How Much Have You Changed Since You Joined?

I've learned things. I don't think I changed any core values. Outside of CFC, when I started here I was in a real foul mood for a long time for things unrelated to here. So I tended to be nastier. Now I'm a bit more even tempered.

I've changed a lot.

I'm a LOT less optimisitic and idealistic than I was when I first joined, many years ago. Certainly I had a lot of traumatic life events happen in that time frame.... Lost a parent, nearly lost another one, had an LDS mission end in catastrophe, booted from college bc of money, fell in love, changed majors, graduated, taught in the ghetto, broke up, and I've moved at least 4 times. All of those events change how you look at stuff.

I think i'm slightly less "liberal" than I used to be, but mostly, i'm more politically frustrated. I used to create and post in political threads all the time, but now I don't so much.

My political views haven't really changed all that much, I maybe moved a little more to the left on some of them, but then again, I was always a leftie

I think the biggest change for me was probably my typing skills (actually making a sentence that's comprehensible, and not some giant mess), and my debate skills... though those still need a little more work. But they are still much better than when I first joined

2004: Pentecostal, Young-Earth creationist, zealous Republican and avid listener of right-ring radio, although I ignored O'Reilly and Rush: they were too obnoxious for me.

2005: Disaffected Pentecostal, moderate Republican to moderate Democrat. What changed? Entering the workforce and realizing that we're not all one big happy family. People with money and power will abuse those without it.I wanted strong unions, high taxes for the wealthy, and universal healthcare.

2006: Humanist, social democrat. I renounced religion and discovered idealism.
2009: Humanist, social democrat with heavy emphasis on socialism; interested in both Stoic philosophy and Gandhi.
2010: Humanist of a more Unitarian Univeralist stripe with mixed political sentiments ranging from social democrat to anarcho-communist.


I'm healthier than I used to be: in 2004 I had no social life, suffered from anger and depression, and had no idea where my life was going. After 2006, I found purpose in my life and learned to be socially healthy. Depression is no longer an issue, nor is anger. I'm more active, spending less time in front of the television and computer and more time outside with friends, going for walks or playing basketball. Although a fall-out with a friend set me back in terms of sociability, I'm recovering from that. If I've suffered any, it's my optimism and idealism being a bit corroded by three years of sociology. It's a lot easier to enjoy the show if you don't see the crap behind the curtains.

I have moved towards the center...

I was 14 when I joined eight years ago. Pretty much everything has changed, except my political views, which have always been more or less apathetic.

I'm less depressed than I used to be.

I've gone from someone who didn't know anything about politics and supported the Republicans because I thought they had a cooler name to being an Anarchist and highly interested in politics.

I've shed a few of my more strongly 'libertarian' leanings. I've moderated on a variety of issues, though few core principles changed.

Maybe I'll dig out an old 'political' post and find more concrete examples...

I am emotionally more or less the same. Physically I have lost weight, because I have been doing that recently. Politically I am almost exactly the same, but then, I haven't been a member for a long time and I am pretty entrenched in my positions, anyways. Plus, I'm always right about everything, so there's that...

When I started coming here I was a huge Christfag and I recall being a lot like some certain ill-repute posters in terms of my pre-adolescent political musings, but I was an indolent 13-year-old when I joined. Jesus, that was a long time ago.

Most of the changes that have taken place in my life including my religious abdication weren't because of this site, but at times conversations here piqued my interest in things in the real world.

It's just frightening to think that since I came here 7 years ago I've known the people on this site longer than most of my friends in real life.

Religion: When I came here, I'd strike up religious debates left and right. As some of you might or might not know, there is/used to be religious battlegrounds between big Youtubers like Thunderf00t and VenomFangX and yeah. After having renounced my religious beliefs, I was attracted to it and watched and commented a lot of videos like that. As a result, when I came to CFC I was very confrontational.

Nowadays, I've stopped caring as much about it.

Gays and Bis: I wasn't a homophobe before CFC, but I'd wary of homosexuals and bisexuals. Due to making friends with bis and gays (at first people like Lord Joakim and Squonk, nowadays though the more active guys are Ekolite and Mango Elephant), I've really dropped all weariness. I've gotten more disgusted with homophobes, and more sexually open...

Right-Wingers: CFC has exposed me to many right-wingers and their arguments. It has made me understand them on a deeper level than before. It's a part of the maturing-thing.


Just off the top of my head.

I don't think I've changed much. Maybe I've become more annoying in real life, due to being more argumentative with other people.

Well, I was like 12 when I joined.

A mess then and still s mess now .

Become more of a moderate on most economic and social issues - I used to be a big believer in doing the RIGHT (ie, liberal/socialist) thing and doing it NOW, now I tend to favor doing what works to improve the lot of the people, even if the result is less than perfect.

Flipped from supporting multiculturalism to viewing it as a good idea in principle gone horribly wrong in practice, and that need seriously retooled.

And of course went from wanting Canada to be something more, an identity I could relate to (I once started a big thread here suggesting Canada needed to be something more), to giving up on relating to Canada, and viewing it as something that we should (or shouldn't) be part of, as Quebecers, based purely on rational considerations.

I've gradually been losing my faith in humanity.

Camikaze said:

I don't think I've changed much. Maybe I've become more annoying in real life, due to being more argumentative with other people.

Click to expand...

FYI your only annoying in real life when your scoring points.

My views of Communists have changed as well. Previously, I thought of them as extremist nutjobs since I thought that the USSR had real Communism.

Now though I know that most Communists don't want the totalitarian nightmare that the USSR was, and that they're just nice people who care about people who had the misfortune to be born into a poor family. As a result, I've grown a little respect for Communists.

Of course, I don't think inequality and social mobility are bad enough (on the contrary actually) here in Sweden that a Communist revolution is warranted. Still, I can conceive of scenarios where I'd be a Communist.

I've gone from being in the middle and favoring the Republican party to being in the middle and hating both parties. I've also matured, but that's not really related to CFC, just natural. I cringe when I view some of my earlier posts. I'm extremely embarrassed of how stupid and immature I initially was.