Other What's ruining your life right now?

I think a thick skin and, a healthy dose of cynicism, are essential these days.

 

That doesn't apply to a lot of people though.
There's nothing wrong with admitting people hurt your feelings, and I don't feel like being aggressive back is going to improve the situation. Something about fighting fire with fire.

 

I, more or less subconsciously, vary the way I speak according to the company I'm in. In polite company I don't swear at all but, when I worked in an abattoir, I gained a reputation for swearing like a trouper.

 

Lacking in ability to exercise a breadth of vocabulary; while watching a gaming stream you'll suddenly get a slew of "POG" or w/e similar term is current... it's like many of them do it for effect rather than using their intellect to think out an appropriate response... what I see may a time as a hive mentality, but not in a creative way.

 

True, but sometimes things HAVE to get done and you need to temporarily put your feelings on hold. I'm not saying that you should (for example) put up with a non stop bullying manager or the like, just appreciate that even the best people can get a little curt in the 11th hour.

I should clarify what I meant about reacting with aggression: I never mean to come straight back with you own insult, it's just that, to paraphrase Terminator 3, anger is more useful than sorrow in stressful situations. I've found that in those kind of scenarios, it's best to glare back at them until you've thought up a good reply. And by good, I mean a solution solving comment, not a 'comeback'.

Mind you, sometimes a good 'go roger yourself, you ninny', is the best reply .

 

Vocabulary does not define intelligence. You pejoratively use the phrase 'hive mentality', but a hive mentality is human nature. We're tribal animals, we follow the rest of the pack because we instinctively want to belong. To overcome that takes a conscious effort of will and an understanding of our own biases.

 

Just had a text from my manager. Looks like my furlough is continuing well into July.

 

I value my individuality over any need to fit in... knowing why you're doing or saying something says more - to me - about a person than blindly following out of insecurity.

 

You're missing the point entirely here, it's got nothing to do with insecurity. We follow the crowd because that's what we do. It's not insecurity, ignorance, or a lack of 'intelligence', it's a basic instinctive need to belong to and fit in with a tribe. We're as much of a product of our genetics as we are of our environment and upbringing.

That said, making value judgements about others based on the things they say is exactly the kind of mentality that leads to the kind of slurs and insults we started talking about more than a page ago. Recognising your own fallacies and biases gets you a lot closer to a mutual understanding. Humans have a hell of a lot more in common with each other than they often like to believe.

 

So... if I choose to NOT watch Game of Thrones (for example), but 'everyone else' does, does that make me a freak - or does it show my ability to be selective about my choices? I refuse to be compelled to do something 'because it's popular'.

'Everyone else' doing something shows a (relative) lack of individuality... not that it's a personal choice.

 

But maybe something being popular means that many people like it, which may mean it's quality content, suggesting it's worth trying out to form your own opinion before you make a judgement simply based on how popular it is.

Agreeing or disagreeing with a popular opinion doesn't define you, but specifically choosing not to agree with something for the precise reason that it's popular might.

 

I had, and still have, a strong suspicion that many people watched GofF because it was fashionable to do so and they didn't want to be caught out by their peers, not knowing what had happened.

I make my own decisions about whether or not to watch a TV programme or film and don't base those decisions on what other people choose to watch. If you can't decide for yourself what you like, then you are just a sheep, like all those people who buy SUVs, because Sid next door has one.

 

No, I'm saying that people responding to a Twitch stream in a similar way with similar comments is not evidence of a lack of intelligence or a stunted vocabulary, or some other negative characteristic. Neither is using insulting language or abusive phrases because your upbringing has normalised their use and you don't know the etymology or the impact that it can have on people.

Understand that I'm not criticising you personally, I'm criticising the argument(s) you make. This one I've just quoted is a straw man, because you're trying to refute an argument I haven't made.

 

As a side note, how old can someone be/long do you think this works for?

 

I watched it because I enjoyed it. Granted I enjoyed it less at some notable low points as it dragged on, but still enjoyed it. I think most were the same.
Bear in mind "real housewives" and Love Island passes for entertainment for some which puts GoT on quite the pedestal, even in its low points.

That said shared experiences are an important part of life, and hold value themselves - enjoying something together with friends and peers can be more enjoyable than the something itself.

This whole "It's cool, so I don't like it" sentiment just doesn't make sense to me... I once found myself at an alternative fashion event, through matters outside of my control, where everyone was a unique and beautiful butterfly that shunned "mainstream", and everyone looked freaking identical and apparently didn't see the irony in that.

 

I used to be full-on goth, railing against the system. Looked exactly like every other goth.

Didn't realise the irony of conforming while proclaiming to be against conformity until many years later.

 

My not wanting to watch GoT was derived from seeing it publicised 'every five minutes' on TV channels I watched - leading me to the opinion/conclusion that if it needed to be publicised so heavily it was dire enough to need to be. Add in that an American TV channel was 'behind it' added to my belief that it was being over hyped.

Conformity for the sake of acceptance doesn't require a lot of thought... not doing so, does.

It was the same with the Punk movement; it had a basis in not being commercial or conformist, but then the likes of the Sex Pistols did entirely the opposite with their 'Punk' music image (on a commercial level).

 

I made that mistake with Harry Potter. I was adamant that i didnt want to read it just because it was "popular". Eventually i did read it, and then formed my own opinions. Deliberately taking the route not taken by the majority, is just as bad as following blindly...

 

Reading is one activity I maintain I have little mental capacity for; reading anything more in-depth than a PC magazine or an instruction manual usually results in me falling asleep - as can watching longer films.

What infuriates me about that is not remembering what I read/saw last to be able to continue, rather than starting from a point that I have gone over several times... to the detriment of the overall experience.

With film franchises based on literature, I prefer to watch the films over reading the books, while acknowledging that the book form will have the fuller story.
That said, the only occasion where I read the book of a visual production was James Clavell's Shogun.