Phun-size Philosophy # 27 – Compliments and Insults

We all at some point have been given a compliment or insult in our lives. It is an inevitable action that occurs in social interactions. It is our way to respond and evaluate the actions of others while letting them be aware of our opinions and perspectives. Compliments are the statements made where an external body was impressed by your actions or words so they expressed to you such a feeling. In general, it is associated with positive emotions because it incites pride in you because others reacted positively to what you’ve done. It is in a way encouragement and reinforcement because you want to receive similar compliments in the future so you will do semi similar actions. On the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got insults where degradation comes because of hatred or disappointment. It can come through a variety of mediums like name calling. When it comes to insults I feel like it is important to recognize that they target a perceived weakness or specific characteristic of you that they feel they can utilize to make fun of you for it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be your actions that incite insults but could also just be the way you look or what you believe in that it enough to have a barrage of insults and curse words flying towards your directions. Religion and race are huge facets of a person’s collective being that is almost always under scrutiny by certain parties. Something to take into consideration when talking about compliments or insults is that they magnitude of their impact depends on the source. If a role model or your parents do either then it penetrates deep within your emotions and your future actions are usually dependant upon the approval of loved ones. You probably don’t want to do something with your life that your parents will disapprove or and I can definitely say that it is one of the worst feelings you can have knowing your parents are disappointed in what you’re doing. Both can have varying effects on life and both are tied usually to your emotions and especially your self esteem. This is of course only if you care about those who compliment or insult you but you can become depressed if someone you are crushing on calls you ugly or you feel accomplished if you teachers congrats you on a test. I do think that both insults and compliments have the potential to motivate you to do better next time. I say this because everybody’s words have some impact but it is how you respond to them that matters. It is good to turn the positive emotions received from a compliment and better to turn the bad feelings from an insult into the drive to do better in the future.

-Allan Nicholas