this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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As it turns out, the majority of folks are just people trying to get by, and if you're nice enough to them, they'll be nice enough to you.
The problem with most terminally online people is that their social lives ended when they left school, which is when the population of arseholes is at its highest. Everybody is trying to impress everybody else, even at the cost of others.
But a lot of those same people tend to chill off as they mature into adults and become less self-centred. There are still absolutely arsehole adults, but nowhere near as many as the terminally online expect there to be.
I mean this in the nicest possible way, but I think you need to talk to someone and try and gain a new perspective. People aren't inherently mean, and generally aren't thinking about much other than themselves. People do "chill" as they get older and realize a lot of things really don't matter in the long run.
Go find a team sport or a hobby with other like-minded people and focus on building a community of friendship and support. Your life is too short to not spend it being happy.
The way that everyone else seems to be getting along normally in their lives, maybe even having fun reading through this thread, while you're getting angry and "shouting" reminded me of a line from The Count of Monte Cristo, where the count is trying to persuade a similarly unhappy person of the existence of a god.
Which is not to say that it's a good argument; it's actually pretty bad.
"Look at how fortunate I am to believe in my thing, and how unfortunate you are to believe in yours" when their beliefs are totally incidental.
But rereading it made me think about how little it matters about whose perspective is "correct" about something like that. To put it simply, there are plenty of "good people" in the world and there's also plenty of "bad people". Whether or not you choose to see good or bad is (in large part) up to you. Neither way is "right" or "wrong".
I think you would be happier if you tried to look for good instead of bad, but as you've stated, that's not a goal of yours. I don't think that you really have any more "moral integrity" than the other side though. While I'm not asking you to abandon your point of view, I think you should realize that there is a reason why your viewpoint is not very popular; it seems that you've had negative experiences that have caused you to become cynical about human nature but here's a rough analysis of the numbers: the fact that most people are not that cynical is evidence that most people don't have it that bad. People aren't wrong to believe in good human nature when that's what their experiences reflect. They're coming to conclusions in the same way you are, just the other way around.
If your experiences have been so negative, that's an alright thing to base your views on. But I hope that you find more positive experiences in the future that might change your mind. You probably won't find it on Lemmy.
I sincerely wish I understood how someone can get to your point. I wish I could see this as some elaborate troll, but I can't help but see this as something so much darker. I won't recommend anything to you, as it's pretty clear any effort to help is seen as an insult, at best. Just know that there are genuinely people who see reactions like this and wish they could help.
Just, sincerely, best of luck to you.