FelixP

Yeah Martian I agree, text is a horrible medium with which to communicate ideas and beliefs this complex with any sort of clarity.
You were saying that I must be the only one cool/smart/perceptive enough to see things as the way they are. I was replying that if that was the case, I would be the only misanthrope. There are misanthropes much more intelligent than myself, just as there are misanthropes much less intelligent than myself. The same goes for people who are not misanthropes. I guess in my own personal experience, and what I've read in history books (I love history), people are assholes. We try to convince each other we're not, because most people are emotionally soft and would rather go through life happy than aware. So yes, I suppose I am claiming some sort of superiority here, but it's not genetic or inherent. It was something that was developed, often against my will, over years of existence on planet Earth.

Here's an analogy: I can do 70 pushups without resting. I have a friend that can do sixty. Therefore, I am superior in the realm of pushups. But a year ago I could barely do 35 pushups without stopping, while he could have done about 50; therefore he used to be superior in the realm of pushups. But I practiced, worked out, etc., and now I am superior. If he worked out frequently, he would probably be superior in so far as how many pushups he could do. Not everyone is the same, some people are better at certain things than others; most things NEED TO BE WORKED ON before someone can become good at it.

I am convinced my position is right; if I wasn't, I wouldn't be a misanthrope.

Writing about this is almost pointless; it's pretty difficult to effectively communicate my point.

__________________
Free will lies not in the ability to craft your own fate, but in not knowing what your fate is. --Me

"I have just returned from visting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." --Douglas MacArthur