The hugging/venting thread

[vladnuke]

Guys.
Guys.
You're being silly.
Quit being silly.
The internet is srs bzns.

[BinaryBludgeon]

Just a final addition to my indefensible name-call: Sorry for name-calling (not going to edit it out, so I can give people some context), but also don't call my work unmastered. You want to hear it unmastered, it's dry and lacking. I think my mastering was good, and you just feel like I should add another 3486293045783 mastering suites.

EDIT: Directed at cyrricky

[Freewave]

I think I'm going to block you. It's sad because you did give me good critique. too bad you didn't give it to me until after I bumped my post. But if all of the critique you give me is going to be laced with blunt rudeness and sarcastic remarks, then I don't want it.

Codeum did any of the stuff we said register? You tell us what's wrong. We offer advice on what we see as the problem. We spent quite a bit time in this thread and in others in explaining how you can go about changing how your perceive others, interact better, and change the situation around yourself but it often seems you're not really listening to the what people are saying.

I'll disagree with navybrony on one portion of his comments and that is that I don't think "not caring what others think" is a remedy for your situation. I think that's actually what's brought you to the situation you are in. Ultimately its about not beating yourself up further if you have low self-esteem or feeling that your constantly being persecuted. Your focusing on the negative of what people say to you and not the positive portion of it. And when you hear that you cut ties and lash out rather than trying to mend them.

Only you can change what direction you take and how you interact with others. Ultimately it's your choice if what you hear in here and in other threads is constructive or if you see it as rudeness. This is a thread about support and about finding a way to fix your own issues and if all you took from this was that people were being rude to you further I don't think you heard what we were saying. Saying your going to block someone for that advice is just making things that much worse. That's not what this thread and site is about.

[Magnitude Zero]

Just a final addition to my indefensible name-call: Sorry for name-calling (not going to edit it out, so I can give people some context), but also don't call my work unmastered. You want to hear it unmastered, it's dry and lacking. I think my mastering was good, and you just feel like I should add another 3486293045783 mastering suites.

EDIT: Directed at cyrricky

bro. He's trying to help.
Doesn't matter how harsh his feedback is. it's all about getting better!
in my opinion, you should embrace harsh feedback so you can make your music better.
I would implement his solutions. He's good at what he does and he went out of his way
to give you advice. Don't get too mad that it might be a bit harsh. :3 it's about learning!

This. Better to be a bit offended while being made aware of the flaws in your music than to go on not learning anything.

Keep in mind that it's easy to come off as a bit of an arrogant prick when you're critiquing. Now I admittedly don't know exactly what happened as I wasn't there, but I have a feeling this is just a misunderstanding.

[LunchBagMusic]

Alight.

Please.

Be Nice.

Write a friendship report so we can get back to the HUGGING/VENTING part of the thread.

Don't make me post about my immature teenage girl feelings to get this back on track.

Because I will.

And I will crey.

[Fimbulin]

Someone hug me I'm incredibly happy atm!

[Trillionage]

Dear Princess Celestia,

today i learned that the internet is serious business.

Your faithful student Trillionage.

[Trillionage]

Someone hug me I'm incredibly happy atm!

[Ed Viper]

Okay guys, I'm in a ranting mood, so here we go!

First off, I'd like to say a few things about climate change. Get ready for a wall-of-text.

Now, I know you're all probably well-versed in science, and if you're not, then you've certainly heard about this big scary "CLIMATE CHANGE" or maybe it was called "GLOBAL WARMING". This is a real thing.

You know what grinds my gears, though? Holier-than-thou ecologists. You read that right. Holier-than-thou ecologists. Why? Well, let's take a look at the list.

1. They act as if the small things they do in America and Europe are actually going to make a difference. Truth is, if only Europe and America are making changes (albeit small ones, CO2 emissions from cars actually make up a rather small amount of CO2 emissions), there are plenty of other nations in the world that really don't have climate change on their plate. These other nations, namely China, will continue to produce greenhouse gasses and the like. Meanwhile, they're here trying to get cars off the road and make everyone buy electric cars (another stupid idea, let me tell you). You really want to stop the emission of greenhouse gasses? Let's try clean alternative energy sources. BUT WAIT! There really is no clean alternative energy. "Natural Gas sure does look clean" - until you see the water around natural gas plants. "Nuclear energy?" Gotta put those decaying rods SOMEwhere. Wind power is not efficient at ALL. End of story. "Gee, hydro-electricity looks cool." Yeah, until you read the facts and see that it takes more energy to produce hydro-electric energy than what is yielded. Solar is a cool idea, but the technology really isn't there yet to produce energy on a mass power grid-scale.

2. They try to tell me that the methane gas produced from cows is attributing to CO2 emissions is contributing to the greenhouse effect, and that I should become a vegetarian and boycott the sale of beef.

*sigh*

Okay, here's what's wrong with that: cows are a part of the natural ecosystem. Cows will continue to exist regardless of whether or not people are eating them. Now it could be said that there are more cows because of the consumption of beef, since farmers need to raise more to meet demand. However, unless you want to render the species extinct, cows are ALWAYS going to contribute to the greenhouse effect. Same goes for humans, monkeys, dogs, cats, dolphins, giraffes, lions, and just about any animal with a digestive tract.

3. "You're preachin' to the choir, bub." I think it's safe to say that the majority of people are aware of climate change and are concerned about it, and there are actually scientists working on how we can actually fix the problem before things all go haywire. There's really no reason to shove this information that I'm already aware of in my face constantly and then accuse me of "destroying mother Earth" because I continue to eat beef and drive to work. Frankly, there are tons of other HUGE issues going around right now that just seem way more urgent - namely: the economy, wars, child soldiers, world hunger, child labor, serial killers (of which there are an average of 20 at large in the US at any given time), AIDS and other STDs, Cancer and other terminal diseases, the threat of nuclear war from North Korea - you get my point. There's basically a whole lot of other shit going on that really we could fix a lot quicker if we weren't wasting our time with this environmental stuff. If we simply got these things fixed NOW, we'd have much more of a chance of fixing climate change as well.

You try to do too many things at once, and you end up doing all of them poorly.

And these are just a few things. You know what else grinds my gears?

Holier-than-thou Atheists (see also: holier-than-thou Creationists).

Look, alright, I don't really care what religious persuasion you happen to belong to. I, myself, am a Buddhist, and it's something I find great solace and inspiration in. I just don't want ANYONE shoving their own philosophical beliefs down my throat, REGARDLESS of what you are. I get annoyed even if other Buddhists start preaching to me out of nowhere. If I want to learn more about your religion, I'll check it out on my own time.

Now, people are going to tell me Atheism isn't a religion. Well, perhaps not in the way you think of religion, defined as "believing in and/or praying to a personal God." Well, then how about that shit? I, as a Buddhist, am also non-religious! Yet many people would say I am. Why is that? Well, let's take a look at the technical definition of "religion". Dictionary.com defines religion as, "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially (note: "especially" does NOT mean "always") when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

Well, check that shit out! I guess Atheism is a religion after all!

Now stop telling me I'm "wrong" or "stupid" for my beliefs. If what you believe in is really so right, then I'll eventually convert of my own accord. I don't need you to push me over. Remember, religion is like a dick - it's cool to have one, it's even alright to be proud of it, but don't go waving it around in public and don't shove it down my throat.

I shall leave you with that, and return to my studies. You have just had a peak into the mind of EMPUBERMENSCH - congrats on surviving.

EDIT: I KNOW someone's going to get offended by this. These are just my views on a couple of issues, and this is the "hugging/venting" thread, so I'm allowed to vent.

[colortwelve]

@Emp on religion:

It's really quite interesting how we define the term 'religion' these days. I personally question the necessity of the term, since every worldview that actually works needs to have three components - ontology (the nature of reality), epistemology (what is real and how you know this), and ethics (how you should live your life). Now, it seems like 'religion' is applied to systems which place a special significance on ontology, since nobody ever really talks about a Christian's epistemology, since it seems like science has that market cornered. The problem with that is that we're taking apart the structure of the system - just like monotheists don't really have an epistemology anymore, neither do atheists really have an ethic. Somehow, we've all royally screwed philosophy, religion, or whatever you want to call it.

But it seems like Buddhism was never affected by this - and for this I envy the East in some respects. Buddhism has always been complete in itself; it's such a remarkably complete worldview that even Nietzsche (with whom I assume you're familiar based upon your name) noted how attractive it is as a whole.

What I think the problem is is that nobody really takes the time to sit down and examine their own beliefs - either because we don't have time, or we're afraid of what I'm currently going through, which is a thorough questioning of practically everything one thinks and believes. I mean, that shit gives you headaches. And now, instead of facing the difficulty of formulating a way to live and think, we elect to set aside some part of our worldview and focus only on one or two components. Science is all over epistemology, religion is all over ethics, and ontology is being ripped in half by the two. So we just pick and choose the few appealing scraps that aren't surrounded by screaming zealots and try to live a full life with an empty worldview. I don't really know how to fix this... And it pisses me off just as much.

So I guess all I can offer as solace is to take pride in having a worldview that actually is complete, and just hope that everyone else, myself included, can collectively get our shit together.

[Trillionage]

Regarding alternative sources, we should invest in ALL THE SOURCES, ALL OF THEM!



While all renewable resources have their flaws, nuclear being a technical exception (since, well, radioactive elements are finite, but far more powerful as fuel than gas), they are still better alternatives to hydrocarbons and coal. If we start transitioning our grid to less polluting and renewable sources, we would be able to keep petrol for what we use it most: transportation. That along with developing better fuel standards, improving electric and hybrid car technology, developing better biofuels (ethanol is worse than gasoline in every way) and many other things that i can't think about right now.

The thing that sucks, though is that Chine is the world biggest polluter in every single aspect (although they just beat us by a small margin in terms of CO2), yet they refuse to actually do something. Ironically they are also the lead manufacturer of solar panels (old style, reflective, rather inneficient ones, though).

Change will come, but it's supposed to be gradual. For now best we can do is cut emissions and our consumption. Nobody is making anyone buy cars or are they removing them from the road. As long there is fuel to run them, cars will stay. What people are doing is encouraging others to either drive less or use more efficient models.

The thing about cows is that the reason there are enough cows to actually cause some effect is because of human activity. If we didn't eat so much much meat, cows would probably exist in more stable numbers. The same with humans. All animals release CO2 into the atmosphere, it's part of the Carbon cycle. But humans not only exist in a massive scale, we also have all this technology which throws excess CO2 along with the deforestation and desertification we cause either out greed, apathy or ignorance.

We don't have to focus solely on one issue. We can multitask. IT's not like it's just one guy addressing everything. I personally wouldn't pester anyone about the vehicle they drive (except if you drive a hummer, but only because it's one of the tackiest and ugliest vehicles ever made by man. Seriously it's like an ice box on wheels. At least Ferrari look nice...but that's only if i know them. I wouldn't do that to a random stranger. That's would be pretty douchey)

About religion, yes, douchebag atheists are as bad fundies. They are essentially different sides of the same coin. Religion has its purpose just as reason has its purpose. There is no need to disparage neither when its being used for good. Though i wouldn't still call Atheism a religion. Atheism is more of a philosophy.

TL,DR:

[inkBot]

Okay guys, I'm in a ranting mood, so here we go!

Ait.

Climate change stuff.

Skipping that because I don't consider myself qualified to talk about the subject.

Look, alright, I don't really care what religious persuasion you happen to belong to. ... I just don't want ANYONE shoving their own philosophical beliefs down my throat, REGARDLESS of what you are.

Completely with you on that.

Now, people are going to tell me Atheism isn't a religion.

I would say they are correct.

This is a really prickly subject for some people. I don't believe in gods or supernatural claims, thus I consider myself an atheist. The word atheism is derived from theism. A-theism, i.e. "not theism"
In short, it's the rejection of a claim, not a claim unto itself. As far as I know Buddhism has some supernatural claims such as karma and rebirth, and a set of guidelines on how to live ones life. That is what makes it a religion if you ask me. It's pantheistic rather than theistic. Atheism makes no claims and there's no structure. People gather together under the label "atheist" to gain support from other disbelievers, and this is often misconstrued as "religion" by some people.

Now I want to point out though that I know little of the intricacies of Buddhism and have never encountered a Buddhist in real life. So if I got something wrong, that's why.

But again, I am completely with you on letting people believe what they want as long as they extend the same courtecy to me. It's "love and tolerate", not "hate and indoctrinate", after all. =)

[Indigo Spectrum]

religion is like a dick - it's cool to have one, it's even alright to be proud of it, but don't go waving it around in public and don't shove it down my throat.

This is probably the best thing ive read all day.

[Ed Viper]

This is a really prickly subject for some people. I don't believe in gods or supernatural claims, thus I consider myself an atheist. The word atheism is derived from theism. A-theism, i.e. "not theism"
In short, it's the rejection of a claim, not a claim unto itself. As far as I know Buddhism has some supernatural claims such as karma and rebirth, and a set of guidelines on how to live ones life. That is what makes it a religion if you ask me. It's pantheistic rather than theistic. Atheism makes no claims and there's no structure. People gather together under the label "atheist" to gain support from other disbelievers, and this is often misconstrued as "religion" by some people.

Hmm... I see your point. Although I still somewhat hold onto the idea that Atheism is a religion - albeit not a traditional one, you've made a good argument.

Now I want to point out though that I know little of the intricacies of Buddhism and have never encountered a Buddhist in real life. So if I got something wrong, that's why.

Well, perhaps we can change that sometime in the future =) (That you don't know much of the intricacies of Buddhism, not necessarily meet you - oh you get the idea.)

religion is like a dick - it's cool to have one, it's even alright to be proud of it, but don't go waving it around in public and don't shove it down my throat.

This is probably the best thing ive read all day.

Glad I could make your day.

[LunchBagMusic]

Oh wow. You guys go from Hugging/Venting to intense religion/science debate in under 12 parsecs.


But srsly,

I take atheism as the direct opposition of religion. ie an atheist is someone who does not condone religion and actively works against it.

Which is why I reckon I'm a "passive atheist" - People who accept religion, tolerate and respect it, but secretly believe that the world would be better off without it.

Passive atheist. It's a set of common ideals, and could be considered a religion itself. Oh the hypocracy/irony/etc.

[Trillionage]

I take atheism as the direct opposition of religion. ie an atheist is someone who does not condone religion and actively works against it.

I think that would be anti-theism. Atheism is simply not believing in god, while anti-theism is what you described.

[BinaryBludgeon]

I call myself atheist because of its etymology [A theist -- Without God-belief (Rough translation)], not those morons who try to be zealous of infringing other people's religious rights.

Personally, I find no problem with religion, even though I don't believe in a god. I think that it's a nice thing to believe in a higher power, I'm just not buying into it. I just hate fanatics from both religious and atheism, who force their ideas on everybody.

I hate the atheists who try to use the freedom from religion clause to defend their right to take down crap like religious demonstrations on /PRIVATE PROPERTY/! Apparently, they don't know that there's also freedom OF religion. I swear, I just want to burn people like that.

I hate religious people who hate homosexuality, and anything that goes against gender roles. I hate those who think they're better than someone because they're "normal," because nobody normal has ever changed the world. I hate the zealots who don't let people make their choices because it goes against God's principles.

This does NOT mean I hate atheists or religious people in general. Just those two types listed above.

[Fimbulin]

Ranting in favor of my Christian beliefs. (because I don't see anyone else doing it)

I'm a Christian, and I'm against gay marriage. Before you peg me in the haters group, I must explain myself. I am against gay marriage because of the system God set up in nature of one man, one woman. I do not hate gays at all. I have many friends who are gay. I very much dislike their life choices, but it's not my job to change them. It's much like my dislike to pornography. Do I like it? NO. Will I call you out on it and hate on you for your involvement with it? NO. There's a lot of crazy "Christians" out there with crazy ideas some going as far as to say that 'God hates gays'. The Bible doesn't say God hates them. People that say stuff like that get all the attention and are what make it kindof hard to call myself a Christian just because they put a bad name on me. Don't go stereotyping me because I take on the name of Christ. It happens to me alot.

On a side note, I don't believe there are any true Atheists, simply because you cannot prove that there is no God. "Agnostic" (belief in the unknowability of the existence of gods) is your new title. xD

[colortwelve]

Alright, these last few posts have made me ready to get this thread back on topic.

I'm a fairly irrepressible optimist, and I tend to always expect the best out of people, life, the universe, and everything, but shit like this sometimes makes me ready to question why I still think this is worthwhile. And the worst part is that I know that if I do this, the skeleton of a worldview which I've been working on building up will come crashing down, and I'll be left with nothing. I encounter far too many of the sort which will go all-out for one side of an issue and react to the other as if it were deadly poison. Nobody ever seems to want to buy into the idea of walking the middle ground, everyone has to be extreme, and the worst part is that it's completely unnecessary. We have reason and intelligence, which should be enough to render extreme opinions flimsy and easily-collapsible by nature, but there seems to be this widespread attitude that renders actual thinking pointless - because culture is all about doing, not thinking, because thinking is for ancient Greeks and weirdos who live alone in the woods and have beards reaching to their knees and scare predators when they laugh.

In short, I'm concerned for humanity's collective mind. Someone offer me some reassurance that's not optimism-flavored!

[Makkon]

I've missed a lot here with my increasingly slipping amount of free time, but to address some issues earlier:
Keep it civil. It's rude and inappropriate to be calling out other members in this thread. If you want to talk about it, take it to PM. Don't do it here.

Anymore thread derailing from dramatic and negative reactions to other users will be issued a ban-warning. This is not the point of this thread. Don't abuse your privilege to post here.

[Fimbulin]

I just reread my post after seeing Makkon's post, and I am sorry because my post may have sounded harsh and negative. It was meant to be a broad vent, and not directed personally to anyone. Keep calm and pony on bros.

[vladnuke]

Alright, these last few posts have made me ready to get this thread back on topic.

I'm a fairly irrepressible optimist, and I tend to always expect the best out of people, life, the universe, and everything, but shit like this sometimes makes me ready to question why I still think this is worthwhile. And the worst part is that I know that if I do this, the skeleton of a worldview which I've been working on building up will come crashing down, and I'll be left with nothing. I encounter far too many of the sort which will go all-out for one side of an issue and react to the other as if it were deadly poison. Nobody ever seems to want to buy into the idea of walking the middle ground, everyone has to be extreme, and the worst part is that it's completely unnecessary. We have reason and intelligence, which should be enough to render extreme opinions flimsy and easily-collapsible by nature, but there seems to be this widespread attitude that renders actual thinking pointless - because culture is all about doing, not thinking, because thinking is for ancient Greeks and weirdos who live alone in the woods and have beards reaching to their knees and scare predators when they laugh.

In short, I'm concerned for humanity's collective mind. Someone offer me some reassurance that's not optimism-flavored!

Well, I completely agree. Moderation is something that can often be forgotten in our teledrama nation. But what people often do is equate moderation with fence sitting, and this is terrible. Although one can take a side, one doesn't have to always agree with one's side. Open discussion and debate has to be exactly that, not a regurgitating of one's opinions upon deaf ears. But often people develop a mentality that they are not trying to learn anything, but that they are trying to win. Bruised egos run awry. That's why you don't try to piss off the person you are debating(maintain humility), because then it just devolves into a pre-school screaming match (or a troll fest).

Don't regard the person you are talking with as your opponent. He is your peer. He may think the craziest thing (Jews secretly run the world, pepsi puts crystal meth in their soda) but it's your job to see why he might think this way, and work with that, not around it. Explain your side. If he refuses to listen, think about why he is refusing. No one wants to be wrong, and that's why debate is not about which side is inherently right or wrong. It's about establishing facts, and making bi-partisan decisions based on those facts, whether it be to agree to not diss one another's religion based on the harm it causes, or that we should not bomb the pepsi warehouse because the FDA knows what they're doing.

And always remember: the internet, despite claims to the contrary is NOT srs bzns. At all.

[Fimbulin]

*tries clicking the NOT link that isn't there. Proceeds to cries.*

[Facade]

guys i need hugs my friend ran away and i haven't heard from her in forever my mom is driving me crazy over a stupid camping trip and I'm being forced to go to something i don't want to go to :/

[Codeum]

Back into the same self loathing rut. The only difference now is that things have happened that make it hard for me to focus on anything important or even sleep. I give up.