Can cynicism die already
 

Now that baby boomers on Facebook are basically trying to be posters at something awful without realizing it, can we just retire the irony brain worms. I am so tired of it.

whenever things that fuel/warrant cynicism die, sure

I don’t mean cynicism as a concept. I should have been more clear. The kind of internet nihilism where everyone is trying so hard to prove how little they care. I was raised in it and I hate it.

Like, it’s cool to be nice to people. Let’s have more of that.

Seems odd to ask that on netphoria of all places.

But i'm with you.

ugh

That’s the point

I CARE LESS THAN YOU DO I WIN.

Cynicism won't die because the roots of cynicism are laziness and cowardice. And those traits definitely aren't going anywhere!

Great thread title

edgelord nihilists can fuck off. From a sympathetic mental health standpoint, though, they likely need some help.

I see myself as more of a pessimist than a cynic. Cynics think other people have malicious or selfish motivations. I don't think most people are all that bad.

I still think everything's going to go to shit regardless, though.

Everything has always been shit. We’re statistically living in the least shitty time in history. It’s how we navigate and make meaning out of the shit that counts.

how very steven pinker of you
not that i disagree

Everything has been the most shitty time in history since the development of nuclear weapons

the roots of my cynicism are education and discernment and sadly I think those traits are definitely going somewhere

laziness and cowardice are the roots of unchecked self-interest and willingness to be unproductively distracted, for me

I definitely don't want cynicism to die. I protested against globalisation and unnecessary military intervention and war from 1998-2003, and watched those movements get steamrolled by investors, bankers, politicians and the military-industrial complex. Private capital is being funnelled out of national economies into offshore tax havens, and freedom of movement between nation states is becoming increasingly limited for anyone except the ultra wealthy, who don't give a shit about anything except their own survival. Exactly why would we kill cynicism now? So we can have some kind of futile campfire singalong in the ashes of our fallen empires? please allow me to politely decline

I'm gonna scrap this motherfucker out till the end, calculating the likelihood of my own survival and that of my children anew, every morning that fate allows me to wake up. For me, cynicism dies when I die

yeah you heard me

motherfuckers

sorry to spew out all my words directly after quoting you ilp

Cynicism is a central part of my identity so I take all attacks on cynicism far too personally

Sorry about that

Though we've all interpreted the original post in the light of our own personal conceptions of "cynicism," in all seriousness, the thread was probably inspired by Slunken doing his whole "I'm above the fray and too cool to contribute to discussions with anything more than ironic dismissals" schtick.

Let this serve as an omen of how other people will regard you if you're still constructing your entire personality around being the cool kid at age 32, Elphenor.

On the one hand, yeah; by most metrics (childhood mortality, literacy, violence, starvation, democratization, etc.), life has been getting better for most people. Even though the horrid working conditions of the Industrial Revolution haven't so much been elimated as offshored to the Global South by global capitalism, even poverty in developing countries has been seeing a decline overall. We've seen a backslide in some metrics in the last couple of decades, but those seem to be dips in an upward trend.

On the other hand, one very important metric that—as far as I understand, at least (I'm not a scientist)—doesn't seem to be improving all that much is human impact on the climate, which we seem not to be organizing an adequate response for. And this phenomenon, I think, threatens to jeopardize so many of the metrics that have been so far improving. It can lead to food insecurity and displacement, increasing poverty and illness, and creating the conditions under which conflicts, war, and state repression erupt.

I just suspect that progress isn't a guaranteed function of time, and that it's contingent upon us actually acting to protect modernity from its worst excesses. And that a mixture of powerful interests who have disproportionate influence over policy, structural barriers, and collective-action problems may prevent us from taking this action.

well said Disco King

that's his thing

If I get caught up in cynicism, the only way to ease the pain of a doomed existence is to join in that singalong...or to double down on my own selfishness. I'm not a blind optimist, but there are reasons to keep trying.

I do tend to lack faith in people's willingness to change for altruistic purposes, but I have ample faith in people's willingness to follow a leader whose path will lessen their guilt. I'm far too lazy and cowardly to be that person, though.

I find cynicism empowering, but that might be because getting to the point where I trust other people involves waging a successful war of attrition on my innermost thoughts and emotions

damn. i thought this was directed at my grumpy cat meme deluge. maybe that's the nihilism thread??

I remember multiple editorials in the immediate wake of 9/11 that announced that irony and cynicism were dead :rofl:

Men on the other hand loathe structure and stability. This is why heterosexuality is so unnatural.

wow. we used to have a dating reality show called "L'amour est dans le pré" to match up farmers because too many of them were lonely and had no time to meet a partner.

It's still going strong, baby!



And don't worry, fuzzy plans to trap and then isolate a woman, it's all gonna go great for everyone

There's more to farming than embroidered plaid.