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On June 11 2010 13:46 Spiffeh wrote:
"To all the people watching, I can never ever thank you enough for the kindness to me, I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask is one thing, and this is.. I'm asking this particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism - for the record it's my least favorite quality, it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen." - Conan O' Brian
Hey guys this is a small personal essay I put on facebook, it's nothing special but it deals with a subject I feel a lot of ppl here should probably meditate upon. It's written quite badly because I guess I probably wrote it when I was very tired one early morning:
I don't know if anyone else gets in cynical moods. Probably many people. It happens in my life, for an undefined period of time, whenever things aren't going well for me or I'm lacking inspiration. I tend to, without recognizing it until it's too late, start making snide comments everywhere and focusing on negative things. That mentality can piss off, because it doesn't help anything or anyone.
There is a huge underbelly in society of great swathes of people who are cynical and negative 100% of the time. It's usually the people who have been most disappointed in their lives or just their current personal endeavours, and of course they have to have the right attitude; or perhaps the wrong one. These people flock together, like a murder of crows, revelling in their mutual disgust of arbitrary, undeserving targets, feeding their inward sickness with outward derision.
People who focus on tearing things down rather than building anything up. I suppose they probably have a genetic purpose, you know, a place in society that makes sense from a tribal perspective. Perhaps there are people who are supposed to be negative, and tear every idea with any semblance of a weakness crashing down; as a sort of yardstick of conceptual strength. For me, I am queerly in between a creator and a critic. I'm not obsessed by my own artistic output, and sometimes, when in my more vituperative moods, seek to tear down the works of other people purely for the purpose of a social identity; without any desire to offer an alternative.
The internet is full of people like that, let me tell you. People who almost want to clear a void for their ideas, but never actually fill such a void. Negative motherfuckers who just sit there and vampirically ingest the disappointment and weakness of others. There are many vocal, preaching cynical fucks. Especially in the UK, it's like a bloody plague. People whose main function is to insult, detract and degrade.
These people exist because there is a market of attention for them. It starts from the grassroots...everywhere there are dissatisfied and disillusioned people who can't cope with their static, boring lives; who instead of trying to fix the issue and cure the cancer of inactivity and hopelessness, plaster the fleshwounds by keeping company with these cynical types. It also happens with people who desperately want the world to be different. Rather than attempt to accept the way it works, they continually reject it, and use comedy as a means of bonding to other disillusioned, cynical fucks.
I'll bet you right now that there are huge swathes of people who watch the show House purely because the main protagonist is a pure manifestation of cynicism, with the kicker of actually being successful. People who are intoxicated by the idea of rude, abrasive mavericks who put the world in its place with words and actions. They'll love House because he gives little emotion away, and doles out the emotional pain like a gatling gun of callous wit. It feeds and strengthens their constructed social role by providing a role model around which all the cynical fucks of the world can rally their personalities.
Well let me tell you that acting like House IRL is not cool. It's a fucking weakness. And even if you have loads of friends because you act like that, it's because they are all weak too. It may get you places, because you are always in contact with other weak fucks, who happen to be high up in industries; but you will never be able to have pride in your mode of existence. It's a weakness that I occasionally succumb to, but in reality it drains the colour from life.
As far as I am concerned, it takes strength of character to stick your neck out and expose your emotions, express praise for others and talk about your desires and dreams. It does not take strength to sit there with your arms folded and take the piss.
 
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you wouldn't happen to be from the university of chicago, would you?
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You're absolutely right, of course. I have always found that cynicism is fashionable when you're younger but gets extremely tired as you start getting older, a little more thoughtful, and especially a lot more self-aware. Kind of like girls who make out with one-another.
I don't know if it's because breaking through cynicism requires some sort of earned perspective or if it's because when you get older you have enough stuff in your life to make you miserable without actively trying so out of spite.
Cynicism used to be a bonding apparatus with certain people, now I don't return their calls because I'm happy =[.
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Austin10833 Posts
Most of my favorite comedians are cynics.
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I like cynicists a thousand times more than the hippes that run around the streets ruining them while trying to make a point about something nobody cares about. That kind of people REALLY piss me off.
I take it you mean cynical in the pessimistic way ?
In my book cynisism is a good word. Somewhat of a synonym to rational. ^^
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On June 11 2010 11:14 Flaccid wrote:
You're absolutely right, of course. I have always found that cynicism is fashionable when you're younger but gets extremely tired as you start getting older, a little more thoughtful, and especially a lot more self-aware. Kind of like girls who make out with one-another.
Where did that comparison come from... rofl
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On June 11 2010 11:15 BroOd wrote:
Most of my favorite comedians are cynics.
R.I.P. George Carlin
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On June 11 2010 11:30 prog.ress wrote:R.I.P. George Carlin
Haha first person I thought of as well.
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Yes, I mean cynical in the pessimistic way. If you are talking about cynicism as in being cynical when a guy tells you he can predict the future and you have to wear a tin hat or the G men will get you, then of course cynicism is a good thing  .
My point is that life can actually be extremely fruitful and enjoyable when you cast aside the desire to belittle and demean. You don't have to be a fucking hippie lol. Just realise that creating is a lot more rewarding than destroying. And the experience of pride you get from creating something worthwhile is ten times more valuable than all the greatest put-downs and snide remarks.
And humour without malice is more challenging than simply being rude about people, but can also yield greater hilarity.
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On June 11 2010 11:15 BroOd wrote:
Most of my favorite comedians are cynics.
rip bill hicks!
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On June 11 2010 11:14 Flaccid wrote:
You're absolutely right, of course. I have always found that cynicism is fashionable when you're younger but gets extremely tired as you start getting older, a little more thoughtful, and especially a lot more self-aware. Kind of like girls who make out with one-another.
thats hot...
wait how is cynicism similar to girls making out?
any sort of negative emotion is bad for you. although some have benefits that outweigh the bad effect (like feeling stupid after getting ripped off, prevents you from getting ripped off again). being cynical may have its place, but most of the time, it's better to just be happy. why not?
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On June 11 2010 11:39 ieatkids5 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2010 11:14 Flaccid wrote:
You're absolutely right, of course. I have always found that cynicism is fashionable when you're younger but gets extremely tired as you start getting older, a little more thoughtful, and especially a lot more self-aware. Kind of like girls who make out with one-another.
thats hot... wait how is cynicism similar to girls making out? any sort of negative emotion is bad for you. although some have benefits that outweigh the bad effect (like feeling stupid after getting ripped off, prevents you from getting ripped off again). being cynical may have its place, but most of the time, it's better to just be happy. why not?
This is my take , I try and live it as best I can.
If you're going to go through all the trouble to wake up and live every day, might as well smile at your mailman and shit like that!
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Isn't your whole post actually cynical? It sort of complains and looks down on other people like everyone is complaining. In short you are complaining about people complaining? Or feeling down about people feeling down? lol
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it's more like a cathartic banishment of a negative personality trait that I did for myself  . So yes, it is very much negative, but essentially my last push to get it all out by turning the weapon on itself, as it were!
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Pretty good read. Personally I think that people are Cynics because they are sad inside so they have to do what they do...
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holy shit OP, good read. I've recently just ended a 5 year friendship with a person who is constantly negative about everything. From calling random people on the street a "fag" just because they happen wear fashionable fedora to instantly labeling a person from the smallest detail he gathers. Instead of supporting the idea of university clubs, he has already concluded that people who join are losers with nothing to do. It just got to the point where it's a constant drag on your own lifestyle.
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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
- [George Bernard Shaw]
I think all too often cynicism is confused with pessimism or (to stretch a bit) narcissism and this OP is a perfect example.
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It might interest you to know that cynicism accurately defined was a school of thought a group of people in greece known as cynics. I'll quote the wiki article on it.
Cynicism (Greek: κυνισμός), in its original form, refers to the beliefs of an ancient school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics (Greek: Κυνικοί, Latin: Cynici). Their philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and fame, and by living a simple life free from all possessions. As reasoning creatures, people could gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which was natural for humans. They believed that the world belonged equally to everyone, and that suffering was caused by false judgments of what was valuable and by the worthless customs and conventions which surrounded society.
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you make good observations and all that, just cycnicism isnt a weakness, its a step up. at the very least it is 100x better than being blinded by unfounded hope that things will turn out well when people continue to make the stupid decisions that made the world into the shithole that it is.
i prefer to be well informed and coherent instead of an optimist.
if you actually believe that you can change the world then go ahead. good luck to you. but dont call anyone who is too well informed for that weak.
i gave you five stars anyways, cause i did enjoy the read.
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On June 11 2010 12:51 prOxi.swAMi wrote:
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
- [George Bernard Shaw]
I think all too often cynicism is confused with pessimism or (to stretch a bit) narcissism and this OP is a perfect example.
Agreed; you could also be simply encountering douchebags. Cynics aren't negative to everything.
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EPT
