this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2026
23 points (87.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38153 readers
1167 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Do you still have faith in humanity?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] kureta@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 hours ago

Yes. And always will.

[–] Kanda@reddthat.com 2 points 3 hours ago

What do you mean 'still'?

[–] gwl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 hours ago

Barely, but yes

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 5 hours ago

"Still?"

Never did. Still don't.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

I don't think I ever had

Yes, just not the ones in charge.

Although, you shouldn't have faith in those in charge even on a good day - especially if you can even slightly influence who gets to be in charge (by voting, for example - if you have a right to vote, you have a responsibility to vote well).

[–] itkovian@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

I have faith in people, but not in humanity as a whole. Our governments are run by some of the most disgusting people imaginable, politicians, who are controlled by even worse people, the rich.

[–] Fedditor385@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Never had. How can you have faith in a species which puts most effort towards advancing weapons to destroy as much as possible of it's own species.

[–] Bahnd@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

No... Not really, but I like to pretend that I do.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

"Still"? That would imply that I ever had faith in humanity.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 12 hours ago

idk...

just an example: I never really had any of my peers stand up for me when I get bullied in school... I doubt that in the adult world, others are gonna step in since its even more dangerous than k-12 so people are just gonna be bystanders while I get beaten in broad daylight (hypothetical, haven't actually been assulted as an adult yet)...

maybe if people stood up to bullies more, I'd have more faith, but as of now, I feel so alone... even family feels very cold to me... but I feel even more scared to leave and be alone out in the world... like a "the enemy you know" type of thing...

like its a "kill or be killed" type of world

-Philly, PA, USA

People from other places might feel differently

[–] wackyheartfluid@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

Zero. I have unshakable belief that we're collective morons with self-destruction baked into our DNA.

[–] Rugnjr@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Yes, 100%. Go talk to people. Travel. Trust. Love. The internet, social media, the news are as real as lord of the rings, or fortnite.

I have almost never met someone evil or truly unreasonable. I have of course left places that were not working for me. People trying to rope me into status games I didn't care for etc, or pressure me to do stuff I didn't want to do. Sometimes it's unpleasant, even painful. But not remotely something that can counterbalance all the great interactions and great people I have met. Heck, it's doesn't compete even just the kindness complete strangers have given me.

Catch people who do you harm in a different situation, years later and talk about it, and the same people are often reasonable, open to change, open to talk about why they do what they do.

You don't have to forgive them. But for me, it helps.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago
[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 18 points 23 hours ago

Humanity's potential...yes.

Humanity's actuality...no.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 14 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Absolutely! Turmoil comes in waves, and after each major challenge, we come out a little better than we were.

We've survived worse than this and eventually the world will look back at what was happening now and think, "Sure am glad we aren't like THAT anymore!"

[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 6 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Hope is a valuable thing, and the feeling of having none isn't something I would wish on anyone. Hold onto your hope tightly.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago

Weird. You saying that made me think.

It doesn't feel like hope. It feels like cold inevitability or statistical probability. Like, some days you hit all green lights, other days they're all red, but at the end of the day, you still did the same shit you do every day.

Everything changes, but somehow it's all the same.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 13 hours ago

Nope. Not even in living beings at this points.

I know understand Dr. Manhattan saying that a inert rock in Mars is more interesting than a chain of self replicating amino acids which just want to replicate themselves.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 21 hours ago

Gone. Reduced to atoms.

[–] 87Six@lemmy.zip 2 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

I feel people are really either stupid, naive, or evil

There's a tiny sliver of people that I have faith in, in there

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Humanity? Sure.

Human institutions? Less and less.

That's good - we shouldn't have blind faith in institutions. Remaining skeptical and keeping them in check helps fix things.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 10 points 23 hours ago

Last year I was feeling really down on people and how the world was going. I signed up for a volunteer gig to get outside and be a little productive.

I mainly expected the work to be satisfying, which it was, but my biggest surprise was how great being around like-minded people that also wanted to make our community better felt.

It feels more like hanging out with friends, even though we're busy as hell, and not like a job because we're all there by choice, and we get to see on a daily basis how our efforts are helping. It may only be a drop in the bucket, but it's not as though we're the only group working for our cause.

It's one of the most satisfying choices I've ever made in my life, and if you can find time (my commitment is 4 hours a week for half the year) it may improve your outlook on things if you're feeling like everything around you is bad.

[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

I don't. I do.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago

Life is cyclical

[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nah.

The good part is that I won't be around much longer to see it all go to hell in a handbasket.

The bad part is that my kids will.

Sorry about that, kids, I honestly did the best I could.

[–] wabasso@lemmy.ca 1 points 21 hours ago

Technically you could have not had kids. But I get it, I’m in the same boat!

[–] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago

I resent how this question implies I ever had faith in humanity.

[–] RykardNixon@lemmy.zip 2 points 18 hours ago

In waves. Mostly despair, but then I’ll see some Anarchist shit helping others fight parasitic institutions or decentralization getting a little more traction. Little wins against the oppressors. Renewable energy and batteries getting better and better. People using critical thinking or proper logic.

It just takes an example of the good fight to ignite the kindling within for me. But it’s tough out here.

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 5 points 23 hours ago

For sure. The people I meet are kind, caring, and responsible. Every time I start to get depressed about humanity, I turn off the internet and go hang with real people.

[–] cattywampas@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago
[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 3 points 23 hours ago
[–] Feyd@programming.dev 3 points 23 hours ago

Can't lose what you never had

[–] SGforce@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Humanity isn't the problem, it's the growing concentration of power

[–] SarahValentine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why would I put my faith in humanity, the most violent and destructive creature in the animal kingdom? There is an ideal beyond the survival animal we are, an imagination of how much better we could be. That's what I put my faith in. That's the kind of world I want to work toward.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

That sounds like having faith in humanity with extra steps. I'm also gonna push back on that "most violent and destructive" part. We're capable of more destruction than any other species, but we are also the only species capable of showing restraint. We've gone 80 years without using a nuclear bomb in war. Your cat would launch a nuke to kill a mouse.

[–] SarahValentine@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 20 hours ago

I didn't want to beg the question so I'll put a fine point on it for the sake of understand: what I believe in is what I would call "divinity", the ability to imagine something other than the way things are, and strive to make it a reality. Humanity is still coming up and we're doing good in places, but our fate is still dictated by the fearful, ignorant, hateful, and violent among us. We won't be able to reach our potential until those kinds of humans go extinct.

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

The humans worth placing your faith in are not the ones calling the shots.

Humanity under capitalism is doomed. The only way we survive is if this AI bubble pops and burns capitalism to the ground with it.

One can hope.

[–] sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 1 points 19 hours ago

There's a couple. Been a long time for everyone else though.

[–] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

As a whole, yes. We've managed to make it this far, and have strived for progress the whole time. On an individual level, absolutely not.

Based on my own experiences and readings, I'd guesstimate that a good 10% of people are genuinely evil, and another 50% are morons. I would absolutely not bet on those odds when trying to get help. Still, that leaves another 40% who are decent enough to want good, and smart enough to act on it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] zxqwas@lemmy.world 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

It's not worse than before.

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

"Before" had WW2 and WW1. Now it's that but with nukes and the Internet.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 2 points 23 hours ago

I have faith that it will eat itself

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

Humanity is too broad a grouping

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

https://youtu.be/wTF6ZkLM9eI

Time to give this a watch m8. Never give in.

[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

FYI, it's geoblocked, so switch ur VPN over to the USA for this.

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

.......well that is unfortunate humanity is cooked haha

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago
load more comments
view more: next ›