Sincerity in the age of cynicism

This generation of young adults was born into cynicism. We were raised on irony and grew up with our tongues in our cheeks. We made shrewd comments on the world around us through witty remarks told in monotone voices, the only tone of voice that would adequately convey our detachment and fatigue. We're tired of bullshit. Authority figures mewling and spitting at each other just mirror the way we speak on ground level. We're overwhelmed with double entendres and subtext and illusions, all the fucking illusions. Having been so thoroughly alienated with the rise of the virtual and the digital and the clinical, we feel alone in what everyone else calls a universal, interconnected world. We know that's not true. We're all just alone together.

But history moves through tidal waves of reaction, and I propose we react with Sincerity. I mean shit, we're all dying, and we can spend the intermission between birth and death by crossing our legs and clenching our fists and muttering our spiteful deadpan wisdom or we can actually strive for perfection. Can't we just walk towards the ideal? Smiling at the monstrous future takes courage, so I say we prove to everyone that the world is not lost on our hands. I think we should fight as the zeitgeist of Sincerity. What do you think?

Debate 2
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Pomegranate 19
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Comments ( 70 )
  • I didn't realize it'd be so hard to understand, but I guess I didn't do a very good job of explaining. I'll cut the flowery hyperbolic shit.

    Many young adults are cynical and frustrated. I don't think it's unique to our generation, but in a highly digitized, clinical era, the things that were supposed to be making us more interconnected are actually causing a lot of alienation and emotional detachment. We are becoming more connected, not to each other, but to technology. Not that technology is inherently bad; it's just incredibly powerful and difficult to wield.

    Giving in to the cynicism and playing along is the easy thing to do. I think it would behoove us to take a more optimistic approach.

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    • wigsplitz

      Some rapper said it, about the ghetto, in the 90's....'As much as I hate this motherfucker, I love this motherfucker'.

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    • wigsplitz

      Well when you put it like this....

      I see people my age both embracing technology and longing for the 'old days' when there was no facebook, and cops couldn't run your license plate with their cameras, etc. Yes, you feel like less of a person. Yet you are more 'known' or connected to what(?), connected to a database, where people who both love you and hate you can find you easily.

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      • I don't really long for the 'old days' (though I did finally delete my Facebook), I just think that there's a tremendous social power in technological connectivity that I don't think we've quite harnessed properly yet. It did help bring about a revolution in Egypt, which I think speaks for its potential for positive change. But as of now, I think most are still stuck in cynicism.

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        • wigsplitz

          Replace computer with phone book, phone book with village registrar, all the same.

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          • I'm actually just old enough to remember that idyllic time before the internet. I think kids born in the new millennium (who've nearly hit puberty, which is an odd thought) will have an interesting perspective on the matter as well.

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  • dom180

    Definitely pomegranate.

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    • Obviously.

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  • howaminotmyself

    Beware the cycle of cynicism

    Learn about a problem.
    Wanting to do something to help.
    Not seeing how you can help.
    Not doing anything.
    Feeling sad, powerless, angry.
    Deciding to do nothing.
    Shut down.
    Wanting to know less about problems.
    Repeat until apathy results.

    Or...
    Take personal responsibility.
    Create a vision of a better world based on your values.
    Seek out quality information.
    Discover practical options.
    Acting in line with values.
    Recognize you can't do everything.
    Repeat until you see a better world.

    I didn't write that, by the way. But I like it.

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    • Shackleford96

      This made me think of the scientific method for some reason lol.

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      • howaminotmyself

        As long as it made you think, then all is good.

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    • I like that. Pretty much everything I was trying to say.

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  • lisac1919

    i had to unfavourite this im annoyed of the notifications

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  • Ihadtomakeyetanotheraccountffs

    Maybe I'm a fucking moron - I agree with you but I don't know which option to choose...

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    • I made the poll nonsensical so people would discuss instead of vote.

      But I guess nobody wants to. I'm glad you agree though.

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  • Is it technology that gave rise to our cynicism or was it the thing that gave expression to what was already internalized inside of us? I think the latter.

    Just as knives, guns, and words are the vehicles used to express a man's inner violence (or his justice) so is technology something meant to illuminate a nature, rather than create one.

    If technology is a part of the problem it's because people are corrupting it's purpose and using it for things it was never meant to be.

    And I agree with what you're saying about sincerity. But you need something more running behind it than just an ambiguous spirit/emotion. You can't direct the future of an age with only genuine concern, it has to have a philosophy or a reason driving it. A vision is what brought society into this and a vision is what will bring it out.

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    • I absolutely agree, as I often do with your comments. There's nothing innate in technology that propels us to cynicism, it's just that it is "incredibly powerful and difficult to wield".

      A philosopher at heart, bringing this over from the conceptual to the pragmatic is something I'm having trouble doing. I'm willing to bet that there's some way to reach out to people who possess vision and action, the people who could actually DO something constructive for the world. Now if only there were some tool I could use to connect with many people over large distances.....

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      • I realized I was pretty much re-saying what you said (once again) but it was something I felt strongly about and wanted to say rather than just thumb up your comment and move along.

        You mentioned how the human race is all alone together. Society doesn‘t have to be that way. Think of Fight Club. A group of disillusioned nobodies hailing from all walks of life yet united under a single cause. In the real world they might have scorned each other for their differences but in Fight Club there was none of that; only brotherhood, acceptance, and zeal for a vision.

        30 resolute voices make more noise than the 30,000,000 who silently disagree.

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  • crimson_mamba

    Random Internet Man.

    Ironically, why did you write anonymously via internet (technology), a tool you are subtly arguing against.

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    • Again, I am by no means arguing against the internet or technology.

      Technology refers loosely to tools. Tools are amplifiers - hammers amplify power, binoculars amplify vision, wheels amplify speed. The internet, as a conceptual tool, amplifies ideas. Tools have no inherent value - their utility lies in how we use them. And just as a hammer can be used ineptly or for malicious purposes, so can the internet. I am suggesting that we get better at using this tool, and learn to use it with benevolent intentions.

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      • crimson_mamba

        You didnt answer my question as to why you decided to write anonymously. Shouldnt your title suggest that you too be "sincere" with your identity?

        Furthermore, you are approaching this tool without approaching the root itself. yes it is a tool to amplify ideas, which can be bene/male/volent. But the tool is tangent. It can be anything. And while you may destroy/subside/regulate..etc the tool, it is the very idea itself which cannot be destroyed. To "learn to use" this tool for benevolent purposes is to "condition" or "regulate" the mind/idea to fit this category of what "you" or "some authority" considers to be benevolent. On what basis? There is no uniform benevolent approach which will satisfy every person. What is benevolent to me may be cruel to you, and vice versa.

        Is there anything specific that you are referring to, and perhaps center on it, so as to be on the same ground, because right now, you are being very vague as a whole. Yes your ideas are wordy and lengthy, but have no central "thesis" or pinpoint to specific examples.

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        • With regards to anonymity:
          Well, I'm flutterhigh. What difference does that make? Even if I were to tell you my real name, it would have no bearing on how you perceived my ideas, nor should it. The sincerity I'm speaking of is a heartfelt kindness. I'm not really referring to blatant honesty alone.

          With regards to the tool:
          That's what I call a fruitless truth. Are you arguing that we will never come to a complete consensus on what is good for society? I think that's obviously true. But are you then trying to argue that this renders my intentions invalid? Or anyone else's, for that matter? That's what I call a fruitless truth. It takes wisdom to realize that true knowledge may be impossible. It takes stupidity to thus decide never to try and learn anything.

          I'm not proposing that everyone does or even should agree with me. So far you haven't judged my ideas - only that I'm putting them forth at all. So then, what are your opinions on this? I'm not asking this out of spite, I'd honestly like to hear them.

          With regards to my thesis:
          I do agree that I'm dancing around the root of the issues, but I don't think that makes it insubstantial. These are just conceptual observations, really. I'll admit once again that I was using flowery, esoteric language, but the intent was to foster some sort of enthusiasm. But it's true that I don't know how to apply any of this on a practical level.

          That said, I'm glad you answered with something other than "ya totally" or "that's fucking dumb".

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  • You're all idiots. This is my post. Right Anonn?

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    • Yes I am you. I mean me. Floydzcloud is my name, yes. Definitely. My username signifies how much I hate Pink Floyd.

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      • Nice.

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  • bubber

    Cute post, do you write poetry?

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    • Thanks -- I write music. Interestingly, my lyrical style is pretty esoteric, so judging by the mixed reactions I guess that shone through here as well. I also just wanted to get people excited about compassion, which is surprisingly hard to do.

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  • Shackleford96

    "We're all just alone together."

    This really spoke to me.

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  • lisac1919

    thats an extremly well written thing. ive been trying to explain that for a while.

    i may copy and paste this for an essay or something and pretend its mine...and thats a compliment :D

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    • wigsplitz

      Yeah, I bet that would go over like a fart in church.

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    • I don't know about copying the whole thing into an essay (for your sake), but I actually don't really mind if you take my wording/ideas to share with people. It's not like citing "Anonymous Poll Creator" will give me any recognition. I just don't want you to get caught plagiarizing.

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      • lisac1919

        lol yeah i know...they have new technology that would be able to tell if i copy and pasted. but i seriously may use that and quote it, thanks for taking the time to write that...assuming you did

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        • I did write it, and I'm glad you liked it. It's something I've been ruminating on for a while.

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  • dappled

    What on earth are you talking about?

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    • Gena45

      We are on the same page...

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      • dappled

        You and I usually are. :)

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        • Gena45

          I know, that's why we have our own club xD

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          • dappled

            Ahh, that made me grin. I'm glad you remembered. Must be time for an AGM sometime soon. I'll bring the drinks and the food and you bring, hmm, you. :D

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            • Gena45

              Of course I remembered. =] And sounds great, see you soon! Lol.

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      • My explanation in the comments may help.

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        • Gena45

          Yeah I read them and I get it now lol.

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        • dappled

          In retrospect, I do get what you were trying to say. I honestly didn't at first, though.

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    • I know right?!

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  • Dozis

    Sincerity? Honesty? Do these words even mean anything? Apparently,nope. For some people. So every discussion is simply: an immense waste of time.

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  • Rufus

    Maybe some of us don't mind being cynical and insincere.

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    • I'm not trying to force anyone to do anything.

      That said, just because some people don't mind institutional racism, doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile to fight against it.

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  • crimson_mamba

    Have you seen the movie "The Matrix"? The part when Neo finally meets the architect of the matrix, that old guy, his dialect reminds me of you, random one

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    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5-H9ZBS1U

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  • wigsplitz

    Me too but only right after I've taken a shower.

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  • SoccerStud88

    Only Dappled would have the extreme cleverness and mental capacity to post this.

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    • dappled

      I think we should fight as the zeitgeist of Sincerity. You're really going to blame something like this on me?

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      • What don't you understand?

        Witty quips are just too easy, dappled. Though I do appreciate the irony of our role reversal here.

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        • dappled

          Yeah, it's refreshing, isn't it? Wait! Am I the bad guy now? Or the good guy? I need to know whether I'm supposed to be nice to people or whether I turn my considerable powers to making you all suffer at my hands.

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          • I don't think dry repartee is your thing. Stick to armchair psychiatry or join the sincerity.

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            • dappled

              Yay! Thanks! Back to the armchair psychiatry, then (although I'll have to buy an armchair). Why are you so scared of people knowing you (including qualified mental health experts as opposed to me who just helps train them)? What great guilty secret are you hiding? I bet it's not even that bad. You've probably just built it up in your mind to be more than it is. I await your sincere answer.

              Better? :)

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    • wigsplitz

      Come on now! This is the work of flutterhigh.

      Anyway dappled wouldn't reply to his own post as he did here (posting as if it wasn't him that posted the poll), I don't think.

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      • SoccerStud88

        that's exactly what he WANTS you to think, and only adds to his cleverness.

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        • wigsplitz

          ; ) perhaps!

          I did notice something he posted earlier which was obviously a show of his manipulativeness.

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          • SoccerStud88

            he tricked me into sticking my dick into his mouth and i'm not even gay!@@!#

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            • wigsplitz

              Right? Sneaky bastard. But I heard you're not gay if you just get your dick sucked.

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