Think about how you have treated both strangers and people you know to answer this question accurately. e.g.: If you say you like people but constantly avoid talking or doing any activity with other people do you actually like people?
I mean, have you met them‽
This quote from Men In Black sums it up for me: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
I dislike them as a group / species but give each individual the benefit of the doubt.
I do believe that, in general but not exclusively, humans are selfish, short-sighted, and greedy. But I still treat individuals with kindness.
That always makes me think of this great moment from “Men In Black.”
Flawed premise. I mean I like polar bears but I avoid doing any activity with them.
Classic polar bear nimby
@AndrasKrigare I wish I could upvote this twice!
You like the idea of polar bears.
@AnneBonny you’re No True Scotsmanning me! :) By that logic the only person who really liked bears was Timothy Treadwell.
Seriously though, I don’t think the number of people we interact with is a good indicator of how much we like or dislike them as a species.
“You wouldn’t know it, from some of the things I’ve said over the years, but I like people. I do. I like people, but I like them in short bursts. I don’t like people for extended periods of time. I’m ok with them for a short period of time, but once you get up past around a minute, minute and a half, I gotta get the fuck out of there. And my reason for this is one that you may share, possibly — I have a low tolerance level for stupid bullshit.” - George Carlin
deleted by creator
Well said.
Ive been hurt too many times to trust basically anyone. I treat people how i wish theyd treat me, but i dont like them
This exactly my feelings too. Keep treating people nicely, but you see enough shit every day to make you not like people in general
I feel like your example is pretty judgemental. You can absolutely like people but rather do your own thing most of the time, or not want to bother people. Or maybe you’re not much of a talker or whatever. I think it’s best not to prescribe how people should behave, it can be super alienating.
Maybe you’re right. I’m certainly not an expert by any means.
The point I was trying to make is that we have a tendency to see ourselves in a biased way. We lie to ourselves all the time about who we are and what we want.
If you can step out of your own head and judge yourself based upon your actions instead of based on how you think of yourself you can hopefully see yourself in a more accurate way.
I don’t believe I prescribed any behavior. I gave the example to encourage thinking about how you value people based on your actions.
deleted by creator
When I have no choice but to interact with people, I do my best to treat them with respect. However, I would say I’m generally ambivalent toward people overall and do my best to avoid them. I’m just not a social person and I never will be. Being forced into social settings is exceptionally stressful to me.
People as a whole I dislike, however some individuals are great.
Yeah I’ve got like 5-10 people I like, everyone else can get fucked lol
People in general are idiots. People in large groups are even bigger idiots. Most organized groups of people are assholes.
However, individuals can be quite lovely. Or they can be like the above listing; idiots and/or assholes. Individually, I don’t mind the risk of running into the unpleasant ones too much. There’s always the chance that I’ll run into the pleasant ones, so I don’t automatically avoid individuals.
But groups? Fuck that shit, not without multiple weapons on me and a clear escape route. Even online, once got get groups going, the tide shifts to idiotic assholery at quantum speeds. It takes effort to not do it, and most people are too damn lazy to be decent online.
What’s funny? People irl fucking like me. I’m chill on the surface, I’m friendly and polite. I’m outright fucking charming. But that comes along with the assholes and idiots (or idiotic assholes) thinking that I’m the same kind of person they are, and showing their real self.
And that’s even with the fact that I don’t shake hands, and enforce a personal space of about four feet, just beyond arm’s reach unless I have no other choice. Assertively enforced at that. I’ll calmly and politely state that I prefer strangers stay far enough away that they can’t touch me, nor I them. And they fucking like that! The few that take it as a joke and decide to press it get stopped gently, and told that I’ll have to assume they mean me harm if they don’t stop. And they like that!
It’s fucking crazy.
I’m not saying everyone always likes me, but it’s a rare thing when I don’t end up listening to people I just met, often until I have to assert the fact that I need to leave because my body can’t handle it.
I don’t mind that, it just always surprises me how willing people are to show their ugliest sides so often. Like, the decent people, you expect because people tend to want to be liked. But the casual racism is so fucking common. The political rants that turn into literal spit flying from mouths.
People are fucking idiots and/or assholes. But it is just so damn rewarding when you find the ones that aren’t, or at least try not to be. When you find those people, you fucking cherish it.
So, in general, I don’t like people, no.
I don’t like being physically close to almost anyone, and especially not to strangers. It’s ok when each person has his own assigned space and everything is orderly and quiet, like on a plane or in a movie theater, but being in a crowd is both kind of disgusting and also upsetting in some other way which I don’t know how to put into words - I just want to leave and I can’t really express why. I can go into crowded places if I need to without freaking out, but afterwards I’m going to be in a bad mood for a while both because of the experience of being in a crowd and because of anger at the unfairness of the fact that for various reasons I live in a big city and I have to deal with all these… humans whenever I need to go outdoors.
So yeah, I guess you can say that I don’t like people.
sounds like you dont hate the humans themselves but just the overwhelm of the crowds. i dont think thats abnormal.
I dislike people in general. It’s almost like there’s peer pressure to be hateful. When being kind is seen as a weakness, something is horribly wrong
I don’t dislike people. They just confuse and overwhelm me and this is incredibly exhausting.
I think my thoughts on people are like a quote by Dennis e Taylor “I like people on the abstract but not in the concrete”