Cynicism is the new "cool"

[Memphis]

A great snapshot of this today is the immanent retirement from tennis of Andy Murray. A great example because he polarises opinion. Those that know him of course know a great tennis player, but more importantly a great human being who's fun to be around and nothing like the dour publicly perceived character.

To cut a long story short, in amongst all the well wishes on social media you can fine "I'm not a fan of Murray or tennis, but I'm glad he's retiring.......the prick" I think that say's it all

[Gandalf]

I love Andy Murray. I feel really bad for him. The surgery has obviously not worked and he is in constant pain. It's absurd that he is even on a court like that really. I am willing him on but it is kind of cruel with every match it just gets more brutal. He is marching up a hill with a big boulder on his back.

[Beanz]

I love Andy Murray. I feel really bad for him. The surgery has obviously not worked and he is in constant pain. It's absurd that he is even on a court like that really. I am willing him on but it is kind of cruel with every match it just gets more brutal. He is marching up a hill with a big boulder on his back.

It is good that you are now supporting disabled athletes and being magnanimous enough to cheer them on. 😁

[Gandalf]

If he starts playing tennis in a wheelchair I will not be impressed. For the sake of his health he needs to call it a day. If he hurts putting on his socks, he is no condition to take on players who know they just need to run him around. Kind of cruel, especially when Murray was perhaps the most mobile of them all in his day. He said he was playing in pain for a number of years, makes you wonder how good he could have been if healthy. He was still always able to take a set or two against the best and sometimes win. Just maybe that pain was the difference in a long match.

[TitoFan]

I feel bad for Murray as it's obvious he loves the sport and hates having to give it up. As a side note, I was hoping he'd stick around and water down the number of future majors won by the likes of Djokovic and Nadal, since I'd hate for either one of them to threaten Roger's (the GOAT) career record.

[Gandalf]

It's rotten luck. Apparently Djokovic toyed with him in a practice match just a few days ago. He must feel terrible. You sense he just wants to say goodbye at Wimbledon this year. The surgery appears to have done next to nothing for him.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc...ennis/46809771

[Beanz]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.

[TitoFan]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.

Thanks for that, Beanz. Helps to get an honest, "sneer-less" take on the subject from a Brit, as differences in our cultures and realities keep us from always understanding where the other guy's coming from. Believe it or not, it helps explain even the behavior and responses of some on here, which may seem a bit hostile or sarcastic to others not from the same culture or environment. LOL at your descriptions of both sides.... "infrastructure of macrame and hugging" indeed.... . I'll venture that many times we do miss the boat on here, given the opportunity to learn about these idiosyncrasies in each other's cultures. Instead we engage in long, drawn-out, many times vicious arguments and attacks..... when by taking into account the differences mentioned, we would probably avoid those.

Cynicism may well be a way of coping in the UK, and I don't know maybe the same could be said about this side of the pond. However, there is still the fraction of the population that I believe engages in perpetual cynicism for its own "coolness." Maybe it's generational.... maybe not. Maybe being older and having kids just skews your perspective on what you yourself may have engaged in years ago..... who knows. Personally I don't remember ever being a pathological cynic. Just not ever part of my personality. I deem it as totally useless in day-to-day life. In fact I find it tiring in others. Even more than tiring..... draining. Obviously, engaging with an eternal optimist has to be just as annoying..... and so back to my always present "extremes are bad" philosophy. But pathological cynics are usually the type of people I'll cross the street to the opposite sidewalk for. I'd be afraid my "good morning" would be met with a "wtf's good about it?".

BTW, thanks for not mistaking my take on eternal cynics as a swipe at atheists..... sometimes messages get mixed up in their delivery. I didn't think I would have to explain that IMO, not all atheists are pathological cynics..... but all pathological cynics are also atheists.

[Gandalf]

Screw cynicism! Wasn't Andy Murray glorious tonight? He had no form, was two sets down yet made a match of it against a seeded player. And he still has a bad hip.

At the end he was wanting to reverse the retirement and suggest another go. Then they played the tributes and he must have been thinking 'That is so sweet, but I am Andy Murray and I am not finished!'

Warrior. Would he really do another operation and try and come back? It's a big ask. But anyway I loved the match even though he lost. We won the event.

[Fenster]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.

Context is without doubt the biggest factor but it's not necessarily culture (that could be an excuse?), some people here don't just struggle with context but also have no understanding of self-deprecation and humility.

So an innocent comment like - "I have no problem with that lifestyle" is taken as an "insult," because the particular individual believes they are not just 100% correct, but to be challenged by an opposing view is an insult. They're not posting for opinions, they want back slappers so anyone not on-board is the enemy, which leads to whoever the particular individual dislikes on a personal level becomes the target, regardless of their view.

[walrus]

If u guys think the US lacks cynicism you are way off mark. It is our bread and butter. We have perfected it.

[Beanz]

If u guys think the US lacks cynicism you are way off mark. It is our bread and butter. We have perfected it.

Russian Bear...Made in China

[walrus]

If u guys think the US lacks cynicism you are way off mark. It is our bread and butter. We have perfected it.

Russian Bear...Made in China

Damn that’s nice

[TitoFan]

Screw cynicism! Wasn't Andy Murray glorious tonight? He had no form, was two sets down yet made a match of it against a seeded player. And he still has a bad hip.

At the end he was wanting to reverse the retirement and suggest another go. Then they played the tributes and he must have been thinking 'That is so sweet, but I am Andy Murray and I am not finished!'

Warrior. Would he really do another operation and try and come back? It's a big ask. But anyway I loved the match even though he lost. We won the event.

Yes, we all love Andy Murray. Open a thread on Murray and we'll all sing his praises. Meanwhile, this thread is on cynicism.

[TitoFan]

I think a lot of this is not just cultural but lost in context. Fenster and many Brits posting here, and I would include myself in this, are simply employing a form of cynicism that is part of a very long British tradition. It is not even a conscious decision. In these days of post Empire , overcast, drizzly gloom we are living in a very divided country without the relief of at least tearing down those fellow Brits we consider successful. As the country falls to pieces and descends into civil war between vegan tofu eating trans zen power activists from Totnes ( a town run on yogurt and a held together with an infrastructure of macrame and hugging) and pink faced bacon licking wannabe football hooligans, calling the vegans, 'Nazis' and turning up to a march with a dead fox to play keepy uppies with, cynicism will allow us to at least cope by raising an arched eyebrow as though it were not even surprising, an possibly part of the plan.

Cynicism means we can celebrate something as beige as toast, and pretend that another ten days of unchanging overcast gloom, as an excuse for weather, is worth talking about. Being bleak and suspecting that everything is a big con, including the conspiracies that say this is true, is actually often what starts conversations here. This is our common ground. 'Isn't life shit' and 'What a load of bollocks that is' are like the British equivalents of 'Have a nice Day' and 'Happy Holidays' for an American.

Context is without doubt the biggest factor but it's not necessarily culture (that could be an excuse?), some people here don't just struggle with context but also have no understanding of self-deprecation and humility.

So an innocent comment like - "I have no problem with that lifestyle" is taken as an "insult," because the particular individual believes they are not just 100% correct, but to be challenged by an opposing view is an insult. They're not posting for opinions, they want back slappers so anyone not on-board is the enemy, which leads to whoever the particular individual dislikes on a personal level becomes the target, regardless of their view.

Except it's rarely an "innocent comment" is it. It's not simply "I have no problem with that lifestyle", but rather "I have no problem with that lifestyle and you're a moron for having a problem with it."

"Wanting back slappers" is an all-too-convenient go-to excuse, simply because there are people who differ, but do so respectfully and with maturity.




You're welcome.