Wounded Veterans

Alvis Alendran said:

I note that you seemed to have skipped over my question. I'm not too worried about it, it happens, and a really, there was only one piece that actually called for a response. For ease of reading, I've quoted it below.

Alvis Alendran said:

I have to ask, does anyone, who is not in your particular situation, or directly connected to you, do any of these people earn any kind of sympthy from you? I'm not trying to be jerk, I'm honestly asking you this. I actually do want to know. If the answer is no, then...okay, now I get why you feel the way you do.

But if the answer is yes...then why do these veterans, these people who likely gave up a lot in fulfilling their oaths to their country, why do they specifically earn your disinterest and dismissal?

Click to expand...

So, sorry Vic, but I'm not going to let this one go without an answer, or a direct refusal to answer.

Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't notice your post. A friend on mine died during my freshman or sophomore year and I didn't feel any sympathy, in fact I didn't even go to his funeral. He was speeding during a bad rainstorm on a road notorious for its twists and turns with three passengers in the car, but he speeded anyway killing himself and two others. I feel some sympathy for the passengers, but thats about it.

Well that's...an answer that can be interpreted, but I'm going to take it at it's most basic here. Vic.

If it's not really directly connected to you, you don't care. If you can find a reason in your mind why the person had made a wrong choice, you don't care. And if that's how you get through life, that's fine.

But it tells me all I need to know about this situation really. You were never interested in debating this, just stating your position, and seeing if you can bring anyone else around. So, I'm officially just going to say I find your point of view on this rather cold, kind of heartless, and to my sensibilities, rather detestable.

But it takes all kinds. So, if it's been working out for you, go for it. Continuing this conversation would be an excercise in futility, and I've enough of those without adding this one to it.

I wash my hands of this. Good luck with the 'debate'

But on the contrary there are somethings that aren't directly connected to me I care about.

Where would the fun be in that? I'm open to other people's reasoning, but as of yet have been persuaded to change my view.

As I said, you lack the maturity to expand your view.

Let's take your example, the drunken speeder. Yes, he did a dumb thing and paid for it. This is STILL tragic, to all of humanity, viewed logically. He was in college, so he obviously wasn't dumb. He made a single bad choice, and all potential he had and resources he had consumed up until that point are essentially wasted. Who knows what they could have accomplished, or their children, or their further descendants? Potential is a mysterious resource, easily wasted, and once lost, it is never regained.

Ergo, all humans should regret this loss. Why don't they? Well, we can't mourn everyone that dies every day. Our brains aren't built to handle it. We have an upper limit of 150-200 individuals we can actually care about. For some people, the number is dramatically less. Some people, in fact, can't turn their eyes beyond themselves. We call these people 'sociopaths', and they are tragic entities, broken almost to the point of uselessness. Fortunately, we naturally reject these aberrations, as can be seen in just about every response to this thread.

I feel for you, Vic. Once upon a time I had views much like yours. It took deep introspection and analysis of what exactly life means in a social construct for me to understand why it must be valued, always.

Yes just because I have a different view than you I obviously lack maturity. Keep up the personal attacks they really reinforce your points.

My friend wasn't drunk or in college, but I digress. Seeing how you don't know the person and I've known them since middle school, I can tell you otherwise.

I'm surprised you've heard of the monkeysphere though Cracked is a great site, so I shouldn't be surprised. Are you calling me a sociopath, Trygon?

So from personal attacks to now feeling for me, I'm really digging the flip flopping. As a Nihilist I don't believe life has any objective meaning, just the subjective ones we and society construct for ourselves.

This thread's intent is clearly not for intelligent discussion. I apologize to those who've provided it, you are an asset to the community. But, due to the fact that this thread is just not intended for it and is turning into a blight upon this site, I'm closing it down. Thank you.