4chan archive /soc/ (index)
2012-09-25 11:18 13007389 Anonymous (kitttty.jpg 500x272 73kB)
Why are people cruel? I never thought kindness was a rare thing, but lately I'm realizing more and more that very few people are nice anymore. Why? What do people get from being mean to others? Is there a benefit? Do they feel bad afterwards? Are we just turning into a world of sadists? Is being kind really that hard?

7 min later 13007467 Anonymous
Well? Can someone explain why we're all so disrespectful?

9 min later 13007488 Anonymous
well it's the internet and nice people are boring

10 min later 13007503 Anonymous
You should probably define your terms better. Crurlty, kindness, niceness, meanness, (dis)respect are all pretty situational and subjective. There are various possible answers involving rational self interest, hegelian master/slave nonsense, group psychology, blah blah blah. You should probably read some books rather than ask 4chan for overarching theories of the human condition though.

15 min later 13007534 Anonymous
>>13007488 Why? >>13007503 Ok, why do people feel the need to constantly berate other people?

16 min later 13007541 Anonymous
I used to be nice. Someone very dear to me passed away several months ago and ever since then it seems that I am having a very hard time with a few things; giving a shit, caring, being kind, being thoughtful, being respectful, being a complete push-over, being patient.

19 min later 13007563 Anonymous
>>13007534 Oh. I don't really care about that I was assuming you were more interested in genocide and war rape. They don't constantly, is my simple answer. But doing so creates a power dynamic where the berator feels superior and hence good at the expense of the beratee's being bad and inferior. Generally speaking people place more value on their own pleasure than others' pain, so it makes a degree of sense, if it's even rationalized to that extent.

19 min later 13007570 Anonymous
>>13007534 IRL or on the Internet? Because only a retard would take anything said on the Internet to heart.

25 min later 13007623 Anonymous
I'm mean when I'm pissed off, when I'm happy or average I'm nice... I use to be a right prick to my younger brother when I was about 13/14. I got some what bullied in school at that age, and I think because of that I started being a bit of a bully to him... I regret that. Now, I have a group of very close friends and I hate bullies.

32 min later 13007714 Anonymous
>>13007541 I'm sorry to hear that. Have you given yourself the time you need to fully grieve? >>13007563 No, that's too deep to discuss on /soc/ Why though? I don't understand it. I feel horrible if I accidentally hurt someone's feelings. Example, today on campus I didn't realize someone was behind me until it was too late and the door closed in their face. I felt so guilty about it during my next class I couldn't even take notes. >>13007570 Both. >>13007623 I'm glad you're no longer mean to your brother, although that does seem to be a common trend among siblings!

50 min later 13007936 Anonymous
>>13007714 Well the dynamic I described is obviously socially constructed and is notably gender-coded among other things. Not all aggression/sadism follows this particular model. And not everyone has the personality/psychology that seeks this particular source of pleasure. But re:your experience, I think the "accidentally" is important. You fucked up, made a mistake, and then felt bad about it. If you had decided that slamming doors was boss as fuck and it made you feel alpha and powerful then you'd have felt good, not bad. excuse the bump

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