Curse

ManadartheHealer · Sep 20, 2005, 03:36 AM // 03:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurow

Huh, youre right about the insults being used to boost the insulter's ego, but if it is not taken offense at, does that mean the insulter gains nothing from it?

Say I were to call PieXags' mom a dullard. It is assumed that this would offend Piexags, but what way would it make me feel better? I already knew that I wasnt a dullard. The implication of his mother being a dullard and the assumption that mine isnt I suppose.

And I aint no genious.

Perhaps the rationale isn't to feel better about that specific thing, but to feel superior overall

Manderlock · Sep 20, 2005, 09:17 AM // 09:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasareth

Self-assertation of an emotionally frail or self-concious individual. Insults rarely have to do with the target. They're mostly about the assailant trying to assert a feeling of superiority that only demeaning other individuals can give (in his mind).

Thats about half, the other half is feeling a need to retaliate. (Pride)

Charcoal Ann · Sep 20, 2005, 09:32 AM // 09:32

an insult doesn't need to offend. its purpose is to demean. it is this demeaning that insults people. the purpose of demeaning the other person is to make it evident to the target and all surrounding the target (including the insulter) that the insultee is inferior in some way to the insulter.

if we look back to tribal roots. only the chief could insult everyone in the tribe. the chief personal guard could insult all people below them on the social scale but not those who are above them.

now that these hierarchies are so much more diffuse in our larger scale society people use Insults from the opposite direction. instead of 'i'm better than you so i can insult you' its 'if i insult you that means i am better than you'.

this is why people insult others. it is basically inbred in our species. but its purpose has changed with our changing society.

thats what i think anyway....

Kurow · Sep 20, 2005, 04:56 PM // 16:56

But the person has to accept this demeaning also for it to mean anything correct?

Hoyt · Sep 20, 2005, 05:09 PM // 17:09

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. Don't assign to stupidity what might be due to ignorance. And try not to assume your opponent is the ignorant one-until you can show it isn't you.
- M.N. Plano

Count Feanor · Sep 20, 2005, 05:14 PM // 17:14

An insult is an insult whether I accept it or not. At one time the middle finger meant nothing. Once someone assigned a meaning to it, it became something else. Now the meaning is insulting because it is meant to be so. Someone made it up so they could use it to insult someone else. If you give me the "bird", whether I take offense or not, it is meant as an insult towards me. So I agree with others. An insult is an insult if the person insulting means it to be. It all has to do with an person's motives.

Divinitys Creature · Sep 20, 2005, 05:19 PM // 17:19

That's fightin' talk

SOT · Sep 20, 2005, 06:25 PM // 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Count Feanor

Once someone assigned a meaning to it, it became something else.

No, it became something else to the morass of idiots to accept the new meaning they are TOLD it has acquired. Someone flipping me off means absolutely nothing to me, except the fact they wasted the neurological energy to express a gesture that, in the end, is meaningless and a waste of their time.

Please stamp out this Mindless Mindlessness.

Count Feanor · Sep 20, 2005, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT

No, it became something else to the morass of idiots to accept the new meaning they are TOLD it has acquired. Someone flipping me off means absolutely nothing to me, except the fact they wasted the neurological energy to express a gesture that, in the end, is meaningless and a waste of their time.

Please stamp out this Mindless Mindlessness.

Very true. It may mean nothing to you. Does that mean it's not an insult or that you are not insulted by it?

SOT · Sep 20, 2005, 07:34 PM // 19:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Count Feanor

Very true. It may mean nothing to you. Does that mean it's not an insult or that you are not insulted by it?

It means it is an insult those with a need to feel such heedless emotion and sentiment. If you feel the world is insulting you, and it truly matters to you as a thinking, feeling creature what other sentient beings think of you through their gestures or whatnot, then you are being insulted. If you have learned to thicken your skin and let that madness rinse away, then you win.

MSecorsky · Sep 20, 2005, 07:38 PM // 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by PieXags

Actually insulting my mother doesn't mean much to me, she wouldn't be offended by it, so why should I?

There's not much you can do to offend PieXags.

Would someone who refers to themselves in the third person ever think they were the target of the insult anyhow?

Insults are not only measured by the insulter/insultee duo, but also by the audience. Insults in private between two people don't have the desired effect... raising ones stature in the eyes of others over the target of the insult. It's another means of establishing a primal pecking order by trying to lower the stature of the target to a greater degree than you try to elevate your own.

Kurow · Sep 20, 2005, 10:38 PM // 22:38

In order to be directly affected by an insult you have to accept it as true. If i call you a whale, and we all know you arent, what good is it?

Count Feanor · Sep 21, 2005, 01:27 PM // 13:27

So if we are affected or allow ourselves to be affected by an insult, it is then that it becomes so? I don't think so. I think it's an insult if the person means it to be, whether the insultee is affected or not.

SOT · Sep 21, 2005, 02:16 PM // 14:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Count Feanor

So if we are affected or allow ourselves to be affected by an insult, it is then that it becomes so? I don't think so. I think it's an insult if the person means it to be, whether the insultee is affected or not.

Then you are welcome to be a victim of spite and ridicule by those you allow to affect you thusly. Those who insult only have the power to do so when the target of their idiocy grants them access to that emotional reaction.

Count Feanor · Sep 21, 2005, 02:45 PM // 14:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT

Then you are welcome to be a victim of spite and ridicule by those you allow to affect you thusly. Those who insult only have the power to do so when the target of their idiocy grants them access to that emotional reaction.

Ok, now I'm confused. Are we talking about whether something is an insult or not; or of the effects of an insult (choosing to ignore or responding emotionally to said).

If we are talking about whether something is an insult or not, I think of it like this: If I were to call you a flippin retard, I am insulting you. If you don't care or am not affected by said insult. Does that mean it is not an insult?

smurfhunter · Sep 21, 2005, 02:58 PM // 14:58

insults are just funny. i do it all the time just for laughs on the replies or just because theres nothing else to do. i find it sad some people actually get wired over something someone told them in a little message window. w/e

Count Feanor · Sep 21, 2005, 03:24 PM // 15:24

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I could call you a loser or something, if I were your friend, and mean it as a jest. It wouldn't be an insult. But I could say something and insult you accidently. What I said is not an insult, per say, because I didn't mean it to be, even though you are insulted. However, if I call you a loser and mean it to hurt you, then it's an insult. It has to do with the "insulter's" motive and intent. That is, I think, what defines the action.

wsmcasey · Sep 21, 2005, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!

This is a saying that we are all familiar with from childhood. If a person is ignorant to the insult then ignorance is truly bliss. If a person understands the insult and chooses to ignore it, then it appears that they are unaffected. Depending on the nature of the insult and the feelings that are generated in the mind of the person being attacked, long term pshycological problems could manifest.

You could tell a child 100 times that they are stupid and they may never take offense to the insult, but over time the child can grow up to believe that it's true.

To manage people effectively you must do it in a way that protects or enhances their self-esteem.

Alone) · Sep 21, 2005, 04:32 PM // 16:32

An insult is an insult. Take or leave it. I still feel that pride is the basis of it, but if others feel otherwise, that's fine.

SOT · Sep 21, 2005, 06:25 PM // 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Count Feanor

Ok, now I'm confused. Are we talking about whether something is an insult or not; or of the effects of an insult (choosing to ignore or responding emotionally to said).

You tell me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Count Feanor

If we are talking about whether something is an insult or not, I think of it like this: If I were to call you a flippin retard, I am insulting you. If you don't care or am not affected by said insult. Does that mean it is not an insult?

No, it means you expressed sentiment towards a person, hoping to affect them in a manner that garners a response. If that said person responds in kind by being offended, you have earned what you sought. If they ignore you like the non-entity you are (wasting energy on someone who doesn't care if you live or die) then you are not insulting them, you are insulting yourself, and your inability to live in a world that doesn't care.