This is how I respond when people call me cringe for complimenting my team-mates in games. Even when we lose.
I will never understand gamers. Imagine thinking that being nice and respectful and have good sportsmanship is cringe
I know, right? I was so happy to find there are a bunch of positive voiced pings you can bind in Deadlock. I can now have my character go “good job” when the team does something well together, or “thanks” when a team-mate intentionally or just coincidentally save my skin, and make sure the other players get to feel appreciated.
I HAVE JOINED THE WAR ON CRINGE ON THE SIDE OF CRINGE.
nothing’s worse than cringe, cringe is worse than death
I may be covered in vomit, but you are covered in poo
Being mean is willfully making people around you feel worse. Being cringe is negligently making people around you feel worse. Once you’re aware you’re cringe, if you do nothing to mitigate it, you’re being willfully negligent, which is just as bad as doing something intentionally.
Edit: I’ve posted the same joke as a response each time I’ve seen this meme, and this is the first time it hasn’t been well-received. Just in case that’s down to people thinking I’m being mean instead of making a joke, I’ll clarify that I am in favour of letting people enjoy things.
Being cringe is enjoying things that people think is embarrassing or lame. If someone likes Sonic the Hedgehog enough to wear sonic shirts every day, should they stop wearing them because it’s “cringe”?
Being mean is willfully making people around you feel worse. Being cringe is negligently making people around you feel worse. Once you’re aware you’re cringe, if you do nothing to mitigate it, you’re being willfully negligent, which is just as bad as doing something intentionally.
Cringe is just vicarious embarrassment. You are feeling embarrassed on behalf of someone else. Unlike empathy, where you share the emotion someone else is experiencing, cringe is generally embarrassment for the actions of someone else who is not embarrassed.
I suspect this is an instinct that helps us create social norms. We are embarrassed that someone else is acting in a way that would embarrass us, so we are encouraged to let them know that what they’re doing isn’t right. This is helpful if someone has toilet paper stuck to their shoe, or their fly is down, or they have some food stuck in their teeth.
But it isn’t helpful if the thing they’re doing is intentional, harmless, and they’re owning it. Let people live their lives, and work on your response to their behavior or appearance rather than policing them to make yourself feel better.
NB: I am not a psychologist.
