Hope in Humanity

[Zakama]

I don't know about you, but after this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63345) I need some happy stories. Post yours here. I'll start off with this. (http://www.rd.com/content/everyday-people-helping-the-homeless/)

[Midnight Son]

Damn you for making me tear up. :smallwink:

If she ever runs for President, that's one Gore who would get my vote.

[DarkLightDragon]

That's so nice! :smallsmile:

It's great to hear happy stories like these. I hope we can all learn to be like that and help make the world a better place. :smallsmile:

[Setra]

There's a lot of crap in this world *sigh* at least some people are nice, still it's a minority.

[rubakhin]

Listen: here's a philosophy I came across in a book, I don't remember which one. Some meditative Asian work. It was a long time ago. I have no opinion over whether it's true or not, but even if you think it's complete bull when applied to human beings in general, you should take heart in that there are people who are able to believe this, despite having suffered. The philosophy is that all human actions are motivated by some form of love. Even the most evil and self-serving. For instance, an avaricious man is motivated by love of money, which is, at least, some kind of love. As horrible as as the mother's actions were in that story, they seemed to be motivated by love of her daughter in some way, and Megan herself was driven to suicide by love. Love is the heart of everything.

It doesn't change the magnitude of evil acts, but it may help somehow to think of them in this way. Anne Frank said famously that, despite everything, she still believes that people really are good at heart.

[Sir_Norbert]

There's a lot of crap in this world *sigh* at least some people are nice, still it's a minority.
How do you go about counting? It's just that the nasty ones get more publicity. And it's easier for one nasty man to do more damage than one nice man can do good.

[Serpentine]

I read something... interesting in the paper today.
An elderly gentleman lost his cockatoo, which ended up 12m up a tree. This gentleman fell in trying to retrieve it, and is now in hospital with suspected spinal injuries. His neighbour, feeling sorry for the man, brought out his ladder and tried to get the bird down. He, too, fell, this time dying immediately.
Mildly amusing in its absurdity, sad in its tragedy, heartwarming in its charity. Win-win-win!

Also, in local news, a man was recently acknowledged for his heroism some decades ago. He drowned trying to save a child thirty years ago, and his sacrifice was finally publicly recognised at the Australia Day celebrations.

[Dallas-Dakota]

In my view, you have four different kind of people :

Bullies, who claim the most attention
followers(majority of people), not brave enough or smart enough to form own oppinion and tell it, they mostly follow the bullies.
Ignorants, they ignore the bullies and try to lead there own lives.
Happy upstanders, they follow there own way, they welcome the 'followers' and stand up to bullies.
Others : as I said, others, but that dont fit into one of these catagories.

To badly the Happy Upstanders are in a huge minority, I myself am a Happy Upstander, I dont like bullies and I personally find Followers, stupid, you just need to get past my two outer layers to get to really know me, sadly, nobody nobody tries....

So, yes there is hope, only not much, or here I quote Gandalf, 'only a fools hope'.

[rubakhin]

For some reason that reminds me of a story that a Russian man once told me: There was once an old woman, more or less forgotten by the world, who was wasting away in the hospital from a potentially fatal disease. There was a tree outside her window, that she could see even while lying down in bed. It comforted her. She kept saying "I'll die when the last leaf falls from that tree." And as the fall weather began to set in, and the leaves began to fall, she did indeed get worse.

One night there came a particularly violent storm. The doctor was safe in his bed at home, but all he could think of was that the last leaf would certainly get blown off in the wind. And so the doctor got the idea to go up there with a ladder and start gluing the leaves back on, as dangerous as it was in the storm.

They found him in the morning, at the base of the tree, stone dead. Lightening had struck him that night. A week later, the old woman died.

Saith the story-teller: This is remembered as an O. Henry story, but I was told that not only was it originally true, it happened right in Petersburg. If it is true, then certainly, said the story-teller, it happened in Russia, which is the only place on Earth where a woman really would decide to die when the last leaf falls, where a doctor would sacrifice himself for an old woman without much life left in her.

You've probably seen slight variations on this story before, but the Russian version is the only one I've heard of where the doctor dies and then the woman dies anyway. I like that morbid Slavic touch.

[Setra]

I'm feeling cheery about humanity this morning.

Two stories on the news made me feel good.

Story One: The Second richest man in America says it isn't fair for him to pay less taxes than the people who work for him.

It's hard to describe how GOOD this makes me feel.

Story Two: A man donates One Hundred MILLION dollars to charity.

I think I'm tearing up *sniffle*

[Serpentine]

I like that morbid Slavic touch.I've heard about that black Russian humour. The one I keep getting told about was... during the revolution or somesuch? Some people were being taken out into the country to be executed, with a priest to give them their last rites. The doomed men were complaining about how cold it was. The priest replied:
"You think you have it bad? I have to walk back again!"

Something along those lines, anyway.

[rubakhin]

I've heard about that black Russian humour. The one I keep getting told about was... during the revolution or somesuch? Some people were being taken out into the country to be executed, with a priest to give them their last rites. The doomed men were complaining about how cold it was. The priest replied:
"You think you have it bad? I have to walk back again!"

Something along those lines, anyway.


Russian jokes are as dismal as they are funny. Sometimes just dismal, though. In America, there's a saying about black humor: "You either laugh or you cry." We have our own version of that one: "You laugh; and then you cry."

We have got that joke - I think I may have heard the priest one once, but the one I remember was a more timeless variant, with a murderous pedophile taking a little boy into the woods.

My favorite Russian political joke is an old Cold War one. There was an American visiting Russian friends in Moscow. He said to them, "I'm shocked at the oppression here. In America, I could run across the White House lawn yelling "Ronald Reagan sucks!, and nothing would happen to me."

The Russians scoffed. "What are you talking about, oppression? We have the same freedom in Russia as well - I could run across the Red Square yelling "Ronald Reagan sucks!", and ..."

[bluewind95]

Due to the fact that in my childhood, I met a ton of bullies and no one ever stood against them... at that time, I lost my faith in most people, especially those my age. But as I've grown, I've gotten to meet more people. I've come to realize... not everyone is bad. And I've regained my faith.

Personally, I think we have both things in us. The reason we hear more of the bad is mainly because... sadly, it sells. People seem to like morbid things. And they hear the news when they're bad news and they gasp and they rant and they talk about how bad it is and how they would do better. It's just easy that way. I don't think it's exactly a bad thing. But I do wish that good news could give the same reaction to people... for them to gasp and talk about how good it is and how they could be just as good. Unfortunately, this seems to happen a lot less than the shocked reaction. It's the way people are taught. For example, there was a bad flood in a southern state of Mexico. Many, many people lost their homes and everything. The media tells you about the tragedy and how horrible it is.... but it doesn't tell you about all the people who have given help to these people and all the volunteer work that's getting done.

But despite the fact that bad news seem to be "louder" than good news, the good news are always there. It's sad that people lose all faith in humanity because the good news are usually so very silent. People are capable of horrible, horrible things, yes. But people are also capable of extremely kind things. Good and bad... both different sides of the same coin. We don't hold one side. We hold both sides in our hands. I can't fully lose my faith in humanity, really, because the other side of the coin is always there, even if it's hidden away in many cases. Good news like the article linked are always an excellent reminder of this.

[Winterwind]

The worst thing about all these bad events is that they sow disillusionment. And from disillusionment, in turn, blossom hopelessness, apathy and sorrow.

No, the majority of all people is not evil. Most will likely lend you a helping hand, if you just as ask them. Not everything happening out there is bad. People like that family from the story about Megan are not the rule, they are the unfortunate exception, and even they might change. You just don't hear as much about the good things out there, just as Sir_Norbert and bluewind95 say. Even if you do, they are less likely to stick to your memory than the vile, shocking things, "the evil that men do". But do not, do never allow them to disillusion you. That's just about the worst thing that you could allow the world to do to you. And it is not necessary. You decide your outlook yourself, do not choose one that makes you unhappy. There is just no sensible reason to do so.

My two cents.

[Prophaniti]

The best russian political joke I heard was about this american who is staying in russia on business. When he gets off the plane, he confides in a customs official.
"I'm worried about the government oppression, I don't want to get in trouble here."
The official smiles reassuringly at him. "Don't worry sir. Here in Russia, you can do anything you like, as long as you have proper permit."
"You mean I could... say... hand out pro-american literature?"
"As long as you have permit."
"I could run protests against the government?" he asks, surprised.
"Absolutely, as long as you have permit." the official smiles again.
"Whew. I can breathe easier now." the man says.
The official's smile vanishes and he leans menacingly toward the man.
"Do you have permit?"

[Trog]

No. It is in Troglodytes that you must put your hope in. For we Troglodytes shall never cease to make the world a better... OOOooo! Cupcakes! *points, walks off*

[Brickwall]

Hope (http://www.despair.com/hope.html)

And everything else on that site.

Seriously, hope in humanity? Humans are horrible, and anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest.

[Dragonrider]

I dunno, I'm sitting here with my 4-year-old brother falling asleep in my lap (or at least being awfully quiet) and it's hard to think anything bad when you're being cuddled by an adorable little kid.:smallsmile:

[Prophaniti]

This is, of course, just my opinion, but I believe humanity is neither inherently bad or good, we just are. The thing that really sets us apart and makes us unique is our free will, the ability to choose our actions and make of ourselves whatever we have the inclination and motivation to do. Therefore there will be those who see the quick route to power and comfort and think nothing of stepping on others to get there, but there will be in equal measure (Law of large numbers) those who wish to help their fellows so we may all have some measure of contentment and joy in life.

The thing is, it's usually the first type that are the most seen/publicized, so a lot of people tend to get a jaded view of humanity. The fact remains simply this: we are who we choose to be, and we just have to find a way to deal with the behavior of those who choose themselves above others.

[PhoeKun]

Seriously, hope in humanity? Humans are horrible, and anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest.

Anyone claiming to have no faith in humanity is giving up too easily...

[Setra]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

A child will choke his brother to death, because he doesn't see it as wrong. A child might tie up two cats by their tails and toss them into a river. A child might burn his house down because he hates his grandmother who never lets him 'have any fun'.

We have to be taught much of what we consider as 'good'.

I still have faith in humanity.. but very very little.

[Telonius]

Listen: here's a philosophy I came across in a book, I don't remember which one. Some meditative Asian work. It was a long time ago. I have no opinion over whether it's true or not, but even if you think it's complete bull when applied to human beings in general, you should take heart in that there are people who are able to believe this, despite having suffered. The philosophy is that all human actions are motivated by some form of love. Even the most evil and self-serving. For instance, an avaricious man is motivated by love of money, which is, at least, some kind of love. As horrible as as the mother's actions were in that story, they seemed to be motivated by love of her daughter in some way, and Megan herself was driven to suicide by love. Love is the heart of everything..

Seems fairly similar to Acquinas or Augustine, actually. I remember a story about a monster who ravages a countryside is motivated by hunger, or for the good of (love of) itself. The memory isn't clear at all, though, and I'm sure there are other theological or philosophical works that take similar themes.

[puppyavenger]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

A child will choke his brother to death, because he doesn't see it as wrong. A child might tie up two cats by their tails and toss them into a river. A child might burn his house down because he hates his grandmother who never lets him 'have any fun'.

We have to be taught much of what we consider as 'good'.

I still have faith in humanity.. but very very little.

We don't exactly have another free-willed speicies to compare ourselves to

[Cyclone231]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

A child will choke his brother to death, because he doesn't see it as wrong. A child might tie up two cats by their tails and toss them into a river. A child might burn his house down because he hates his grandmother who never lets him 'have any fun'.

We have to be taught much of what we consider as 'good'.

I still have faith in humanity.. but very very little.If humans were incapable of telling the difference between good and evil naturally, we would have no concept of "good" or of "evil".

We don't exactly have another free-willed speicies to compare ourselves toWe have plenty of other free-willed species to compare ourselves to. Dogs, cats, monkeys, dolphins, et cetera.

[Deepblue706]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

A child will choke his brother to death, because he doesn't see it as wrong. A child might tie up two cats by their tails and toss them into a river. A child might burn his house down because he hates his grandmother who never lets him 'have any fun'.

We have to be taught much of what we consider as 'good'.

I still have faith in humanity.. but very very little.

You're right, people can do some horrible things, if they are ignorant or uneducated. It's widely agreed that there are few things more cruel than a child. And, we often use the description "childish" in a negative way - these support already established feelings of the idea of a young, uneducated person doing bad things.

There's an old quote that goes something like this: "There is only one good, Knowledge, and only one evil, Ignorance."

I'll sooner believe that than say that humans are "good" or "evil". I really don't believe a lot of things are really so black and white. I think what makes people capable of horrible acts is a lack of understanding, of how they affect others, etc.

I don't think that without philosophy, everyone would lack a shred of morality - it's just that it'd take longer for people to fully consider the impact of everything they did. It seems like a viable survival technique, to be selfish, and ignore others - when survival conditions are poor, you'll just look out for yourself. You're looking from your perspective. You have to, because the chemicals in your brain are commanding you, "survive.", or otherwise do what conveniences you, first.

I have a lot of hope invested in humanity. Despite the countless horrible things we, as a race, have done...humans are capable of a lot. While I don't think we'll ever maintain a point in time where we are universally altruistic, I think, with proper guidance, people can come close to it. Society today, being as structured as it is, provides less excuse for selfish acts, and I think we have more higher-minded people now than ever before. Once they begin to step forward, humanity just may show its greatness. That may be a long time from now - but I do think it's possible, and I do think it'll eventually happen, if we don't die out first.

[Telonius]

I don't think we're inherently good or inherently evil. I think we're inherently lazy. If it's easy to do things that are good, we'll do things that are good. If it's easy to do things that are evil, we'll do things that are evil.

[Closet_Skeleton]

We have plenty of other free-willed species to compare ourselves to. Dogs, cats, monkeys, dolphins, et cetera.

It's not about free will, all animals pretty much have free will. It's about actually having a choice that's worse taking.

How many choices do you make in the average day?

Sometimes I think to myself that the only choice I could make to change my life would be to randomly kill someone. Which shows a terrible lack of style on my part.

If you compare us to dolphins, we're probably better off. Dolphins look cute but are specist rapists when you take your rose tinted glasses off. Chipanzees are pretty much the same.

Bonobos can be better than humans and Elephants aren't that bad.

Humans are still not that differant to beasts. School bullies are just acting on instinct a lot of women still think the best way to win an arguement is to mass into a huge group and throw **** at you.

[Telonius]

How many choices do you make in the average day?


Probably millions. Carefully considered, conscious, free choices? Not so many. Choices are only free insofar as I'm aware I'm making them.

[Winterwind]

Anyone claiming to have no faith in humanity is giving up too easily...Here are words of perfect truth and wisdom.

I urge anyone who thinks otherwise to rethink their attitude, for they have become jaded and bitter, and they are too precious for that.

[Raiser Blade]

Humans are born bad.

After they mature it's up to them to decide whether they want to do bad or good.

[Sir_Norbert]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

A child will choke his brother to death, because he doesn't see it as wrong. A child might tie up two cats by their tails and toss them into a river. A child might burn his house down because he hates his grandmother who never lets him 'have any fun'.
There's nothing "evil" about doing wrong things when you don't yet understand that they're wrong. The child choking his brother to death doesn't yet understand what death is and that it can't be reversed. At the same time we do learn these things, most of us also learn how to love the people close to us and extend friendship to those who treat us decently.

You think we only know murder is wrong because learn it by rote? Just go into any primary school class and see how much attention children pay to the things they need to be taught.

[Midnight Son]

Here's another good story I found today (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_us/cross_country_cowboy;_ylt=AitZblZTgH1Ei5Qlf0eGV8cD W7oF)

[bosssmiley]

I don't know about you, but after this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63345) I need some happy stories. Post yours here. I'll start off with this. (http://www.rd.com/content/everyday-people-helping-the-homeless/)

Not exactly a happy story, but: Bor the Barbarian Monk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=19074). Talk to him sometime, or even just read his posts. Like quite a few people in this little haven of ours, just knowing that good people like Bor are out there makes each day a little less crappy.

Also, the British RNLI. With their own blood, sweat, pain and deaths guys like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Blogg) prove that humans can't be all bad. Everything about these blokes it pure awesome.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

I knew a Hope in humanity. We went out for a while. She was blonde and smoked too much.

[Cubey]

I tend to get between amused and annoyed when I read posts like "everyone is good deep inside". But also when I read posts in the tone of "most humans are evil, I don't have hope in humanity". How many people does the poster know? One thousand? Ten thousand? And how many people is there on Earth? Six billion. Are you aware of how small a fraction that ten thousand is?

Here's my point. There is such a lot of us, that no matter whom you search for: good people, evil people, total jerks, ignorants, ascetics, videogame maniacs or furry porn enthusiasts, you will find so many of them that you will be easily convinced that the rest of humanity, that 99.9999% that you do not know, is the same as that 0.0001% that you DO know.

And this is why, when I read a terrible or a heart-warming story in a newspaper, I am hardly moved. I cannot say I am moved at all, as I am human and emotions are a part of my nature, but I am not moved for long. That is not only because my emotions, positive or negative, themselves will do nothing about the situation I did just read about, but also that in the time it took me to read the article, several acts of horrible beastiality, but also several acts of humanitarian selflessness, took place and I know nothing about them because there wasn't a news reporter around or the story didn't seem catchy enough for them to put on paper.
It would be hypocrisy to feel moved only by the stories fed to you by the media - a real open-minded person either has to feel moved by all things that happen on Earth simultaneously, thus bursting into tears but also laughing constantly, or to just feel unmoved by them all, if they cannot do anything about the situation that is.

I believe that my "so late that it's early already" state of mind messed up my already horrible grasp on English, resulting in a post so incomprehensible that I doubt even a tenth of people will survive to read this sentence.

EDIT: And here I forgot to answer the basic question. Do I have hope in humanity? Despite all of its obvious weaknesses, I do. To the full extent of my knowledge, the average morality level of a human being is growing slowly, or at least not degrading. At worst case, we are to live in a moral status quo.

[Extra_Crispy]

I dont have the newspaper articles as the 2 stories I was told were very long ago. First some background, as a lot of you know I was burned badly in a car accident in 1993. As part of therapy I went to see a therapist. I came to grips with what happened to me quickly so most of the time I was less of a patient in the burn survivers group meetings and more of a joint therapist. Anyway the therapist told me 2 stories.

1: A young girl (I think 5) was playing with matches in the bathroom and lit her house on fire. The parents were unable to make it out of the house and unfrotunatly died. But the girls brother (I think he was 8), after escaping the house ran back in, got his sister (that ran to her bedroom to hide) out of the burning house. She was burned but not too badly and mostly 1-2 degree. While the young boy, protecting his sister, was burned badly including on the face and some 3rd degree burns. The fire fighters that got to the house tried to save the parents but could not and one of the fire fighters later adopted the 2 children. Yes it was a bad (or evil if you want to say that) thing the little girl did but she did not know about fire, but the boy, even as young and egocentric as children can be still ran back in and saved his sisters life badly hurting himself. (A very very brave and good act)

2: I was told about this man that was burned about as badly as myself ~ 60-70% burned with a good amount of 3rd degree. But, like me, he was still able to walk and and had most if not all of his arm usage. Anyway he was walking down the road when he saw a car accident. A drunk driver and fallen asleep at the wheel and had also mashed the gas down on a full size car and ran into another car that was stopped at a light. The drunk driver was going so fast that the impact caused the car he hit to launch into the car in front of it, crushing whole rear of that other car and causing it to endup with its front end ontop of the back end of the other car. In that other car was a mother and 3 children. 1 was about 10, one was about 5-6 (booster seat), and one was still in a car seat, about 3. The gas from the crushed gas tank mixed with the destroyed, hot, sparking, front end of the other car and ignighted. The mother yelled at the oldest to get out of the car, and he was only slightly burned. She then reached to the back seat and unlatched the child in the booster seat, the easiest one for her to reach, and ran through the now badly burning car to the side walk. With her legs still on fire, the man that had already been burned in his own accident, shoved her down, told her to put out the fire on her legs and ran to the car. Climbing through the blaze he unbelted the car seat and pulled the child to safety, burning and on fire the whole time. The mother has some severe burns to her legs and singes in alot of other places, the child she rescued had minor burns and singes, the youngest also had minor burns, if I remember right very little 2nd degree burns, mostly 1st and singes and little of that even. But the man that rescued the little child was very badly burned on his feet and lower legs, that one leg was amputated below the knee. If I remember right they said it was the leg that he kept out of the car as leverage, right in the middle of the flames, but he still managed to walk/run with the child out of the fire. His arms were also burned as he used them to protect the child and keep the child from being burned. When asked about his heroism he said something like "I did not think about it, there was a child that was about to die. I did not think about myself I just ran over and helped."

As a burn surviver myself I know the pain involved with burns. Actually 3rd degree burns hurt less (but they still hurt, dont let anyone say differently) but are much more dangerous and life threatning. This man knew what he was about to go through and yet he did not hesitate, got himself burned very badly, and lost a leg, all for someone he did not know. Like I said I know the pain involved with severe burns, maybe better then many as I built up a huge tolerance to moriphine very quickly, and I know I would do the same thing to save the child BUT I dont know if I could have done it without hesitating. Knowing what I was about to go through, I probably would have hesistated.

[CatCameBack]

Does this (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21772240/) help?

Good people still exist.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Humans are born inherently evil, if you ask me.

We have to be taught that killing is wrong, rape is wrong, stealing is wrong.

Hello, Mr. Hobbes. The problem with this line of reasoning is that it implies that, somewhere, in a species of inherently evil humans, we learned good. If the totality of humanity is born inherently evil, how would we learn morals to come up with them. You believe that, from nowhere, people realized they were evil and decided to not do what they inherently did because they had decided it was wrong? Without another source of this knowledge (as God/Christ in the similar doctrine of Original Sin), it is counter-intuitive to assume we simply found good despite being inherently evil. I, personally, believe people are born inherently "good" and are made to do "evil" by the society and situation in which they live, a Confucian/Mencian viewpoint. My support for this is in the fact that very few of those children who cite that choke their brother are young enough not to have undergone something that forms a causation for their action; jealousy, parental abuse, or another form of learned violence. While these do not excuse the action, they explain why it would come about. Before a situation places one in a position to feel jealousy, as in poorly divided parental attention, or find violence as a solution (watching the news would suffice for that, anymore), most children are not violent or cruel. People, as you say, learn behaviors. I simply look that they are born knowing the good behaviors, and learn the bad ones, based upon starting my developmental progress of a human earlier than you seem to be, and then simply using a logical approach to the solution which makes more sense. This is, of course, an analytical, secual ethical study, and disregards the religious aspect that would bridge the logical gap in our argument, in which case, I simply disagree with a valid argument that you make.

[Setra]

I'll rephrase my statement

By current definition, many children have a large capacity for evil, probably moreso than the capacity they have for good.

This is just my biased opinion though.

I keep remembering those poor cats. :smallsigh:

I don't care what anyone says, those children KNEW that they were causing pain and suffering to those cats, tortured the poor things, and they ENJOYED IT.

I loathe children.


One almost wonders what negative stimulae might cause them to take on such a hateful act.
I will admit I had never thought about that.

But even if I did think about it, I'd come to the conclusion they were just spoiled. Which I just did.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

I loathe children.

One almost wonders what negative stimulae might cause them to take on such a hateful act.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

You know, sometimes being a nice guy comes right back at you, in ways you never saw coming.

SMEE, G-d bless her, mentioned something in passing a few weeks ago about possible help for my diabetes. I dismissed it. In my life, it's hard to put faith in "maybe."

Well, SMEE did her research and followed up with me. For all intents and purposes, SHE OFFERED ME A CURE FOR DIABETES IN BRAZIL! She was willing to hook me up with the doctor, and had even arranged for me to stay with her parents post-op! Wow...I mean...just...WOW!!! :smallsmile: :smallsmile: :smallsmile:

Unfortunately, the procedure will only work on Type 2 diabetics, and I'm Type 1. (The difference is that Type 2's still make insulin, while Type 1's usually don't.) :smallfrown:

But it's things like this that return my faith in humanity, and give me all the more reason to love the People in the Playground. =*)

[Sir_Norbert]

That really does bring a tear to my eye. That is just so awesome.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

That really does bring a tear to my eye. That is just so awesome.

That's just it..."Awesome" doesn't seem to be a strong enough word for something like that. Nor is "amazing," "fantastic," or "super-psychadellic-with-a-touch-of-cosmic-wowwie!" (In my teens, that last one often saw good usage.) The idea that someone cared enough and was willing to go to such lengths...There are no words. I am simply stunned, and shedding a happy tear. =*)

[CurlyKitGirl]

Not exactly a happy story, but: Bor the Barbarian Monk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=19074). Talk to him sometime, or even just read his posts. Like quite a few people in this little haven of ours, just knowing that good people like Bor are out there makes each day a little less crappy.

Also, the British RNLI. With their own blood, sweat, pain and deaths guys like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Blogg) prove that humans can't be all bad. Everything about these blokes it pure awesome.

To sum up Eggy: The RNLI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penlee_lifeboat_disaster) risk their lives as voluteers. I think this year the RNLI saved roughly 1000-1200 people who would have otherwise died. Most UK people and maybe some others will know of that disaster and it touched my entire community, my uncle was best friends with two of the lifeboatmen.
Yes, the negative aspects of humanity always show up because they are, in the main, unexpected. There's a volunteer here who works £VYP for no money and received an award for her work.
My point is people expect humanity to be kind and good and generous. Which is why they don't make a big deal out of the positive news unless it's something major.

[bluewind95]

That's a very wonderful and awesome story there, Bor. I agree. Things like that definitely increase one's faith in mankind.

Edit: Yes. People like Bor are definitely the kind of people that make you smile just because they exist and they prove how wonderful people are. For every 100 people who make you sigh, just one person who makes you smile like that is worth it.