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Author
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Topic: Stop/Don't be so negative
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BlueRoamer
Knowflake Posts: 109
From:
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted July 09, 2012 01:08 AM
  
Has anyone had experience with this being said to them, or saying it to other people? It seems to be growing more popular as an expression. Has anyone ever noticed that this is often used by some of the more negative/hostile/angry/invalidating people as a way to put others down? I believe this phrase is a subconsciouslly embedded club of our capitalist society where everyone is expected to be positive, productive, hard working, a team player, and extroverted, basically stripping everyone of their individuality. So basically no one is allowed to be "negative" which is a pretty broad term, and often can just indicate the person disagrees with you or doesn't like what you're saying and therefore labels your entire existence as "negative," thus making you "bad." Positivity is important, but being realistic is also part of life, where would we be without "negative" virgos pointing out flaws for us to improve upon?
Anyway thats my 2 cents on that phrase. I just thought I've been hearing more and more of that phrase lately. I also dislike the phrase "thats gay." thank you for reading.
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SunChild
Moderator Posts: 3263
From: Australia
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted July 09, 2012 01:22 AM
quote:
Has anyone ever noticed that this is often used by some of the more negative/hostile/angry/invalidating people as a way to put others down?
Yes.
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PixieJane
Knowflake Posts: 622
From: CA
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted July 09, 2012 03:57 AM
Sometimes it is. I recently saw the Buffy episode Hush (made back in 1999) again that explored that concept, and trying to intimidate those they didn't like into silence and obedience by saying they weren't empowering and that their energy sucked the life from the group ("no offense") so it's apparently been around awhile. I suppose before pop psychology became popular it was instead people needed to have more faith, patriotism, dedication, and "can do" attitude if they pointed out corruption, favoritism, or other real problems or didn't comply with what someone wanted (like refusing to work overtime without pay), or even to simply manipulate them (like buying a crappy product by implying anyone who didn't wasn't a good Christian, American, mother, or whatever). But it's easy for some people to challenge them on these claims (and even get violent over them) so pop psychology was a godsend as it was much harder to clearly define "being negative" in some psychobabble sense than whether or not one was living up to a more specific standard. OTOH, it's sometimes giving good advice to a person who's always whining, complaining, and being bitter (especially if their bad attitude is mixed with apathy). IP: Logged |
sand
Knowflake Posts: 4306
From:
Registered: May 2011
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posted July 09, 2012 04:01 AM
Being negative to me means self defeating thoughts like I can't do this or I can't do that when they haven't even tried. I also hate whiners. Coz like y r u here whining and wasting time when u can start doing something about it! IP: Logged |
ghanima81
Moderator Posts: 946
From: Maine
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted July 09, 2012 06:31 AM
I try not to let negative thoughts and emotions rule my world. I don't do this for everyone elses sake, but id like to spend my time on this Earth enjoying the world around me instead of finding nothing but flaws at every turn. I've had to delete friends and even family members from my facebook friends list because all they would ever ppst about is how much everything sucks. And I'm not talking about big things in which they were asking for help. I'm talking "my life is over because I can't get the new Iphone, life sucks!" Kind of stuff. It always sprang to mind the phrase "first world problems". I feel that as a whole, society has become spoiled and expectant of an easy life and when one day things get "tough", usually in a mindnumbingly simple way like dealing with traffic, our sense of entitlement and ego can't handle it. Truly a sad state of affairs... IP: Logged |
charmainec
Moderator Posts: 4906
From: Venus next to Randall
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted July 09, 2012 06:46 AM
quote:
Originally posted by ghanima81:
I try not to let negative thoughts and emotions rule my world. I don't do this for everyone elses sake, but id like to spend my time on this Earth enjoying the world around me instead of finding nothing but flaws at every turn.
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Yin
Moderator Posts: 2699
From:
Registered: Apr 2009
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posted July 09, 2012 12:35 PM
The title of the thread reminded me of this sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYLMTvxOaeE IP: Logged |
Lindaland
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