Are you upbeat or a cynic?

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I am a mix of cynicism and naivety though as I generally tend to assume everything people tell me is the truth ie I'm not good at spotting lies as I don't tend to lie myself as it's too much hard work for my brain.

I can spot obviously nasty or unfriendly people but I'm less good at spotting those who put on a nice front but are two-faced as the pretend niceness often fools me.

I am fairly cynical. I was on a parenting website and someone had started a thread about how Marks & Spencer were using a child with Down Syndrome in their ads. Everyone was saying that it was great to see a child with a disability in these ads and that M&S were breaking down barriers... I never responded, but I was thinking that, although I applaud this move, the motives of M&S are to make money for their shareholders. This might be a very clever marketing ploy. Maybe not, but I've never known a big company to do something like this without profits being the ultimate goal.

But, I do tend to stay upbeat. As I said, I never responded. I just allowed everyone to keep thinking everything was rosy. I don't like to be called a party pooper or spoil sport.

All companies like M&S will have profit as the main aim of their advertising but I can't see how using a Downs Syndrome child in the advertising would be a profit generator to be quite honest.
The general public are not very good at relating to images that are unusual or less than perfect in a positive way. I used to pick up a free newspaper called the Metro on my way to work each morning either from the bus or from a container at the metro station. One particular day there was a large photo of a new born baby on the front page, covered in blood/fluid and there were a stack of papers left whereas they'd usually all be gone, indicating to me that the average person had been put off by the slightly gory nature of the photo even though it was of a newborn baby. I thought that said it all about how people want all their images perfect and photo-shopped these days, to the extent that actual reality is too much of a shock to their systems! How do these types of people cope at actual births or if they cut themselves??

But, take a look at his photo. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09 ... 03043.html I truly think most people will see M&S as 'nice' for using this child. The fact that he's really cute will appease most people who would normally be put off by a face that's not traditionally attractive.

He hardly even looks like he has Down's Syndrome hence he's more 'acceptable' for mainstream advertising. His eyes are rounder and more open than usual for a Down's Syndrome person.

I might not even have noticed he has Down's Syndrome and even if I did I wouldn't be awarding M&S any brownie points for using him in their adverts as he's such an aesthetically pleasing version of Down's Syndrome, which almost makes their gesture offensive. He could have had plastic surgery on his eyes for all we know. I know that they often give Down's Syndrome children an operation on their tongue to stop it sticking out.

my life is constantly plagued with bad news and bad events in spite of my best efforts, while I have to fight ridiculously hard for my achievements, so I tend to be cynical a lot more often than I am upbeat. I agree with the above, however... I try not to spoil everyone else's fun, so I am quiet a lot. It is nice to have someone who doesn't mind listening to me rant sometimes about my concerns.

Last edited by mrspotatohead on 28 Sep 2012, 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

On my most cynical days I will feel as if I could easily go on a mad shooting spree if I had the weaponry to hand - I will have zero empathy for anyone; but on a happier day I feel more tolerant and forgiving towards people.

That's what I'm thinking too (although I hadn't thought about the possibility of him having had plastic surgery). However, no-one else on that website had a negative thing to say about it (and they usually have more than a few opinions on anything). Maybe they were frightened to say anything, in case of a backlash, but it doesn't stop them, normally.

You can be cynical and upbeat... it's not mutually exclusive. Just imagine a cynical realist enjoying the ride we call life. (I try to be both).

I'm a pretty cynical person. For example, I know things will only improve for people with disabilities at the expense of another minority group. It sucks.

I'm definitely a cynic, largely due to witnessing firsthand, people's primary focus: Themselves.
Nobody gives a crap about anyone else, unless being benifited by giving a crap.
My signature explains a bit as well.

Yeah. I agree this is true for most people, but there's a rare few that it doesn't apply to.

In my opinion women/people on forums want to be seen to be thinking and saying the right thing ie they'd be positive about disability. Out in the real world though I suspect more than a fair few of these women would have very different reactions to a child with a disability. In other words they are paying lip service to what they are expected to say in front of the group. In terms of disability you see a lot of this with NTs/people in general - they hide their prejudice when they think it will reflect badly on them in front of a group they want to remain well in with.
The real test of their opinions is how they react to people with disability when they think no one else is there to observe them.

People with Aspergers are less likely to conform in this way ie they will say exactly what they think regardless of how it makes them look but there will always be conformist types as well.
I tend to place people on the spectrum according to the extent of their conformity ie the more conformist = the more NT, the less conformist = the more autistic.

Hysterical

With regard to what exactly?

i guess i'm a cheerful pessimist...

(don't like to be reduced to only two choices)

here's a review in which i address a rather extreme pessimism:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2M49GQTGT ... deID=&tag=

--i mention Nietzsche & Unamuno there as along my line of thinking; the latter, especially in his book The Tragic Sense of Life,
i think comes closer to "realism" than so many others who would like to carry that flag (no one wants to be called "unrealistic", naturally...)

--& of course, one can be in miserable circumstances while still keeping a look out for ways to improve it