Why do you care what other people think?

_binary_jester_
_binary_jester_ Posts: 2,132 Member
edited December 16 in Chit-Chat
Often I don't get it. Admittedly there are very small group of people whose opinions are important, but for the most part I could care less.

Other people's opinions can make you feel poorly about yourself.
Other people's opinions can influence you...and often not in a positive way.
Other people's opinions can make you be a different person.
Words only have the power YOU give them.

So why do you care?
«134

Replies

  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    Because how will I know that I'm a good person if I don't have the approval of strangers, acquaintances, and people I don't like?!
  • People have feelings? I thought that's what middle fingers were for.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Because how will I know that I'm a good person if I don't have the approval of strangers, acquaintances, and people I don't like?!

    THIS!!!!
  • Tuffjourney
    Tuffjourney Posts: 971
    Why do you care if I care? hmmmmmm
  • _binary_jester_
    _binary_jester_ Posts: 2,132 Member
    Why do you care if I care? hmmmmmm
    Curiosity and caring are 2 different things.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Really, I pretty much only care what my family and close friends think of me. And my boss, but I only care what he thinks of my work ethic. The rest of it is inconsequential to me because you're absolutely right ... it is not going to make my life better to know what everyone else thinks. I would just end up hiding who I am to get someone else's approval and lose respect for myself.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    I want people to bow down the my greatness but I really do not care what other people think. I am that awsome.
  • galegetsthin
    galegetsthin Posts: 1,340 Member
    I used to. A lot. I have learned not to, but it was difficult and required a lot of self reflection. A lot of it, for me at least, was that if society saw me a certain way, then perhaps it was true and I just didn't recognize it. If a couple of people tell you the same thing about yourself, you begin to wonder if it is really truth. I will frequently have people ask on the status of my pregnancy. I am sterile and NOT pregnant...... When you have multiple people mention it, you wonder how many others are thinking it, then I got really self concious of my belly and the fact that I must LOOK PREGNANT. It hurt. It is hard to hear. It isnt so much that ONE other person's opinion mattered, it was the concern that everyone but me noticed. It did kinda spur me on to make some changes. But it made me cry far more.
  • SabrinaJL
    SabrinaJL Posts: 1,579 Member
    I care what my family and friends think because I love them. Everyone else can **** right off.
  • coachblt
    coachblt Posts: 1,090
    I choose to be a Godly father for my daughters and don't ask others if they approve or not. I'm not perfect nor do I claim to be. However, I know when I screw up and don't need others to put their 2 cents in. I'm my own worse critic and don't care to hear their rendition repeated over and over.

    I do care that people see me as example of how fathers should behave, but as far as what they think? I have no control over other people feelings or thoughts and I refuse to give myself that much credit or blame in the matter.

    That's deep, huh? Sorry...
  • LemonsAndCoffee
    LemonsAndCoffee Posts: 313 Member
    Why do you care if I care? hmmmmmm
    Curiosity and caring are 2 different things.

    +1 for Binary
  • LauraMacNCheese
    LauraMacNCheese Posts: 7,173 Member
    Often I don't get it. Admittedly there are very small group of people whose opinions are important, but for the most part I could care less.

    Other people's opinions can make you feel poorly about yourself.
    Other people's opinions can influence you...and often not in a positive way.
    Other people's opinions can make you be a different person.
    Words only have the power YOU give them.

    So why do you care?

    You said you "could care less"...great, now the grammar nazis are going to be all over this thread like white on rice.
  • _binary_jester_
    _binary_jester_ Posts: 2,132 Member
    Often I don't get it. Admittedly there are very small group of people whose opinions are important, but for the most part I could care less.

    Other people's opinions can make you feel poorly about yourself.
    Other people's opinions can influence you...and often not in a positive way.
    Other people's opinions can make you be a different person.
    Words only have the power YOU give them.

    So why do you care?

    You said you "could care less"...great, now the grammar nazis are going to be all over this thread like white on rice.
    Heh...let 'em.
  • shanahan_09
    shanahan_09 Posts: 238 Member
    Interesting topic. I'm getting better now that I'm getting older about not caring so much about what others think of me. I'm turning it around and now strive to care about what I truly think about myself. If I know I'm a good person, have a good heart, try my best, don't belittle myself for weaknesses, falling down etc...then I think I'm doing okay. Of course I will worry to some degree about what my family thinks, that will never go away.
  • DAM_Fine
    DAM_Fine Posts: 1,227 Member
    I care what my family and friends think because I love them. Everyone else can **** right off.

    I stopped caring what my family thinks a long time ago - we are just too different. Their opinions count as much as that of any random stranger. Friends, the real ones, are the only ones I pay attention to anymore - and that's only if they agree with me or are willing to be coerced to my way of thinking.

    Someone gave me this the other day, and I LOVE IT!!!!
    zzzzziiv.jpg
  • LauraMacNCheese
    LauraMacNCheese Posts: 7,173 Member
    Often I don't get it. Admittedly there are very small group of people whose opinions are important, but for the most part I could care less.

    Other people's opinions can make you feel poorly about yourself.
    Other people's opinions can influence you...and often not in a positive way.
    Other people's opinions can make you be a different person.
    Words only have the power YOU give them.

    So why do you care?

    You said you "could care less"...great, now the grammar nazis are going to be all over this thread like white on rice.
    Heh...let 'em.

    I'm thinkin' I should bust out my Batman hater pic...just in case :bigsmile:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    When you are 20, you care deeply what people think of you.

    When you are 40, you don't care what they think of you.

    When you are 60, you realize they weren't even thinking of you.
  • jennie0918
    jennie0918 Posts: 69 Member
    i think i care so much because I'm so used to being judged. and in a bad way. so i do everything i can to be accepted i guess. i mean i know that sounds sad and bad but like being judged by everything (by your own father) has basically made me hate myself. so i try to please everyone because i'm afraid of being hated and not good enough. i was never good enough for my dad so now i have to please everyone else.
  • TK266
    TK266 Posts: 3,638 Member
    I don't know if I care for you opinions on why i care what other think of me .... as long as that doesn't make you think less of me and you still like and value every thing I do and say.:tongue::tongue: :tongue:
  • Ruger2506
    Ruger2506 Posts: 309 Member
    Because I've got everything else for people to be jealous of.

    Now I want people to be jealous of me looking good to.
  • leslielt
    leslielt Posts: 113 Member
    troll alert!
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
    I think we all care what others think more than we want to let on. There is some power dynamics involved in presenting a "not caring" attitude. I think the difference is how much we let it control our lives, our decisions, our thinking/emotions/etc.

    Maybe I'm hung up on definitions/semantics and when you say you couldn't care less, what you mean is that other people's opinions have very little affect on your life. I guess some might say that the same thing as not caring. I'd still say that there is an effect initially - a reaction (caring) of some kind. But experience, emotional development, intrinsic personality, cultural influences, etc. all come into play with what happens next. For you, it may just be a blip and it's gone. For others it might be very emotional or even devastating.

    I agree about the idea of words only having the power YOU/I/anyone gives them. However, convincing others of that can be a tough sell. Consider offensive words like racial epithets. Where is the line between my choice of a word and the meaning you attach to it? Am I responsible at all for any of the meaning you attach to it? Sorry, maybe that's veering off into a different discussion altogether.
  • auticus
    auticus Posts: 1,051 Member
    Because humans are a herd animal and no one wants to be left out of the herd.
  • _GingerSnap_
    _GingerSnap_ Posts: 339 Member
    I have my two daughters and their opinions of me matter, but other than that I don't give much thought to what others think. Most people are morons and since they are really low on the food chain their opinions mean nothing.

    (I hope the above statement comes off just as pompous as it does in my head! :wink: )
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
    My life became a lot better when I learned not give give a flying f*** about what other people think. I am not on this earth to impress anyone else.
  • _binary_jester_
    _binary_jester_ Posts: 2,132 Member
    troll alert!
    Just because I don't care what other people think, that makes me a troll?
  • This content has been removed.
  • I choose to be a Godly father for my daughters and don't ask others if they approve or not. I'm not perfect nor do I claim to be. However, I know when I screw up and don't need others to put their 2 cents in. I'm my own worse critic and don't care to hear their rendition repeated over and over.

    I do care that people see me as example of how fathers should behave, but as far as what they think? I have no control over other people feelings or thoughts and I refuse to give myself that much credit or blame in the matter.

    That's deep, huh? Sorry...

    Amen to that!
  • La_Amazona
    La_Amazona Posts: 4,855 Member
    See I'm a free spirt and you either love me or you don't. I take pride in that I've always marched to my own beat.

    But deep inside I wonder if I'm too much to handle and if people think I'm too "wild".

    Then I go back to "F them!" Take it or leave it. I am what I am... always have been.
  • Cameron_1969
    Cameron_1969 Posts: 2,855 Member
    You wouldn't care what other people think of you if you knew how seldom they do.
This discussion has been closed.