"Others-have-it-worse-than-you"-fallacy

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sly279
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17 Jun 2018, 1:51 am

kraftiekortie wrote:

It’s not a fallacy.

Some people have it worse than you.....but some people have it better.

I believe we should all strive to improve....but I also think we should be grateful for what we have already.

It’s always good to have that thing called “perspective.”

I feel fortunate to have a roof over my head, and food in my belly. Many people don’t have either.

It means I don’t get myself extremely upset if I don’t, say, have a Lamborghini or have the ability to just leave my job and travel the world.

Would you tell someone with cancer it? Would you tell someone bleeding to death to be grateful cause others are dead and they still have few mins of life?

It’s just another way for well off people to tell less fortunate to shut up.

sly279
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17 Jun 2018, 1:53 am

kraftiekortie wrote:

That’s a fallacy......that everybody’s struggles don’t matter. They most certainly do!

But....sometimes, when something is not “the end of the world,” it’s truly not “the end of the world.”

A stubbed toe is not a fractured femur.

Just cause something isn’t end of the world to you doesn’t mean it isn’t to me or others. To people in relationships not having a relationship isn’t the end of the world. But to those who never had one it is as we are lacking a big part of life.

thinkinginpictures
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17 Jun 2018, 4:23 am

sly279 wrote:

kraftiekortie wrote:

This. It is exactly what happens. The entire "shut up because others have it worse" is killing society and progress towards better times.

Fnord
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17 Jun 2018, 10:54 am

thinkinginpictures wrote:

... The entire "shut up because others have it worse" is killing society and progress towards better times.

No matter how bad you have it, someone else will be found who has it worse.

It is the same attitude that forced me to suffer from eczema until after I left my parents’ home and could afford a dermatologist on my own — I was over 30 before I was fully cured.

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ASPartOfMe
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17 Jun 2018, 11:04 am

I have found that thought process a needed kick in my ass when I am feeling overwhelmed, overly pessimistic, overly negative and generally feeling sorry for myself. Not just woe is them but the realization that others have mananged to live life and do things in situations much more dire then mine.

Right now Americans are panicked about terroism, school shootings etc. Yet the Brits went to work, nightclubs etc during the blitz. Even if I do not have the as much capacity to “get on with it” as the wartime British it raises the possibilty I have more strength then I think I do.

None of the above means I think the current situation is anything resembling acceptable.

None of the above means I am anything resembling an idealist. The above is consistant with looking at the world or attempting to look at the world realistically.

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Aspiegaming
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17 Jun 2018, 12:42 pm

Another concept meant to punish people who want things to be a tiny bit better.

I want my father to give up is returning alcoholism (went back to it after so many peaceful months of sobriety)

People in hell want ice water.

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17 Jun 2018, 1:26 pm

Well, as someone who is currently sitting here, wallowing in a whine, myself, I sometimes tell people the same thing that was told to the OP----BUT, at-the-same-time, why can't people just allow others to have a whine, once-in-awhile? I mean, with me, it depends on the person..... If the person whines ALOT, then I might tell them to get over themselves----but, if they rarely whine, I would do backflips to listen to them and try to comfort them.

I try to remember that to everyone their hurt is the worst, cuz they're the ones experiencing it----I'm not always 100 percent successful with remembering this, but I try; I wish others would do the same.

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ADifferentAnimal
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18 Jun 2018, 6:37 am

I am constantly hindering myself by saying exactly that to myself. I don't say it to others just to myself. I wonder why that is so.

kraftiekortie
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18 Jun 2018, 6:47 am

Yes, thoughts like that can hinder progress.

But...I’ve felt down in the dumps about some philosophical issue or other. Then I see a woman sleeping in the subway. I immediately gain perspective by realizing I’m fortunate I have a roof over my head.

I don’t belittle other people’s problems.

sly279
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18 Jun 2018, 6:17 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:

You mean you don’t tell her th lie guy sleeping on the street has it worse and she should be happy?

Also she could just been napping
Some people fall sleep on buses here but then have homes.

cubedemon6073
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18 Jun 2018, 6:23 pm

Fnord wrote:

It's called the Argumentum ad Misericordiam (argument from pity or misery), which is the fallacy committed when pity or a related emotion such as sympathy or compassion is appealed to for the sake of getting a conclusion accepted. The usual conclusion I have encountered goes something like "They have it bad, thus you don't have it bad at all".

I once complained to a church leader that I was unpopular, had no friends, couldn't get a girlfriend, et cetera, ad nauseum (just like about a dozen other members on this website do now). She took me to a nursing home and introduced me to person after person who had seriously physical, emotional, and mental problems. At the end of the "tour", she turned to me and asked, "There; now don't you feel ashamed of yourself?"

Gee, thanks a lot, you sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, two-legged female canine (or words to that effect).

I never talked to her again; nor did I ever return to that church. I didn't go to any church for a few decades after that, either.

... anyway ... what were we talking about again ... ?

:wink:

Thanks! I knew there was a name for this. And yeah I have another word that means female canine.

cubedemon6073
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18 Jun 2018, 6:39 pm

thinkinginpictures wrote:

I'm growing very much tired of the same sentence political opponents use against me:

"Other people have it worse than you".
"We are lucky to live in our country and not in some war-torn place like Syria".

This implies that because others have it worse then you or me, we should not strive for embetterment of our own lives or political systems at home.
It implies that we should be humble and eternally thankful and btw. never question our politicians or the governmental system, the welfare state or anything else.

Well, I'd say it is a logical fallacy to adopt the "others-have-it-worse-so-we-need-not-have-it-better".

Please answer this simple question:

How can it be a bad thing to improve your life, so long it does not make others lives worse,
and furthermore: How can a human being have it "too good"?
Top

Not only is it a fallacy as Fnord suggests but it is more insidious. It implies that for one to be appreciative others must suffer. They must suffer for what I do have so I can be grateful for the things I do have.

Read this fictional story. http://www.mccc.edu/pdf/eng102/Week%209 ... Omelas.pdf

kraftiekortie
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18 Jun 2018, 6:45 pm

No....the lady wasn't taking a nap----nobody just ups and takes a nap on the ground in the subway. Think about it.....would you do that?

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