With all the tragedies that come with life, why do people get offended by petty shit?

[worldexploder]

take the word FUCK by example. On its own what harm does it do? It's a vocal utterance. What about a nipple slip? Oh that gets people's blood boiling! Or this whole merry-Christmas vs Happy Holidays argument. It's so stupid!

Wars, famines, diseases.....those doesn't seem to bother most of humanity as much.

 

[BaconCheeseburger]

It amuses me that I'm able to ruin someone's entire day by simply working in customer service and doing my job.

People are such babies, more than babies themselves!

 

[Schopenhauer]

Well, that's just how the human mind works. I'd be an hypocrite if I were to curse them. Even though I'm about to die, I still get angry when a slow driver in front breaks on a yellow light (to give one minor example). Humans are fucked up.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

One thing I've learned is that if people don't have legitimate problems they will dream some up in their minds. I think in that sense, humans have naturally chaotic and dysfunctional thinking, creating problems where there aren't really any. But to be honest, I could only dream of having so few worries that I can scroll through Facebook all day getting offended by abortion, Trump's tweets, or whatever boring hot-button issue is doing the rounds.

One thing I never understood is people expending energy getting fired up over stupid shit while ignoring things that actually make a difference. They focus on raw emotion or things that trigger knee-jerk reactions but disregard the stuff that really impacts people's lives. Some sap story over a hunted elephant will go viral while 6 hours in the ER can cost $4000. Or work themselves into a frenzy over some mildly racist comment online when the average college education in the US now costs $57,000. I'm just saying, if you're going to get offended over something, at least make it count.

 

[Threads]

It's important to be aware of how our actions and thoughts effect others. What one person considers petty may in fact be a legitimate issue to someone else.

I can't stand the big deal people make over Starbucks making a cup of coffee a certain color during a holiday. At the same time, I understand that these same people place a lot of value on their holidays and that celebrating the season is a part of their culture.

A couple more examples.

Non-smokers. I used to be a pack a day guy. If I was smoking outside on the sidewalk and minding my own business, I would just want to be left alone. My biggest regret about quitting smoking was that I became a non-smoker. I understand that people dont want to breath in smoke. And that second hand smoke is bad for you. But if I am in a designated smoking area, please don't give me a lecture about cancer.

I can't stand people who make issues about plus size models or people who are overweight. I honestly don't understand why this is such a big issue.

Losing weight and keeping it off is a brutal process, especially when you are depressed. I get that being overweight and obese is unhealthy, but what is more damaging and unhealthy is a society that is constantly treats you as a net negative and reinforcing hateful thoughts and destructive behavior.

Overweight and obese people already understand that they aren't healthy. But there is nothing wrong with someone who is trying to look beautiful. I think it is pretty fucking petty and low to shame someone for their weight.

I think that people who shame people for their weight are terrible people, and they should be shaming the corporations who market unhealthy foods as 'part of a healthy diet' and further propagate these negative social norms to profit off of those who suffer from being overweight/obese.

 

[TAW122]

In addition to what others said, I think it is that people feel that they can expend the least amount of energy into caring and being angry about something (even though it's petty and insignificant) can give them some sense of doing something or importance, even when (rationally and logically) it doesn't. Humans are still by far rather irrational and very emotional by large so this translates to such behaviors, or at least a part of it. Some humans, like us, do think about the larger picture, the bigger problem at hand. Most of all, most people still have the knee-jerk reaction to things because it is easier to react rather than rationalize and think critically (requires effort and energy - so they take the easier option which is to react to stimuli).

 

[Misanthrope]

What is petty and what is not is a value judgement made among individuals, and as human beings we often don't agree with those varying judgments. We are also naturally inherently selfish so mostly care more about what affects us or is personal to us.

Using your example of Christmas vs Happy Holidays. It is not too hard to see why that may not be petty to some. If on the one hand your identity is tied up in religious trappings, anything to diminish that is seen as an attack. Conversely if you resent the imposing of the favouring of one religion over another you may take offence to it because it invalidates your own beliefs or reveals a certain favouritsim. Lastly if you are of an Atheist mindset you don't appreciate having blood sacrifice shoved in your face and view it as symptomatic of the larger problems in society and religion. All of these are different value judgement tied up with self identity and how people go about expressing that.

Pretty much human beings will wrap themselves in varying ideologies, and those ideologies are important enough to their self identity they will react with offence when that ideology is challenged or diminished.

Also at some point just being offended has become a means to win any argument or get concessions. Reasonable discourse and exploring of counter views can be thrown out the window by winding up simply offended. Simply being offended though isn't much of a counter argument... Sadly critical thinking skills are not taught as standard. So most of the human species is at the mercy of its own flawed psychology and inherent biases. This unsurprisingly causes offence and is a driver behind more serious problems and why we don't seem to learn anything from history.

 

[worldexploder]

Y'all made some great points.

Another example I forgot to mention is child abuse/molestation. Its rampant yet nobody seems to talk about it. Not religious leaders or "family values" politicians/commentators. This also strengthens my argument that children are the least cared about demographic in the world.

Instead these people waste their time trying to take rights away from harmless consenting same sex couples. You're more likely to hear LGBT people being condemned as "threats" than rapists and child molesters. This bullshit seems to be a cultural universal.

 

[[NoName]]

1. The issue of having control over your life. So many of those large issues are out of your control. You'd have to have society-wide change for this to happen. Making yourself stressed out over something out of your control just makes you suffer. This isn't to say worrying about those things is bad, but on a day to day level it could lead to a sense of hopelessness.
2. People are aware and accept large issues because they are the status quo. They find them awful, but unavoidable. But those small things are avoidable. "Why can't I have this one thing!"

 

[The Blackangel]

Instead these people waste their time trying to take rights away from harmless consenting same sex couples. You're more likely to hear LGBT people being condemned as "threats" than rapists and child molesters. This bullshit seems to be a cultural universal.

You don't know the half of it. Everyone here knows I'm transgender. It seems, that nowadays that is a crime. I am constantly called a pedophile, rapist, deviant, and just about every derogatory term you can think of. What these worthless piece of shits won't accept is that I have never laid a hand on a child. I gave my niece hugs when she was younger, but there was never any ulterior motive behind it. But will they accept it? FUCK NO. I guess my very existence is a crime to their existence.

I have gotten used to the stares and minor comments. I don't even notice them anymore. But it seems that pisses people off too. Recently I was at Walmart, and some asshole was so offended by me being there that he called the manager down and told him that if they didn't kick ME OUT, that he was going to start some kind of smear campaign against Walmart for supporting criminals such as rapists and child molesters. He was banned from Walmart, and escorted out in cuffs. So it was a small victory on my end. But just me being there, minding my own business was enough to try to bring down the entire Walmart corporation?

Fuck you.

 

[hikikomori]

A Single Death is a Tragedy; a Million Deaths is a Statistic

surprisingly Joseph Stalin
the little things that affect u are much more annoying then some tragedy somwhere youve never herdoff. plus if u get anoyed about something small, you can effect change. kinda

 

[hikikomori]

veriy few times one can getawayquoting stalin

 

[worldexploder]

You don't know the half of it. Everyone here knows I'm transgender. It seems, that nowadays that is a crime. I am constantly called a pedophile, rapist, deviant, and just about every derogatory term you can think of. What these worthless piece of shits won't accept is that I have never laid a hand on a child. I gave my niece hugs when she was younger, but there was never any ulterior motive behind it. But will they accept it? FUCK NO. I guess my very existence is a crime to their existence.

I have gotten used to the stares and minor comments. I don't even notice them anymore. But it seems that pisses people off too. Recently I was at Walmart, and some asshole was so offended by me being there that he called the manager down and told him that if they didn't kick ME OUT, that he was going to start some kind of smear campaign against Walmart for supporting criminals such as rapists and child molesters. He was banned from Walmart, and escorted out in cuffs. So it was a small victory on my end. But just me being there, minding my own business was enough to try to bring down the entire Walmart corporation?

Fuck you.

:( I am so sorry these monsters hurt you like that. These people should be in prison. Verbally assaulting you like that is a hate crime in my opinion. No excuse.

 

[Dani Paradox]

I think it's just societal conditioning, honestly... People are conditioned from a young age and told who they are expected to be, the things they are supposed to like, how they're supposed to dress, the music they're supposed to listen to, what they're supposed to be offended by... The media tells you who to love and who to hate... It's all just a program... Everything.

 

[The Blackangel]

:( I am so sorry these monsters hurt you like that. These people should be in prison. Verbally assaulting you like that is a hate crime in my opinion. No excuse.

I guess it comes with the territory. But that was a light threat. I've had people threaten to beat the shit out of me, mutilate me, rape me (because apparently that's what LGBTQ does to children yet I didn't know that), and even kill me. Some of which was said right in front of a cop.

I guess I'm a lower form of life that isn't worth the time. The only reason that guy at Walmart was taken out in cuffs was because it was Walmart. If it had happened on the street, the cops would have been there selling popcorn.

I don't know how it is where you live, but here there is not a single cop of any kind that does their job. They are all a bunch of lazy worthless useless fucktards on a power trip. And the corruption doesn't stop there.

 

[worldexploder]

I guess it comes with the territory. But that was a light threat. I've had people threaten to beat the shit out of me, mutilate me, rape me (because apparently that's what LGBTQ does to children yet I didn't know that), and even kill me. Some of which was said right in front of a cop.

I guess I'm a lower form of life that isn't worth the time. The only reason that guy at Walmart was taken out in cuffs was because it was Walmart. If it had happened on the street, the cops would have been there selling popcorn.

I don't know how it is where you live, but here there is not a single cop of any kind that does their job. They are all a bunch of lazy worthless useless fucktards on a power trip. And the corruption doesn't stop there.

Those people who hurt you are the lower life forms! They are worthless piles of garbage. Again I'm so sorry all this happened to you. I hate that people judge others like this. You deserve love and validation. Most of humanity is made up of a bunch of thoughtless wack jobs anyway.

 

[The Blackangel]

Those people who hurt you are the lower life forms! They are worthless piles of garbage. Again I'm so sorry all this happened to you. I hate that people judge others like this. You deserve love and validation. Most of humanity is made up of a bunch of thoughtless wack jobs anyway.

After how my blood treated me, this shit I'm getting from the anti-LGBTQ people is almost a breath of fresh air.
And they all wonder why I would rather kill them than look at them.

 

[worldexploder]

After how my blood treated me, this shit I'm getting from the anti-LGBTQ people is almost a breath of fresh air.
And they all wonder why I would rather kill them than look at them.

I'm so sorry your family turned your back on you like that. We got a same sex couple that's friends of the family. Nicest bunch of people you would ever meet. They been together since 1981. Both of them got treated like shit by their own relatives as well because of their sexual orientation.

I swear rapists and child molesters get better treatment in this fucked up society.

 

[The Blackangel]

Considering that my sperm donor (aka father) beat the shit out of me on an almost daily basis, my egg donor (aka mother) supported it, and my uncle tried to kill me when i was 2, I would welcome verbal assault now.

 

[Mr2005]

I'm so sorry your family turned your back on you like that. We got a same sex couple that's friends of the family. Nicest bunch of people you would ever meet. They been together since 1981. Both of them got treated like shit by their own relatives as well because of their sexual orientation.

I swear rapists and child molesters get better treatment in this fucked up society.

They don't. We're far more excusing of murder than any sex crimes probably because we're more desensitized too it. Personally I think this is wrong. We're all perverts. Look at porn "forced" , "barely legal" etc etc but if it breaks the law we go back to being fundamental christians . The line really can be small. I'm sure by some countries reckoning something I 've done is probably rape. Makes me feel guilty for having any sex drive at all, it's a crime waiting to happen. Worse than fucking murder. That's apparently what your immoral feelings towards that woman your checking out are. This should really test the point of this topic. Your suicidal, I'm suicidal so what does anything I've got to say matter?