# Do you think misanthropy is bad?



## Cult (Mar 10, 2012)

Personally, I don't think it's bad. Maybe because I think it's OK if your opinion is that mankind is bad and there is nothing wrong with an opinion. Maybe because I'm already a misanthrope. Probably since I said that, those who think misanthropy is bad are now going to think I'm bad.


----------



## Tybis (Mar 10, 2012)

It actually seems pretty normal, since there's so much to hate!


----------



## Fay V (Mar 10, 2012)

I think people misappropriate the word and mix it up with being a cynic. 

If you were truly a misanthrope you would kill yourself. If you were really a misanthrope you'd reject all of society. It is the extreme. It is a hatred for all mankind and no redeeming value to humanity. 
Ever actually read Gulliver's travels? Beyond the tale of lillyput? He winds up a bitter old man, rejecting even his family because they are vile, humans. He dies alone with only two horses for company. 
That is a misanthrope

The Island of Doctor Moreau, where he sees every human as an abomination, one step away from ripping each other apart like feral beasts. That is a misanthrope. 

A cynic can live with people, a cynic can live with themselves. You might think people in general are bad, you might think the world kind of sucks, but there's still something there. 

I don't think misanthropy is bad necessarily, as misanthropes tend to keep to themselves, but it's not exactly good either. You're not doing anything to help others, you're just bitching. My opinion is mostly skewed by teenagers that find the world isn't lollipops and rainbows and suddenly declare they hate all mankind.


----------



## Ikrit (Mar 10, 2012)

> I hate hymons! dey so bad and mein! furriez fo lyfe!


this is all i see


----------



## Bleedswhitefire (Mar 10, 2012)

Na, it ain't that bad of a thing. If you think about, humans have done more damage to the world then most things could have in the same amount of time. So yea, I could see why they believe what they believe.


----------



## Onnes (Mar 10, 2012)

Misanthrope usually implies a fairly large degree of hatred or contempt. It doesn't just mean distrust or lack of agreement. The problem with misanthropy is that it easily rationalizes antisocial behavior or greater abuses against other people--the empathy of common humanity that would ordinarily prevent you from being a dick has in many senses been rejected. On top of that, humans are inherently social and it's hard to be a proper social creature when you hate everyone else. It's just not a very healthy position to take.


----------



## FlynnCoyote (Mar 10, 2012)

Bleh. I think Fay has the point. I am an introvert and a cynic, but my hatreds tend to be more specific than just "everybody."


----------



## Cult (Mar 10, 2012)

Ikrit said:


> this is all i see



I'm actually not a misanthrope because I'm a furry, I'm a misanthrope because I see history and news and think that mankind has done more bad than it has good.


----------



## Ikrit (Mar 10, 2012)

cultfilmlover said:


> I'm actually not a misanthrope because I'm a furry, I'm a misanthrope because I see history and news and think that mankind has done more bad than it has good.


if some other animal had gain superior intelligence i can guarantee the same thing would have happened


----------



## Cult (Mar 10, 2012)

Ikrit said:


> if some other animal had gain superior intelligence i can guarantee the same thing would have happened



Sad yet true.


----------



## Fay V (Mar 10, 2012)

Ikrit said:


> if some other animal had gain superior intelligence i can guarantee the same thing would have happened


they don't even need to be that intelligent.


----------



## Attaman (Mar 10, 2012)

Yes, I would define misanthropy as bad. You may feel negative about humanity, or feel that humanity could be better, and that's fine. But general hatred / loathing? If I may ask, _why_? Without repeating crock about how "Nature is better" or "Only humans do [x]", because for the first I'm rather certain you're wrong and for the second you're going to have to get down to some pretty precise examples to find an act only pursued by humanity. Let alone the problem of loathing some 6.8 billion people, of which you have probably seen less than .01%, let alone know on a greater basis than "I once quoted them in a post / they were in the same graduating year of my high school / didn't they do an interview on _60 Minutes_". Having a default outlook of "cautious" is one thing, "I hope that fucker gets smeared on the road" is something else entirely.


----------



## Dreaming (Mar 11, 2012)

It depends on what you mean. No, I don't think that the ideology is bad as a whole. I don't really get it, however. If they want to hold those views then they can gi ahead, I can't be assed judging whether it's bad or they're bad for believing X, Y or Z.


----------



## Aetius (Mar 11, 2012)

Misanthropy=Angst


----------



## Unsilenced (Mar 11, 2012)

If they hate everyone so much, why do they feel compelled to tell them about it? Wouldn't it make more sense just to avoid talking to people altogether? What would you hope to accomplish?

Misanthropy is an opinion that, if honestly held, has no rationale for sharing.


----------



## Cocobanana (Mar 11, 2012)

Bad is subjective.

Misanthropy is just there. 

Though, since our interactions with other people are half experience and half projection of our own thoughts, you're saying a lot about yourself if you're a real misanthrope.


----------



## Kitutal (Mar 11, 2012)

I would say that total misanthropy is wrong, cynical though I am I believe there are some good things and some bad things. As I said in the conclusion to one of my history books, generally it is the bigger things that are bad, war, famine, revolution, dictatorial regimes, and the smaller things that are good, friends, romance, hobbies, things of that nature.


----------



## Commiecomrade (Mar 11, 2012)

My view is that a person is a dick until they can prove otherwise.


----------



## Cocobanana (Mar 11, 2012)

Commiecomrade said:


> My view is that a person is a dick until they can prove otherwise.



I'm a dude so I CAN'T prove otherwise.

Unless I got an expensive and discussion promoting surgery...


----------



## Wreth (Mar 11, 2012)

Being a misanthrope is a bit like being speciesist, speciest? Whatever, judge people individually, not as a whole. We already know judging a whole gender, or race is silly, why isn't a species any sillier?


----------



## M. LeRenard (Mar 11, 2012)

I met this Vietnam vet on the train last December when I was going to visit family, and he said something I thought was totally brilliant and deserves to be quoted.  "War is the biggest fucking misunderstanding possible."  That sounds about right.  Both sides in a war were trying to reconcile something, both did it wrong, and a war broke out.  But this implies that the intent on both sides was good, which is always the case.
So I think misanthropy is based entirely on an over-simplified view of the world, and hence misanthropes tend to be more lazy than anything else.  Like, the only real difference between misanthropes and people who start wars is that the people who start wars are trying to improve things.  Yeah, they fuck up just about as badly as is possible to fuck up, but you know... since people aren't perfect logic machines, that's just going to happen every once in a while.  It's no reason to give up on humanity.  You just have to recognize that when there are tons of people to convince, it takes a long time to make progress.
So I think misanthropy is kind of silly.  Like a little kid throwing a tantrum because things didn't go his way.


----------



## Bliss (Mar 11, 2012)

I failed at misanthropy. Some people are so endearing!


----------



## chineseshell (Mar 11, 2012)

If I've learned anything during the 19 years of my life is that NOTHING good comes from hatred so yea it's bad. There's no point in feeding hatred. It just puts you on a path to self destruction.


----------



## DarrylWolf (Mar 11, 2012)

As a human being, I oppose misanthropy- the hatred of human beings.


----------



## Kitutal (Mar 11, 2012)

As a humanist, I believe that people could be wonderful, if only they tried a little harder


----------



## DarrylWolf (Mar 11, 2012)

Kitutal said:


> As a humanist, I believe that people could be wonderful, if only they tried a little harder



Yes, yes. We can all agree on that- stop drinking so much, take up a hobby, exercise every day, learn to love your family, get up at a decent hour, throw out your pornography collection, and don't be ashamed to admit you believe in world peace. Except that not only would society in general be too lazy to modify their lifestyles even just a little bit, there would still be something missing even if we did all these things.


----------



## ZerX (Mar 11, 2012)

World peace is a great idea but that won't come anytime soon. Jews and arabs are killing themselves for the last 50 years, at least 100.000 north koreans are locked up in "reform" camps, ppl in Africa & middle east get stoned to death for being gay, for having sex before they are married, drugs wars raging in Juarez Mexico (over 2000 ppl are killed yearly),...
there will be no world peace anytime soon


----------



## Neuron (Mar 11, 2012)

Well I don't believe in misantrophy myself and I believe it's not healthy for oneself. Like Fay pointed out it's usually a very extreme thing to be misanthrophic and it doesn't pay well. Being good to other people though...that does pay off in the end.


----------



## Ovidius (Mar 11, 2012)

My boyfriend considers himself to dislike the majority of humanity as a whole, but acknowledges that they are rare moments when people actually work together and so on. So I'd consider him a cynic, sometimes bordering on misanthrope.


----------



## Attaman (Mar 11, 2012)

ZerX said:


> World peace is a great idea but that won't come anytime soon. Jews and arabs are killing themselves for the last 50 years, at least 100.000 north koreans are locked up in "reform" camps, ppl in Africa & middle east get stoned to death for being gay, for having sex before they are married, drugs wars raging in Juarez Mexico (over 2000 ppl are killed yearly),...
> there will be no world peace anytime soon


 The thing is, you seem to be pinning the lack of peace purely on the "human" factor. Scarcity and competition also play _major_ parts in conflict.


----------



## Traven V (Mar 11, 2012)

I don't think it's bad, people have their opinions. I think human race is kind of a disease to Mother Earth, just look at what we do, and i think that's sufficient enough reason to hate humanity. "What have they done to the earth?  What have they done to our fair sister? , Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her , Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn , And tied her with fences and dragged her down." ~ Jim Morrison
But I also agree with Kitutal I'm kinda a Humanitarian (damb my bleeding heart) I just think we have over populated and are motivated by negative virtues, but there are good people out there we just hide, pull the guard up. I dunno that's my take, but I think Bob Marley said it best, â€œThe truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.â€


----------



## Attaman (Mar 11, 2012)

Traven V said:


> I agree with most it's not bad the human race is kind of a disease to Mother Earth.


 Tip: Read the thread before you posting. That way you won't come off as a fool saying "I agree with most that Humanity is a kind of disease and Misanthropy is not bad at all".


----------



## Traven V (Mar 11, 2012)

Oops I'm sorry, I may have misunderstood the question or meaning of misanthropy. I just was trying to comment that it's alright to have an opposing opinion, and also add that the human race as a whole have been pretty bad to the earth and each other, that is all, I apologize and thank you for the correction.


----------



## DarrylWolf (Mar 12, 2012)

Attaman said:


> Tip: Read the thread before you posting. That way you won't come off as a fool saying "I agree with most that Humanity is a kind of disease and Misanthropy is not bad at all".



And I hate to say it so many times whenever someone talks about Mother Earth. It's actually (Jewish) Mother Earth so she'll be complaining about how her kids, the humans, no longer even think of her and that they won't drink chicken soup when they have the flu. And she'll tell us how we need to get into medical or law school and how much pain she went through in the Precambrian Era just so that we could have this wonderful opportunity in the present day. And (Jewish) Mother Earth won't let us get a word in edgewise when we have an argument.

No, humans aren't so much a disease to the Earth as somewhat of a nuisance that the Earth will tolerate.


----------



## ZerX (Mar 12, 2012)

Attaman said:


> The thing is, you seem to be pinning the lack of peace purely on the "human" factor. Scarcity and competition also play _major_ parts in conflict.


That maybe true but also poor management of resources is also to blame. There would be a lot less hungry ppl in the world if ppl would handle money/oil/food/other resources better. Zimbabwe was once one of the most developed countries in Africa. After Mugabe's 30 years in power they now have an unemployment of 94%, most ppl have don't food to eat, farming has fallen considerably,... So you can have resources but if they aren't managed properly it doesn't help having them if someone wastes them or manages them poorely.


----------



## Attaman (Mar 12, 2012)

ZerX said:


> That maybe true but also poor management of resources is also to blame.


 And even with 100% perfect logistics / bureaucracy, scarcity would not cease to be, the same with competition. In fact, poor logistics / bureaucracy exacerbate the problem of scarcity, not the other way around.



ZerX said:


> There would be a lot less hungry ppl in the world if ppl would handle money/oil/food/other resources better.


 And if you're in a nation of starving people, and you notice your neighbors aren't starving? How you'll probably attempt to move to that new nation, which then adds strain to the humanitarian aid? I'm not saying Humanitarian Aid is bad or anything of the sort, but - heck, as mentioned in your originally quoted post, though non-obviously / intentionally - scarcity is a very big part in global conflict.


----------



## Ozriel (Mar 12, 2012)

Everytime I see a misanthropic "hyoomanz r bad" post, I am tempted to just say "off yourself and leave some room". Of corse, such a thing would be cruel and beneath me. :V

I am more of a social/behavioral-Pessimist than a Misanthrope.


----------



## Gavrill (Mar 12, 2012)

i only hate things that are altogether awful, not things that can improve or i enjoy parts of

such as the matrix trilogy


----------



## gerritmuk (Mar 12, 2012)

*bravo ))*

very usefull message bravo )


----------



## Heimdal (Mar 12, 2012)

Misanthropes are one of the reasons I hate humanity as much as I do!


----------



## Metalmeerkat (Mar 12, 2012)

Y'know, there's all this joking about misanthropes offing themselves, but there are real groups that are dedicated to that _*coughvhemtcough*_.
Though given that they've been around for decades, they obviously aren't good at what they do . . .


----------



## Calemeyr (Mar 12, 2012)

Hmm...furries are people...I'd say it's a good thing...but then there are good people too...dammit furries stop skewing everything!


----------



## Deo (Mar 12, 2012)

Onnes said:


> Misanthrope usually implies a fairly large degree of hatred or contempt. It doesn't just mean distrust or lack of agreement. The problem with misanthropy is that it easily rationalizes antisocial behavior or greater abuses against other people--the empathy of common humanity that would ordinarily prevent you from being a dick has in many senses been rejected. On top of that, humans are inherently social and it's hard to be a proper social creature when you hate everyone else. It's just not a very healthy position to take.



THIS. Our Viking God has spoken. 
Now, I also have to think that misanthropy is misguided. Hatred at oneself or humanity often isn't rational, justified, or healthy. It's generalizations and vague bitterness at the even vaguer concept of "people". And that anyone can muster so strong and vitrolic an emotion as hatred, and sustain that emotion to feel it for every single memeber of seven billion people, mostly innocents whom the bitter person has never met, well that's absurd or severely unhealthy. When people say "I'm a misanthrope"  I cannot fathom carrying around that much negativity, that much rage (ironic coming from me, eh?), and that much willful generalization for so long a time as it takes to develope such a deep rooted hatred of humanity. I can see people saying "I don't like people sometimes" or "Sometimes in certain situations people do awful things", we all have those fleeting moments and thoughts, but to announce misanthropy is extreme.


----------



## Metalmeerkat (Mar 13, 2012)

Deo said:


> THIS. Our Viking God has spoken.
> Now, I also have to think that misanthropy is misguided. Hatred at oneself or humanity often isn't rational, justified, or healthy. It's generalizations and vague bitterness at the even vaguer concept of "people". And that anyone can muster so strong and vitrolic an emotion as hatred, and sustain that emotion to feel it for every single memeber of seven billion people, mostly innocents whom the bitter person has never met, well that's absurd or severely unhealthy. When people say "I'm a misanthrope"  I cannot fathom carrying around that much negativity, that much rage (ironic coming from me, eh?), and that much willful generalization for so long a time as it takes to develope such a deep rooted hatred of humanity. I can see people saying "I don't like people sometimes" or "Sometimes in certain situations people do awful things", we all have those fleeting moments and thoughts, but to announce misanthropy is extreme.



It's very easy to hate the rest of the world if you hate yourself. The pain from self-loathing can go a long way; it can horribly twist attitude and perceptions. And it can be reflected in nasty ways.


----------



## chineseshell (Mar 13, 2012)

There's no rational reason to say you hate humanity. To do so would mean you hate every human being who was, is, and will be alive for whatever selfish and stupid reason you have. These kind of groups fail to grasp the severity of their ignorance which is pretty sad to say the least because their striving for goal that has no meaning and is an utter waste of time.


----------

