I don’t believe the “good/hard times make soft/strong people” trope is entirely true, but I do feel a modicum of adversity or at least exposure to it is good for people. A lot of people truly don’t understand adversity until they experience it themselves. Once they do, though, some can apply that lesson to all parts of life.
I also experienced some COVID consequences: it killed my lunatic antivaxxer father. Even though we literally watched him die on a ventilator, some relatives were adamant it “had to have been something else”. Certainly it couldn’t have been the novel respiratory virus killing thousands of people! Those people…they won’t learn.
Having no real adversity in your life creates a situation where you never really learn to cope with with it as an adult. However, actual hard times just create generational trauma.
An in-law of mine was admitted to hospital with Covid-like symptoms, tested positive for Covid, died on a ventilator, doctors gave Covid as the cause of death.
Her immediate family remain convinced that it was some unspecified mystery other illness, and that the doctors were paid extra by the government based on how many covid death certificates they issued.
I’m sorry about your loss. Must have been an emotionally draining experience to put it mildly. :/
I think many of the people who become anti-vaxxers and covid deniers are people who struggle with a feeling of general powerlessness in their lives. Believing in a fantasy where they see the truth and everybody else is blind or stupid can give them a feeling of importance/control.
I don’t think it’s the case for absolutely everyone who belong in that conspiracy group, but those I know personally who fall for this type of shit are people who are not doing great in life already and who are very emotionally vulnerable. I am equally frustrated and sad for them because I see how they cling to their delusions while their personal lives crash around them. Financially, socially, physically. It sucks to witness. Sucks even more to talk to them about anything, really. They will take any conversation and find a way to direct the topic of conversation into their weird conspiracies. I have somewhat learned how to navigate a conversation with them, but man, it is hard sometimes. I can’t help but wonder how terrible it must be to be stuck in a mental prison of your own making.
It was supposed to protect them from a reality where something as scary as a mysterious virus could suddenly collapse the world they knew and leave them completely at the mercy of scientists and politicians who are calling the shots for something you barely understand. And instead of the delusion helping you becoming less afraid, it just ends up isolating you from everybody, because nobody gets it like you do, right? They are all just trying to silence you because you are the truth sayer. It must be so fucked to have your own mind betray you and hold you hostage like that.
I really hope that especially one person I know, will never start using AI chat bots, but honestly, I fear it is not a matter of if, but when they will get into that shit.
Thank you, but it was not actually a loss but a gain. My father was not a good man. His dying was the best thing he ever did for our family.
I agree completely. I’ve always seen it as people looking for simple answers for a world full of complex problems. It’s also my experience that they tend to not be doing well in at least some domains of life. The worst I’ve experienced, though, are the moderately successful ones. I have a couple of cousins in this category. They see their relative success as confirmation that their worldview is correct. There’s nothing worse for me than dealing with a smug idiot who celebrates their idiocy.
Man, you dad must have messed up for his own kid to feel this way. O.O I hope you have other people in your life that can give you the stability and love your father couldn’t.
I’ll take your word for it when it comes to people woth moderate success. I don’t really know any myself. Knew a guy once who inherited a lot of money and he became very smug too. Also burned through most of it in no time. Mostly on stupid shit he didn’t need. I think I asked him once if he had plans to invest any of it to secure his future and he just ignored me and decided to show the electric eraser he had bought 🤣 at least he wasn’t anti-vax, but he did start babbling about the Jewish question at one point and called me small minded for telling him he was on his way down the far right pipeline.
Having anti-vax family members who are doing well financially must be next level annoying, though.
I don’t believe the “good/hard times make soft/strong people” trope is entirely true, but I do feel a modicum of adversity or at least exposure to it is good for people. A lot of people truly don’t understand adversity until they experience it themselves. Once they do, though, some can apply that lesson to all parts of life.
I also experienced some COVID consequences: it killed my lunatic antivaxxer father. Even though we literally watched him die on a ventilator, some relatives were adamant it “had to have been something else”. Certainly it couldn’t have been the novel respiratory virus killing thousands of people! Those people…they won’t learn.
Having no real adversity in your life creates a situation where you never really learn to cope with with it as an adult. However, actual hard times just create generational trauma.
An in-law of mine was admitted to hospital with Covid-like symptoms, tested positive for Covid, died on a ventilator, doctors gave Covid as the cause of death.
Her immediate family remain convinced that it was some unspecified mystery other illness, and that the doctors were paid extra by the government based on how many covid death certificates they issued.
Oh shit, are we related?! I had all the same. I even had one offer to help me sue the hospital.
I’m sorry about your loss. Must have been an emotionally draining experience to put it mildly. :/
I think many of the people who become anti-vaxxers and covid deniers are people who struggle with a feeling of general powerlessness in their lives. Believing in a fantasy where they see the truth and everybody else is blind or stupid can give them a feeling of importance/control.
I don’t think it’s the case for absolutely everyone who belong in that conspiracy group, but those I know personally who fall for this type of shit are people who are not doing great in life already and who are very emotionally vulnerable. I am equally frustrated and sad for them because I see how they cling to their delusions while their personal lives crash around them. Financially, socially, physically. It sucks to witness. Sucks even more to talk to them about anything, really. They will take any conversation and find a way to direct the topic of conversation into their weird conspiracies. I have somewhat learned how to navigate a conversation with them, but man, it is hard sometimes. I can’t help but wonder how terrible it must be to be stuck in a mental prison of your own making. It was supposed to protect them from a reality where something as scary as a mysterious virus could suddenly collapse the world they knew and leave them completely at the mercy of scientists and politicians who are calling the shots for something you barely understand. And instead of the delusion helping you becoming less afraid, it just ends up isolating you from everybody, because nobody gets it like you do, right? They are all just trying to silence you because you are the truth sayer. It must be so fucked to have your own mind betray you and hold you hostage like that. I really hope that especially one person I know, will never start using AI chat bots, but honestly, I fear it is not a matter of if, but when they will get into that shit.
Thank you, but it was not actually a loss but a gain. My father was not a good man. His dying was the best thing he ever did for our family.
I agree completely. I’ve always seen it as people looking for simple answers for a world full of complex problems. It’s also my experience that they tend to not be doing well in at least some domains of life. The worst I’ve experienced, though, are the moderately successful ones. I have a couple of cousins in this category. They see their relative success as confirmation that their worldview is correct. There’s nothing worse for me than dealing with a smug idiot who celebrates their idiocy.
Man, you dad must have messed up for his own kid to feel this way. O.O I hope you have other people in your life that can give you the stability and love your father couldn’t.
I’ll take your word for it when it comes to people woth moderate success. I don’t really know any myself. Knew a guy once who inherited a lot of money and he became very smug too. Also burned through most of it in no time. Mostly on stupid shit he didn’t need. I think I asked him once if he had plans to invest any of it to secure his future and he just ignored me and decided to show the electric eraser he had bought 🤣 at least he wasn’t anti-vax, but he did start babbling about the Jewish question at one point and called me small minded for telling him he was on his way down the far right pipeline.
Having anti-vax family members who are doing well financially must be next level annoying, though.