another pointless thread...existential grousing

[Arising_uk]

No one ever admits that they themselves are PC. ...

You'd make a good witchfinder.

It's similar to how kristian nutters always claim to be 'not religious'. ...

They always claim to be religious.

And you clearly have no empathy, being the tough old boiling fowl that you are. You can't help that of course. ...

How 'PC' of you. Why would I want to feel what a clearly disturbed individual feels?

Unless someone wants to go and live under a rock as a hermit for the rest of their life there is going to be a substantial level of awareness of social media. How can you expect a child at school not to know what's going on?

But social media(SM) doesn't tell you what's going on. The algorithms just tell you what you'd like to think is going on.

Young people now depend on social media for their social existence. ...

Interestingly enough the yoof tend to use SM differently from the adults as they use it as a tool to actually connect in RL.

I don't even know how to use Twitter, but somehow I still know what's going on in the world, and even on Twitter to an extent. I avoided reading the paper for a while or watching TV news, but still managed to be more aware of what was going on in the world than the average person.

And how would you know this?

What is this 'average person'?

Like I say, upon the whole SM just tells you the world is like you wish it to be. It's the ultimate in confirmation bias and selective reading writ large.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

No one ever admits that they themselves are PC. ...

You'd make a good witchfinder.

It's similar to how kristian nutters always claim to be 'not religious'. ...

They always claim to be religious.

And you clearly have no empathy, being the tough old boiling fowl that you are. You can't help that of course. ...

How 'PC' of you. Why would I want to feel what a clearly disturbed individual feels?

Unless someone wants to go and live under a rock as a hermit for the rest of their life there is going to be a substantial level of awareness of social media. How can you expect a child at school not to know what's going on?

But social media(SM) doesn't tell you what's going on. The algorithms just tell you what you'd like to think is going on.

Young people now depend on social media for their social existence. ...

Interestingly enough the yoof tend to use SM differently from the adults as they use it as a tool to actually connect in RL.

I don't even know how to use Twitter, but somehow I still know what's going on in the world, and even on Twitter to an extent. I avoided reading the paper for a while or watching TV news, but still managed to be more aware of what was going on in the world than the average person.

And how would you know this?

What is this 'average person'?

Like I say, upon the whole SM just tells you the world is like you wish it to be. It's the ultimate in confirmation bias and selective reading writ large.

I've said this before. You obviously don't understand a word I write, you misconstrue everything, so there is no point in you interacting with me. Strange, because my writing has always been considered to be very clear. And being emotionally fragile is hardly the same thing as being 'disturbed'. She was a perfectly sane woman. Events can cause someone to become emotionally fragile. That doesn't make them insane. Her career began long before cunts acquired the internet to play with. Did I say I get all my information from social media? I absorb it from all kinds of places. Are you suggesting that because something happens on FB or Twitter or any other social media then it's not real? Bah. I'm sick of repeating myself to you. You argue for the sake of arguing and that's tiresome.

[SpheresOfBalance]

I call myself an atheist, but, honestly, I don't know what I am.

With absolutely no evidence that 'anyone' is there to justify it, I've spent many a desperate moment asking for assistance. Today, for example, my kid is having significant problems at school. Being the odd man out, he's targeted, bullied, and made to feel 'less than' and 'wrong'.

This stuff weighs heavy on me.

Then, this morning, I read about an Ohio eight-year old who hanged himself after being bullied. Like mine, this was a decent kid who just wanted to be accepted; a kid, like mine, with difficulty focusing and controlling impulses.

Which brings me to this...

If God (a self-directing, intelligent, supranatural being responsible for designing, creating and sustaining reality) exists, has the power to intercede in the world, and has the investment (the interest) in the world that some folks claim, why is my ten year suffering? Why did an eight-year find it necessary to kill himself?

I don't expect my kid to be 'saved' or 'spared'. No, in my desperate pleadings I simply ask that his will be bolstered so that he can bear the miseries.

Me, I do all I can with him, and with the school, to ensure he doesn't get any more of a raw deal than he has already.

Now, mebbe God 'is' holdin' up His end of the deal, mebbe God has a plan, mebbe, for mine, things will get better.

But, it would one ballsy son of a bitch to suggest such things to the parents of that eight-year old.

Good point HQ! And just for the record I've always hated bullies. Saving many from having to deal with their ignorance. But yes if there is an all loving god, one would expect him looking out for those innocents that are murdered in the name of whacked out insanely selfish people, that were caught all alone, with no earthly bound hero to rescue them. And if there is one, that I meet in the end, after seeing how he's managed his creations, he'd better stay at arms length away from me, cause I'll punch his teeth down his fucking throat for being such an unloving prićk! But there is no such thing as a god, such as those that believe there is. It's simply their faerie tale, in the face of their fear of dying, so they can attempt to ward off that fear, pure and simple. Enroll your boy in a karate class based in self defense, that will fix those bullies.

Edit: Spelling!

[Greta]

I have tried to respond to this a couple of times and failed because my own school experiences are too raw, 44 years on. It's embarrassing to be so weak and vulnerable, but there you go. Five years of sustained mental and emotional pressure from bullies. I was sensitive and didn't make it, something broke. I flunked out a year before matriculating and spending a lot of time thinking about how I might commit suicide with minimum trauma to my parents. My main interest in philosophy is existential - the nature of life an death - and there is a tie-in. Lemonade from lemons and all that

Seriously, do what you have to to protect your child, Henry. Maybe move him to a school away from those who are targetting him. What does he want? The bullies probably won't stop unless forced by the school or their parents; some kids simply lack restraint. One option is to write and speak to the school in a stiffly formal way about the issue that suggests that you are gathering evidence and clearing the way for legal action, but without actually making the threat (maybe hold that Ace up your sleeve).

My school did nothing back in the day. They let me fail. With a strong right wing culture, the school leadership group would have figured that they couldn't save everyone (true enough on the face of it) and seemingly one unconventional, moderately autistic child would seem as good as any to let go. All fair enough, unless you are the child or his or her family.

So we can't rely on schools. It's up to the parents to do the hard work, unless they can scare the schools into actually getting interested in protecting their little monsters from each other. Good luck with it.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

I have tried to respond to this a couple of times and failed because my own school experiences are too raw, 44 years on. It's embarrassing to be so weak and vulnerable, but there you go. Five years of sustained mental and emotional pressure from bullies. I was sensitive and didn't make it, something broke. I flunked out a year before matriculating and spending a lot of time thinking about how I might commit suicide with minimum trauma to my parents. My main interest in philosophy is existential - the nature of life an death - and there is a tie-in. Lemonade from lemons and all that

Seriously, do what you have to to protect your child, Henry. Maybe move him to a school away from those who are targetting him. What does he want? The bullies probably won't stop unless forced by the school or their parents; some kids simply lack restraint. One option is to write and speak to the school in a stiffly formal way about the issue that suggests that you are gathering evidence and clearing the way for legal action, but without actually making the threat (maybe hold that Ace up your sleeve).

My school did nothing back in the day. They let me fail. With a strong right wing culture, the school leadership group would have figured that they couldn't save everyone (true enough on the face of it) and seemingly one unconventional, moderately autistic child would seem as good as any to let go. All fair enough, unless you are the child or his or her family.

So we can't rely on schools. It's up to the parents to do the hard work, unless they can scare the schools into actually getting interested in protecting their little monsters from each other. Good luck with it.

I was forced out of a school by a vicious bully who made my life a total misery. He used mental and physical cruelty. I looked him up recently. Ironically but unsurprisingly the piece of shit is a successful psychologist, and still as ugly and vile as he was then. In fact he looks exactly the same.
I couldn't help emailing him to ask if he had done any studies on why someone would want to terrorise a young girl and drive her from a school. He flatly denied it was him and said he was passing my email to the police What an utter kunt. It's typical that he thrived though. My lovely friend at the same school died young in excruciatingly tragic circumstances.

[Walker]

I was forced out of a school by a vicious bully who made my life a total misery. He used mental and physical cruelty. I looked him up recently. Ironically but unsurprisingly the piece of shit is a successful psychologist, and still as ugly and vile as he was then. In fact he looks exactly the same.
I couldn't help emailing him to ask if he had done any studies on why someone would want to terrorise a young girl and drive her from a school. He flatly denied it was him and said he was passing my email to the police What an utter kunt. It's typical that he thrived though. My lovely friend at the same school died young in excruciatingly tragic circumstances.

Do you think that you could ever forgive him, and do you think that you ever bully?

[vegetariantaxidermy]

I was forced out of a school by a vicious bully who made my life a total misery. He used mental and physical cruelty. I looked him up recently. Ironically but unsurprisingly the piece of shit is a successful psychologist, and still as ugly and vile as he was then. In fact he looks exactly the same.
I couldn't help emailing him to ask if he had done any studies on why someone would want to terrorise a young girl and drive her from a school. He flatly denied it was him and said he was passing my email to the police What an utter kunt. It's typical that he thrived though. My lovely friend at the same school died young in excruciatingly tragic circumstances.

Do you think that you could ever forgive him, and do you think that you ever bully?

No and no. Especially not when I actually do know what bullying is. Or are we now going to have a massive discussion on the 'subjectivity' of bullying? Are 'philosophers' the most boring people in the world?

[Greta]

I have tried to respond to this a couple of times and failed because my own school experiences are too raw, 44 years on. It's embarrassing to be so weak and vulnerable, but there you go. Five years of sustained mental and emotional pressure from bullies. I was sensitive and didn't make it, something broke. I flunked out a year before matriculating and spending a lot of time thinking about how I might commit suicide with minimum trauma to my parents. My main interest in philosophy is existential - the nature of life an death - and there is a tie-in. Lemonade from lemons and all that

Seriously, do what you have to to protect your child, Henry. Maybe move him to a school away from those who are targetting him. What does he want? The bullies probably won't stop unless forced by the school or their parents; some kids simply lack restraint. One option is to write and speak to the school in a stiffly formal way about the issue that suggests that you are gathering evidence and clearing the way for legal action, but without actually making the threat (maybe hold that Ace up your sleeve).

My school did nothing back in the day. They let me fail. With a strong right wing culture, the school leadership group would have figured that they couldn't save everyone (true enough on the face of it) and seemingly one unconventional, moderately autistic child would seem as good as any to let go. All fair enough, unless you are the child or his or her family.

So we can't rely on schools. It's up to the parents to do the hard work, unless they can scare the schools into actually getting interested in protecting their little monsters from each other. Good luck with it.

I was forced out of a school by a vicious bully who made my life a total misery. He used mental and physical cruelty. I looked him up recently. Ironically but unsurprisingly the piece of shit is a successful psychologist, and still as ugly and vile as he was then. In fact he looks exactly the same.

It sounds familiar. I was close to forgiving after attending a school reunion for the first time but he was there the second time and he apologised to me. I agreed to let bygones be bygones and then, when he got pissed, he and his wife both started abusing me. As always, my "classmates" did nothing to help. As with school, I just walked out without bothering with goodbyes.

Yet forgiveness is a gift to ourselves, not to the entropic forces that cross our paths. It's kinder to oneself to let things go. I struggled to forgive again after the adult incident put paid to my previous "well, young people can be wild" rationalisations. No, there was something more - an instinctive hatred and hostility towards me on his part, probably stemming from unrequited lust. No wonder his wife attacked me - she probably noticed his obsession.
Ultimately victims of bullying (and other sufferers of PTSD) just have to accept that they lost something in the transaction, with battle scars in place of what was taken away from them.

So it goes. Sometimes in life we have our life stolen from us. Some might lose a limb in life's battles, others a piece of their mind or emotions. Most people, when asked if they would want to reincarnate, usually say "hell no", imagining having to go through all that all over again. Ditto.

[thedoc]

So it goes. Sometimes in life we have our life stolen from us. Some might lose a limb in life's battles, others a piece of their mind or emotions. Most people, when asked if they would want to reincarnate, usually say "hell no", imagining having to go through all that all over again. Ditto.

Neither my wife nor I have had any inclination to attend our class reunions for many years. Most of the people she would be interested in seeing again do not attend, and I have no desire to meet any of the people that I went to school with. Sometimes it's best to just walk away and forget about it, especially if there is nothing to make you want to return.

[thedoc]

Especially not when I actually do know what bullying is.

Then I will assume that you do not consider your attacks on Americans as bullying.

[thedoc]

Is prejudice a form of bullying?

[Philosophy Explorer]

Is prejudice a form of bullying?

When it's expressed.

PhilX

[vegetariantaxidermy]

Especially not when I actually do know what bullying is.

Then I will assume that you do not consider your attacks on Americans as bullying.

You can whine to me when I become the most powerful country on the planet and start raining megabombs and drones down on you.

[thedoc]

Especially not when I actually do know what bullying is.

Then I will assume that you do not consider your attacks on Americans as bullying.

You can whine to me when I become the most powerful country on the planet and start raining megabombs and drones down on you.

What has that got to do with anything, or is it just your own way of coping with your own inadequacies.

[thedoc]

Is prejudice a form of bullying?

When it's expressed.

PhilX

So when the black students openly expressed their prejudice against me, they were actually trying to bully me into a particular form of behavior.