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To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

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PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you
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vonunov Offline
Badgrr

Posts: 564
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Given 186 thank(s) in 126 post(s)
Post: #1
PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

This isn't directed toward anyone in particular, or even a composite of the people here. It's just that I suffered this delusion in the past and knew many others who did. The fact that this is not uncommon should itself tell us that it's not quite right, but that knowledge didn't sway me. I just thought I was lucky enough to have a number of other special snowflakes around.

Do you feel isolated in your enlightenment? Do you grow weary of living among the unthinking, brainwashed masses? Does the text in the following comic ring true to you?

[Image: sheeple.png]

If so, you may have a social-life-threatening condition known as Special Snowflake Syndrome.

Despair no more! With a few small doses of introspection and perspective, you too can begin to feel like you're not alone. Or you can feel alone if you like. Whatever makes you happy. Only now it'll be your choice.

Here's the secret: You can see what goes on inside your mind, but only what others show from theirs. A lot of this is guarded and shallow at first, as many are reluctant to fully expose themselves until they're comfortable with each new person and *cough* sure they won't be harshly judged.

If you seem to have trouble finding anyone who wants to talk about something really "deep and interesting", it's probably because they don't know you well enough yet, not because you're the only one thinking about these things in an increasingly hopeless, dumbed-down society.

If you look at people you don't know and think they seem kind of like uninspired drones, that's just your imagination.

If you look down on others for discussing things you don't find intellectual enough (omg all they talk about is sports and teevee), you're simply being unfair to them. Instead of acting like finding someone on your wavelength is an impossible quest, you should try to be interested in things outside of your bubble. Try to find out what intrigues them about their areas of interest. Make a sincere effort to be genuinely interested and to learn something, rather than reinforcing your existing beliefs that nobody is on your level or has the right priorities.

In short, chill out and it'll be a lot easier to connect.

Again, this isn't directed toward anyone specific, nor is it a reaction to anything that has happened here. It just occurred to me that it could be useful to someone at some point. If it stops even one person from wasting their time in this mindset, it will have served its purpose.
(This post was last modified: 09-02-2014 12:12 PM by vonunov.)
09-02-2014 12:11 PM
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 Thanks given by: KFC Nyan Cat , Ky , James Comey , SoulRiser , OutcastNZL , (´・ω・`)
KFC Nyan Cat Away
suck 360 blazeit hooks

Posts: 1,034
Joined: Feb 2013
Thanks: 491
Given 244 thank(s) in 167 post(s)
Post: #2
PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

Yeah right, this is directed towards Username, Sharpie, and me during our endless fucking internet war.

City YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/kfcnyancat
City Tumblr: http://kfcnyancat.tumblr.com (no longer operational due to personal issues)

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" - Donald Rumsfeld

For anyone who remembers me going on an archive binge: Thank you all. I know I ended it being a drama queen, I don't really agree with the ideology anymore, and I'm really not the same person I was (I went through a neopagan phase!) but still this site was the first online community I was in. I graduated from school and turned 18. Time flies. KFC Nyan Cat, June 20, 2019.
09-02-2014 12:21 PM
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Sharpie Offline
Banned

Posts: 1,426
Joined: Nov 2011
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Given 169 thank(s) in 113 post(s)
Post: #3
RE: PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

Ehh I'm not included, I'm not socially retarded just socially anxious, im well aware that most people around me aren't mindless idiots.
09-02-2014 12:35 PM
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no Offline
True Scotsman

Posts: 1,238
Joined: Nov 2012
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Post: #4
RE: PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

I think I may have some combination of this and the opposite of it (never saying anything because everyone else's conversations are so much more meaningful than my own). And they refuse to cancel out.

Hello, traveler.

This is an ancient account I have not used in a long time. My views have changed much in the intervening months and years.

Nonetheless, I refuse to clean it up. Pretending that I've held my current views since the beginning of time is what we in the industry call a lie. Asking people to do so contributes to moralistic self-loathing. "See, those people have nothing damning! I do! I'm truly vile!"

Because you can never be a good person with a single blemish on the moral record, I thought that simply entertaining some thoughts made me irredeemable. Though I don't care for his writing style, William Faulkner presents a good counterexample. He went from being a typical Southern racist to supporting the civil rights movement. These days we'd yell at him for that, probably.

People are allowed to change their views.

Nevertheless, this period of my life has informed some of how I am today. In good ways and bad ways. To purge it would be to do a disservice to history. Perhaps it will not make anyone sympathetic, but it may help someone understand.

If, after reading all this, you still decide to use the post above as evidence that I am evil today, ask yourself if you have never disagreed with the moral code you now follow. In all likelihood you did, at some point. If some questions are verboten, and the answer is "how dare you ask that," don't expect your ideological opponents to ever change their minds.
09-02-2014 12:56 PM
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brainiac3397 Offline
Machiavellian Amoeba

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Post: #5
PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

But the actions and behaviors of people do hint at how they think.

Personality DNA Report
(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

Hidden stuff:
[Image: watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme-240x180.png]
Brainiac3397's Mental Health Status Log Wrote:[Image: l0Iy5HKskJO5XD3Wg.gif]
09-02-2014 01:20 PM
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Username Offline
Drunkard

Posts: 907
Joined: Jul 2013
Thanks: 72
Given 228 thank(s) in 166 post(s)
Post: #6
RE: PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

(09-02-2014 12:21 PM)KFC Nyan Cat Wrote:  Yeah right, this is directed towards Username, Sharpie, and me during our endless fucking internet war.

Nah, I don't think I am better than others, well, actually I do believe I can become better than them, but I don't think that others are uninspired drones that only talk about sports and the tele
09-03-2014 01:51 AM
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Gwedin Offline
dumb shithead

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Post: #7
PSA: You are not the only thinking individual around you

Everyone around me is a barbarian. Why are all these women attracted to such disgusting excuses for humans? Why are they not attraced to a supreme, attractive gentleman such as myself?

yeah nah that's kinda old w/e
09-03-2014 02:18 PM
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 Thanks given by: vonunov
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