Canadian who made Heraclitus style comment called me son of a *****

[Barnabas]

I was in a family meeting, he is the father of my cousin¡s husband

He was talking about the world cup, and hot it was just a modern replacement for war, all about nationalism and not about enjoying a sport.
Somehow, in connection that that statement, he mentioned that mankind is decadent because modern medicine has allowed people who would have died during the first 5 years of their lives to live till a very old age (70 or 80 years) and breed.

I mentioned that his son's wife, my cousin, had all their babies in preterm births, and 200 years ago all those babies would have died and he would have no grandchildren.

He got very offende and called me son of a *****.

What would you have done in that situation?

And, do you have a word in english for male and female cousins? or only cousin?

The conversation was in English btw

[notyoueither]

Just cousin.

I'm not sure what I would have done.

[Asher]

I'm up for calling anyone a son of a *****, at any time.

[Dinner]

He had it coming.

[Heraclitus]

He had it coming.

+1

You just pointed out his inconsistency. You didn't suggest the world would somehow be improved if his relatives had died, he did, he just didn't realize it. If he was rational he wouldn't be offended.

[MikeH]

Years of experience on Poly should show that people get the most angry when you clearly point out how stupid whatever they are saying is.

[MikeH]

Mankind is decadent (at least in the west) though. We're incredibly wealthy and pampered compared to any time in history. Seeing that as a bad thing is weird, sounds like it's just an old man pontificating and reflecting more fondly on the past than it really deserves.

Anyway, lucky us!

[BeBMan]

I wonder if the ancient Romans blamed modernity for decadence too.

[MikeH]

They did, and they certainly complained about "the youth of today" as did the Greeks.

[Robert]

It all depends on how you said it and phrased it, and the tone.
Perhaps these things were really worrying for him back then.
Everybody is inconsistence in many ways. No need to always rub that in people's faces by using very personal and emotional examples. And that's why I can't answer your question without knowing how you exactly phrased it.

But since you said:

He was talking about the world cup, and hot it was just a modern replacement for war, all about nationalism and not about enjoying a sport.

I can only conclude that you are apparently a very cynical person, so my prejustice says that you made a very cynical comment about his grandchildren, which explains his response.

Then the answer would be: apologize and say that you got carried a bit too far away in the conversation.

[Robert]

They did, and they certainly complained about "the youth of today" as did the Greeks.

There are some nice quotes from Aristotles about that

[MikeH]

I was particularly thinking of them, yes.

I think Socrates has a good rant about the youth of today in The Republic too...

[RGBVideo]

well, to answer your question

in connection that that statement, he mentioned that mankind is decadent because modern medicine has allowed people who would have died during the first 5 years of their lives to live till a very old age (70 or 80 years) and breed.

I mentioned that his son's wife, my cousin, had all their babies in preterm births, and 200 years ago all those babies would have died and he would have no grandchildren.

He got very offende and called me son of a *****.

What would you have done in that situation?

Try to get over the awkward situation by first laughing it off lightheartedly, then saying something to the kind of "but you must agree, that's what would've happened yes? All technological progress has it's upsides and downsides. A lot of innocent babies would die, which would result in personal tragedies. I didn't mean to personally insult you."

He was playing tough by trying to start up a non-personal discussion about social darwinism, then got insulted when it was applied to him. It was hypocritical of him, but perhaps his emotions got the better side of his reasoning.

[Dinner]

+1

You just pointed out his inconsistency. You didn't suggest the world would somehow be improved if his relatives had died, he did, he just didn't realize it. If he was rational he wouldn't be offended.

I'm extremely consistent and believe the world would be improved if everyone's relatives died. Especially you.

[Dinner]

It all depends on how you said it and phrased it, and the tone.

Can we kill him already? Come on, that's the whole reason we're here. If it was any other reason we'd be anally fisting some blond chicks by now.