Tweet
Pardon my wall of text, I'm slightly irritated, and if I don't release it now it will just get worse.
I mull over terminology a lot. I don't know why, I've just always liked words and putting narration together. It's a bit of an unintentional hobby, I suppose. In the last year or so I've seen these two phrases and a myriad of others being tossed around when something isn't going one persons way. So I'd like to examine what exactly it is that makes up the core group of this site, or any group of people in general in society.
People get together and become friends generally over common interests. Take this website, which should be obvious. It centers around people in DFW that are sometimes interested in cars. That is what brought us together, in the least, if it is not what continues to hold us together as we age and find different paths in life to walk down.
People who have the same interests then usually drop into sub groups. These people share more than just the initial interest, have similar outlooks on life, intelligence levels, and ways of handling problems.
The core group on here of maybe 100 people are thus very similar in many regards. Even striking differences can be discussed, argued, made fun of, all while still maintaining the modicum of respect that comes from various people recognizing that while their worldview may be slightly different, that they are still home and can identify with those with differing views and carry on an intelligent conversation.
It should be obvious that any large group of like minded people will achieve an eventual equilibrium with varying degrees of success. Most people are therefore going to tend to agree with the others about a wide range of things that could come up in day to day life (excluding religion).
There are some pretty smart people on this board. I'm not being sarcastic. The things I've learned on here over the years couldn't even begin to be quantified. In fact, I'd say that most of the accused "In Crowd" are fairly intelligent. Some more than others goes without saying.
So that leads me to question: Where is the pro in using this as an argument technique? Blaming the In Crowd is the same thing as saying "Man, that big group of smart guys don't agree with me. They're just doing it to be assholes!" No. No one is doing it to be assholes. They're agreeing with each other because you are WRONG. That's right. You have the capacity for being incorrect. If a very large group of intelligent people are questioning your motives, maybe you should question them as well. I know we all want to be the center of our own little Truman Show Universe, but it is OKAY to be wrong once in awhile. Blaming everyone else and accusing them of being some sort of Illuminati just because they think you did something asinine? That's not okay. It's not healthy. There is no group meeting where one person is voted to be singled out to be fucked with. Your actions determine how other people perceive you.
Just because someone you are friends with disagrees with you, does not make them your enemy. I would be disgusted with my friends if they agreed with me all the time. Who is so insecure that they would want to surround themselves with people like that? Oh yeah, Kim. The crazy thing about people with this mindset is that they really don't have friends. They'll TALK about "real" friends all the time, but the truth of the matter is that the people they think are their friends are just keeping their opinions to themselves in fear of being set upon if they disagree or give them a reality check. It's a sad situation.
So in closing. Don't send me stupid PMs complaining about this site or the people I know. I don't want to hear about it. If you're always finding yourself in all these outlandish situations where you are the victim, maybe it is time to figure out what the common denominator is?
More than anything I'm irritated that I've wasted my pleasant snowy morning thinking about this garbage when I've been trying to stop being a dick so much. Even more irritating is the fact that this thread won't do a goddamn thing, when I should be getting paid for dispensing such sage advice. Fuck it.
I mull over terminology a lot. I don't know why, I've just always liked words and putting narration together. It's a bit of an unintentional hobby, I suppose. In the last year or so I've seen these two phrases and a myriad of others being tossed around when something isn't going one persons way. So I'd like to examine what exactly it is that makes up the core group of this site, or any group of people in general in society.
People get together and become friends generally over common interests. Take this website, which should be obvious. It centers around people in DFW that are sometimes interested in cars. That is what brought us together, in the least, if it is not what continues to hold us together as we age and find different paths in life to walk down.
People who have the same interests then usually drop into sub groups. These people share more than just the initial interest, have similar outlooks on life, intelligence levels, and ways of handling problems.
The core group on here of maybe 100 people are thus very similar in many regards. Even striking differences can be discussed, argued, made fun of, all while still maintaining the modicum of respect that comes from various people recognizing that while their worldview may be slightly different, that they are still home and can identify with those with differing views and carry on an intelligent conversation.
It should be obvious that any large group of like minded people will achieve an eventual equilibrium with varying degrees of success. Most people are therefore going to tend to agree with the others about a wide range of things that could come up in day to day life (excluding religion).
There are some pretty smart people on this board. I'm not being sarcastic. The things I've learned on here over the years couldn't even begin to be quantified. In fact, I'd say that most of the accused "In Crowd" are fairly intelligent. Some more than others goes without saying.
So that leads me to question: Where is the pro in using this as an argument technique? Blaming the In Crowd is the same thing as saying "Man, that big group of smart guys don't agree with me. They're just doing it to be assholes!" No. No one is doing it to be assholes. They're agreeing with each other because you are WRONG. That's right. You have the capacity for being incorrect. If a very large group of intelligent people are questioning your motives, maybe you should question them as well. I know we all want to be the center of our own little Truman Show Universe, but it is OKAY to be wrong once in awhile. Blaming everyone else and accusing them of being some sort of Illuminati just because they think you did something asinine? That's not okay. It's not healthy. There is no group meeting where one person is voted to be singled out to be fucked with. Your actions determine how other people perceive you.
Just because someone you are friends with disagrees with you, does not make them your enemy. I would be disgusted with my friends if they agreed with me all the time. Who is so insecure that they would want to surround themselves with people like that? Oh yeah, Kim. The crazy thing about people with this mindset is that they really don't have friends. They'll TALK about "real" friends all the time, but the truth of the matter is that the people they think are their friends are just keeping their opinions to themselves in fear of being set upon if they disagree or give them a reality check. It's a sad situation.
So in closing. Don't send me stupid PMs complaining about this site or the people I know. I don't want to hear about it. If you're always finding yourself in all these outlandish situations where you are the victim, maybe it is time to figure out what the common denominator is?
More than anything I'm irritated that I've wasted my pleasant snowy morning thinking about this garbage when I've been trying to stop being a dick so much. Even more irritating is the fact that this thread won't do a goddamn thing, when I should be getting paid for dispensing such sage advice. Fuck it.
Comment