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Why are so many people so uninspiring?


InDefenseOfPOMO

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Anthracite_Impreza
35 minutes ago, Whore*of*Mensa said:

In defence of @InDefenseOfPOMO this thread does demonstrate a certain...not robotic, but maybe...sheep like aspect of human nature? 

 

Im not sure that the same opinion needs to be repeated quite so many times by so many people??

 

(*takes cover)

Or, if lots of people are saying the same thing it suggests there's a valid concern/view?

 

On a completely different tangent, the whole robotic = bad thing? I will take it as a badge of pride to be compared to a machine; they're far superior.

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43 minutes ago, Whore*of*Mensa said:

In defence of @InDefenseOfPOMO this thread does demonstrate a certain...not robotic, but maybe...sheep like aspect of human nature? 

 

Im not sure that the same opinion needs to be repeated quite so many times by so many people??

 

(*takes cover)

So everyone has a similar thing to say so that makes it sheep like?? Everyone can have and should have a say, so what if it has been said before, it can be said again. 

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Whore*of*Mensa

Fair enough if everyone is in agreement and wants to say so. It was an observation, not an attack on anyone. It was all just starting to feel like...overkill? 10 or so against one?

 

 I’m not sure why the OP has hit such a nerve, in all honesty. I don’t think I read the post the way everyone else did. But I’m struggling to feel strongly about this debate, so definitely won’t be getting into any arguments about it with anyone. 

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On 11/27/2019 at 9:49 PM, InDefenseOfPOMO said:

Some people inspire me. But they are a very small minority.

 

I hate to say it, but in spite of my best efforts to encourage and challenge them most people I am around have little ambition and seem to believe that "minimal achievement is bliss". They do not even try to hide it ("I just read enough of the book to pass the class").

I think firstly you need to define inspire as you are meaning it. Are you meaning people who inspire by stories of overcoming adversity? People who inspire by projecting such a positive image it calls others to do the same? People who aim for massive achievements? Or do these all count as inspiration for you?

 

Personally I never found many stereotypical-inspirational things, particularly stories of overcoming adversity, inspirational. But I find other people, such as a friend I had who at high school realized he was not very smart (his own words, not mine) and decided to read a book a week, deeply inspirational. That person is now one of the most philosophical and well-read individual I know.

 

I do kind of agree with you on your point though, if I can caveat it to mean certain types of inspiration. We all can't inspire by stories of overcoming adversity as many of us haven't had any major adversity with which to overcome, but we all can inspire others by our personality, our dreams, etc. I agree with you that some people I have met (such as the "I just read enough of the book to pass the class" people) are rarely inspiring. I do not really understand that mentality, one based on minimal achievement. To each their own but I struggle to comprehend the thinking behind it.

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Anthracite_Impreza
3 hours ago, Whore*of*Mensa said:

 I’m not sure why the OP has hit such a nerve, in all honesty

It's the "everyone should be how I want and anyone who isn't is lesser" attitude that does it. OP would find me not only uninspiring, but a failure, as I currently am. I don't really give a shit, but I know there are many others in my situation who don't deserve looking down upon cos they don't live up to OP's expectations.

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Whore*of*Mensa
31 minutes ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

It's the "everyone should be how I want and anyone who isn't is lesser" attitude that does it. OP would find me not only uninspiring, but a failure, as I currently am. I don't really give a shit, but I know there are many others in my situation who don't deserve looking down upon cos they don't live up to OP's expectations.

I see what you’re saying. I can’t speak for the OP, obviously. Definitely agree that nobody should be looked down on as a failure for not meeting expectations.

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Okay, so the OP asks why so many people are un-inspiring.

 

Well.... here, a few things to note:

Almost, by definition, Inspiration is an emotion which causes us to pay PARTICULAR ATTENTION to a person, idea or thing.

But like... we only have a finite amount of attention per day.

This doesn't explain why you don't find inspirational people, but it does explain why they are rare. If you walked around being inspired by everything then um... you wouldn't have the attention to focus on the things you were inspired by (at least, according to one definition of inspiration).

 

Okay, but you're also saying "There are 7 billion people, where are all the inspiring people at?" And its totally okay to ask that whether or not you are inspiring yourself. I am not a great chess player, but I can still say "Gosh, isn't it great that there are some REALLY REALLY REALLY good chess players somewhere in the world". Expecting inspiration from any individual person seems a little harsh, but hoping to find it SOMEWHERE is reasonable... so long as your cynisim levels aren't to high.

 

So what is inspiring?

and do you expect to SEE these people.

 

I mean, at my last university, there was a professor who spent the last two decades, and 50 PhD students worth of effort trying to understand some critical apparatus in viruses used for invading cells. If she figures that out it is going to be a BIG DEAL. And she has spent her life on it, day after day, hour after hour.

Is that Inspiring?

Kind of? It's pretty cool.

Are you going to hear about her on TV?

HELL NO!

People who achieve big things off live boring lives. They spend their lives achieving those things. It has a cost.

 

What about a judge or lawyer who spends their life upholding the judicial system. How about this random Barber from NZ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/28/everyone-just-wants-to-be-loved-the-new-zealand-barber-helping-cut-domestic-violence

People spend their lives doing things. Many of them spend their lives plinking away at a problem, making our world better one hours effort at a time.

And this is cool.

And this is amazing, and this is important, and our society is the efforts of billions of people weaving that tapestry.

But if you look at any single thread... Well yeah, It'll just be a random red bit of string. Or maybe like... blue or yellow or something. Whatever.

 

One of the best people I have met, is quiet possibly legitimately a Saint, having never done an unkind thing in her life. Is she inspiring? Maybe? I mean, she makes nice cookies, and knows how to get people to talk, and god damn I hope I can help the world as much as her.

But like... does her presence "inspire" me to do cool things or change the world? ... not really. That's okay.

 

 

... I have totally got distracted half way through answering.

And I don't care.

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They're rare. If everybody was inspiring, then whatever it took to be considered inspiring would become dull. That and it all hinges on a basic principle. People are wired to go after what makes them feel good. Settling for what's easy and simply at hand rather than striving for more is the smoothest course to take for most. Being uninspiring is easy.

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On 11/27/2019 at 6:49 PM, InDefenseOfPOMO said:

Is there anybody in the 2020 U.S. presidential race who we can honestly say is inspiring?

I don't know about inspiring, but I have found all of the Democratic candidates to be exciting (with the exception of Biden; have never liked him)--so I'm on the opposite end of the continuum as you.

 

I also find this particular thread to be amazing.  Reading through the different responses, I am tempted for the first time to copy and paste a lot of them so I can read them to friends and share all the interesting answers.  I've been on Aven almost 15 years, and this is the first time I have been thusly inspired.

 

I think I am charmed by people on a daily basis more often than I am annoyed (but I'm not sure of that; it would be hard to keep track), but "inspired" implies "influenced."  (Now that I've put it that way, I guess I am inspired--to smile and feel warm fuzzies.)

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