and rise in vigor from conflict?

Its true we have deemed civility boring...As if helping one another is of the same self interest as watching paint dry.

Where does your primary source of joy come from? Mine comes from everyday life, music, movies, games, talking with friends, hobbies, reading, making conversation.

Does anyone else see this as a problem...moreover do you see it as a fixable problem or hopelessly incurable?

Thanks for your time

"Where is our cynicism and sarcasm taking us?"

The same place our gullibility and sideblinders is taking us. Problem is not 1 sided. When you choose a stance, you decide to accept things that agree with your assumptions, and become cynical and sarcastic over the things that you disagree with. Critical thinking isn't natural, it's a taught skill, and we don't teach it in our schools.

I would be surprised if someone doesn't see it as a problem. Good job spotting the problem and writing well about it. Now if we're going to fix it, shouldn't we know what caused it?

I think you offered an answer to that when you said

Where does all of this ego-clashing come from? I believe we are losing sight of really important issues because of our blind aggression.

But this is where I, personally, start having problems.

I'm not entirely clear what you mean by "blind aggression." Is it worse now than in previous generations? What causes it? I'm not the sharpest, so these may have very simple answers, but I'd appreciate your thoughts on them.

Originally posted by charles1952
I would be surprised if someone doesn't see it as a problem. Good job spotting the problem and writing well about it. Now if we're going to fix it, shouldn't we know what caused it?

I think you offered an answer to that when you said

Where does all of this ego-clashing come from? I believe we are losing sight of really important issues because of our blind aggression.

But this is where I, personally, start having problems.

I'm not entirely clear what you mean by "blind aggression." Is it worse now than in previous generations? What causes it? I'm not the sharpest, so these may have very simple answers, but I'd appreciate your thoughts on them.

I appreciate your words and to answer your questions: when i say blind aggression i mean sometimes we become very passionate about the things that motivate us to speak out against. And in that passion we can lose sight of our true nature and the reasons we were passionate to begin with, not only that but in that rise of adrenaline alot of times logic and reason get opted out for rash, emotional decisions and conjectures or any other foreign thoughts are thrown under the rage.

I'm not certain if previous generations had a more inflicted commune or not. Some research would probably serve beneficial to my case lol. I know that the internet hasn't necessarily contributed as much as it has made distinctly aware the general public views.

As far as the cause? I believe that might be too complex to sum up into one specific aspect. School, Parenting, Society, Experience, Economy, Religion. I think the sum of everyones lives is the contribution. I agree with you to fix the problem we have to identify the cause. Is this problem too complex for a person or even a group of poeple to fix?

reply to post by Whatifitdidhappen

Dear Whatifitdidhappen,

This thread deserves 100 responses. You've spotted fundamental questions that are vital to survival in the not-so-long run. I'm afraid I'm a little pessimistic, though that might just be my personality.

when i say blind aggression i mean sometimes we become very passionate about the things that motivate us to speak out against. And in that passion we can lose sight of our true nature and the reasons we were passionate to begin with, not only that but in that rise of adrenaline alot of times logic and reason get opted out for rash, emotional decisions and conjectures or any other foreign thoughts are thrown under the rage.

That's quite true, stopping passion or rage before it gets to a dangerous level is important, but I can only see a few ways around it. We can stop people from getting passionate about things. (Which is probably impossible without chemicals or implants.) We can train people to stop themselves. (Which was, at one time, the purpose of manners and religion, both of which are weakening in influence.) Or, we can have others stop us. (In the Wild West, you had to be polite or you'd be shot . Perhaps the "Morality Police" of Islam could be a similar force.)

I just don't see any of those solutions working, except, perhaps for a gradual societal change back to manners and self-control, but I see no way of bringing that about. And there are many people in the world who are willing to blow themselves up to kill others over opinions.

The internet? At least on talk sites, it eliminates the need for anyone to feel constrained by politeness. Anonymity shields one from painful consequences. I don't know whether it's good or bad on balance.

As far as the cause? I believe that might be too complex to sum up into one specific aspect. School, Parenting, Society, Experience, Economy, Religion. I think the sum of everyones lives is the contribution.

Agreed. And I don't see those forces growing stronger in their desire to teach self -restraint.

I warned you that I am a pessimist. It seems as though an entire cultural change would be required, and I don't see that happening. We are tackling it piecemeal with hate speech laws, and anti-bullying initiatives, but I don't think those go deeply enough into each person's being.

With respect,
Charles1952

I often times use sarcastic humor as a tool to connect with others. I admit that this behavior is largely due to my longing to connect with people, even if it is on a superficial level.

Responding to others in a cynical fashion, permits me the opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with things I have trouble accepting, Venting steam, I guess you could say.

Both are the product of my split in personality. I often times feel powerless when faced with certain tasks that I have convinced myself are "beyond my capability." There is another "me" living inside of me, and it is filled with anger and despair.

I may have swayed from the original topic of conversation a bit there, but my reasons for resorting to sarcasm and cynicism are unique to me and so a little background is necessary.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by Whatifitdidhappen

 

Dear Whatifitdidhappen,

This thread deserves 100 responses. You've spotted fundamental questions that are vital to survival in the not-so-long run. I'm afraid I'm a little pessimistic, though that might just be my personality.

With respect,
Charles1952

Again thankyou for your kind words and acknowledgment Indeed i do hope to attain quite the number of responses if at the very least to provoke healthy discussions.

That's quite true, stopping passion or rage before it gets to a dangerous level is important, but I can only see a few ways around it. We can stop people from getting passionate about things. (Which is probably impossible without chemicals or implants.) We can train people to stop themselves. (Which was, at one time, the purpose of manners and religion, both of which are weakening in influence.) Or, we can have others stop us. (In the Wild West, you had to be polite or you'd be shot . Perhaps the "Morality Police" of Islam could be a similar force.)

I think your right its not as easy of a task to just say "Do it for the good of the people" or "Do it or well string you up" I mean it could be, but thats not the method of longevity. I don't believe its moral to push someone into being compassionate as resentment and rebellion are naturally to follow. I dont wish to 'trick' people into being nice to one another as much as i would want it to happen naturally without political or psychological sway (in regard to negative consequences for not being cordial). Which is basically how every method is to be percieved.

As i read what i've wrote so far my intentions seem earily similar to what religion tried to do but failed because most of the foundation is based on fear and control. The importance of respect was taught to me by my father and reestablished every day in the work place, liesurely excursions, in the company of friends or aquaintences and my loving relationship with my significant other. I was taught this through the passion of my fathers faith in Christianity. Despite my current belief system (Agnostic-i'm still on the journey) It holds true today the necessity of such core values. Not to do it for yourself so much as being an example will transcend slavery of such debauchery right?

My respect for people doesnt come out of fear or automation, it comes from the heart, soul and mind that of which i would hope to connect on the same level with others. There has to be a way to accomplish this without obscurring or tainting its value.

In the current state of affairs maybe we are on the horizon of such a harmonic synchronicity. It stands to reason that it only gets worse before it gets better. But thats just to counter your pessimism :p

Best regards Charles. Thankyou for your thoughts

Just my .02 cents...

Cynicism and especially sarcasm are insulating behaviors that are indicative of our inability to cope with the world as it changes around us. These things are self defense measures, rising up from deep within us, remnants of the days when strangers often represented danger. We tend to shun what we are not familiar with and since we no longer have the comfort of expansive distances separating our small pockets of population - these negative reactions are sort of our last ditch effort at holding onto thei antiquated and obsolete urges.

They hurt society in general but I think that these are traits that will pass quickly once we, as a species, learn to adapt to our new, global paradigm.

~Heff

Thank you for posting this very important discussion. Yes, it is something we need to talk about as humans. It has been a long time coming indeed. I can offer a few thoughts on this but it will take more than just a few other people and myself to really have a deep discussion about how to fix this problem.

I think we need to start evolving human society. We tend to get so focused on power, greed and self-interest that we forget that we are all comrades trying to live on this mud ball called earth. I see it everyday and often in an extreme form due to the fact that I live in a huge urban metro area. I see so many people who are totally unaware that there are other humans surrounding them. They are totally engrossed in their own self-interested greedy little bubble that they have disconnected themselves from their fellow humans. It is sociopath behavior which has gripped many humans and it gets worse all the time. We must stop accepting such a mindset as a natural way to live our daily lives. It should not be considered okay to only be out for ourselves and everyone else is simply on their own. It would be good for all of us to start thinking how we can live a life which benefits everyone. We can live in peace, have our own unique thoughts as well as form a society in which the max amount of people benefit from each person`s output and production.

reply to post by Hefficide





reply to post by freedomwv


I agree with both of you i think we are growing in number at such a rate we don't know how to react to this new dynamic. I also think the implication that there arent enough resources to maintain such numbers are looming in the back of peoples mind like a cancer. An episode of the twilight zone comes to mind lol.

Do we have enough resources to sustain everyone, even at an exponential rate?

I know Tesla was working on free energy for the world using the earths own electromagnetism and cosmic energy. What would it take to get that information into the working economy?

Originally posted by Whatifitdidhappen
Its true we have deemed civility boring...As if helping one another is of the same self interest as watching paint dry.

Where does your primary source of joy come from? Mine comes from everyday life, music, movies, games, talking with friends, hobbies, reading, making conversation.
Thanks for your time

Mines too. It's probably why we don't fit in. Let the sheep be sheep. It seems to me that most are "happy" because that ish isn't happening to them. Once it does, then it becomes personal and a problem. Otherwise they are quite content on letting things go on as they are.

However behavior like this is not sustainable in the long run. That "gap" happened recently, very recently. It's all about what the kids are learning from their environment.

Originally posted by TheInnerLight
I often times use sarcastic humor as a tool to connect with others. I admit that this behavior is largely due to my longing to connect with people, even if it is on a superficial level.

Responding to others in a cynical fashion, permits me the opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with things I have trouble accepting, Venting steam, I guess you could say.

Both are the product of my split in personality. I often times feel powerless when faced with certain tasks that I have convinced myself are "beyond my capability." There is another "me" living inside of me, and it is filled with anger and despair.

I may have swayed from the original topic of conversation a bit there, but my reasons for resorting to sarcasm and cynicism are unique to me and so a little background is necessary.

I would say your very much on topic . Being your first post on here im naturally obligated to give you a warm welcome here to ATS So Welcome to our crazy fun house

I agree i'm guilty of using sarcasm as a tool to vent frustrations or to capitolize on a moments whim of complete stupidity. However even used as a tool to connect with people that is inherently negative or apathetic would be of the same venture of connecting with a group of people that bully children into giving up their lunch money wouldnt it? I think this faux pas is numbing our senses and could be replacing our void of uncertainty in social situations into something charismatically destructive, while on the surface seeming tactfully impressive among peers.

A little sarcasm and cynacism can go a long way and even healthy at times. But its becoming a lifestyle. People would much rather scoff and make brash remarks at people stumbling instead of helping them up in an empathetic fashion. They would be completely satisfied destroying someones reputation so long as it benefits their own.

What is the cost of this prolonged attitude?

Thankyou for posting your first thoughts here

Here is a video i'm sure most people have seen already but i can't help but notice the extreme relevance every day that passes even more so now as it did in the 40's