2016

[Antoninus]

I keep reading people on Facebook superstitiously condemn the year 2016 for killing so many celebrities. They wish the year would end already. They may want 2016 back after 2017 starts, it being the 100th anniversary of Fatima.

[red solo cup]

http://popcrush.com/betty-white-2016-death-gofundme-campaign/

[Bernadette]

Soooo many people on Reddit think that 2016 has been the worst year ever. It's astonishing!

[Kaesekopf]

People are idiots. 

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[Heinrich]

Broncos won Super Bowl in 2016. That got the America Great Again locomotive a roll'n! Go Broncos! MAGA!

[dymphna17]

Why is it superstitious to hate that loved ones died in 2016 and want as much time past that as possible?   2005 was the last horrible year I had like this.  I wouldn't go back there for anything.  You all have great years every time?  I guess you can just call me an "idiot".

[Antoninus]

Why is it superstitious to hate that loved ones died in 2016 and want as much time past that as possible?   2005 was the last horrible year I had like this.  I wouldn't go back there for anything.  You all have great years every time?  I guess you can just call me an "idiot".

First of all I didn't refer to anyone as an idiot.

Secondly these people aren't wishing 2016 ends because loved ones died. They wish it ends because they feel too many celebrities died. I don't think the celebrity death rate is going to slow down or speed up based on what year it is. That is why I said they were being superstitious.

[dymphna17]

Why is it superstitious to hate that loved ones died in 2016 and want as much time past that as possible?   2005 was the last horrible year I had like this.  I wouldn't go back there for anything.  You all have great years every time?  I guess you can just call me an "idiot".

First of all I didn't refer to anyone as an idiot.

Secondly these people aren't wishing 2016 ends because loved ones died. They wish it ends because they feel too many celebrities died. I don't think the celebrity death rate is going to slow down or speed up based on what year it is. That is why I said they were being superstitious.

I didn't say you referred to anyone as an idiot.  Kaesekopf said "people are idiots."  Guess I should have gone with the breakdown.    Alot of people now, worship celebrities since they have no God.  They create a kindred spirit with them that is really sad. 

I apologize for barging into your thread with all of my touchy-feely crap (my words, not yours).  That one sentence just set me off.  I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.   

[Bernadette]

Dymphna, I'm sorry if what I said upset you. 

[Chestertonian]

yeah i dont understand this either

i get it that people grew up with a lot of these TV personalities,especially the gen xers...  i have heard a lot of hyperbolic statements like "omg 2016 stop DESTROYING MY CHILDHOOD"

after awhile it gets to be histrionic.  Like a lot of people I grew up with princess leia in  star wars, watching david bowie in "Labyrinth" and listening to his music, Prince, etc

now with social media, there seems to be this collective pressure to publicly mourn celebrity deaths,especially if you are a prominent presence on twitter.  It's all very inauthentic

[Kaesekopf]

Why is it superstitious to hate that loved ones died in 2016 and want as much time past that as possible?   2005 was the last horrible year I had like this.  I wouldn't go back there for anything.  You all have great years every time?  I guess you can just call me an "idiot".

First of all I didn't refer to anyone as an idiot.

Secondly these people aren't wishing 2016 ends because loved ones died. They wish it ends because they feel too many celebrities died. I don't think the celebrity death rate is going to slow down or speed up based on what year it is. That is why I said they were being superstitious.

I didn't say you referred to anyone as an idiot.  Kaesekopf said "people are idiots."  Guess I should have gone with the breakdown.    Alot of people now, worship celebrities since they have no God.  They create a kindred spirit with them that is really sad. 

I apologize for barging into your thread with all of my touchy-feely crap (my words, not yours).  That one sentence just set me off.  I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.   [emoji481]

[emoji38]

Dymphna, if you lost someone close, im sorry for your loss.  However, the people who were fanboys of star wars or labyrinth didnt lose anyone close.  They lost an actor who made a movie (or songs).  Thats nowhere near comparable to losing a close loved one.  The idiots who go into mourning or think 2016 stole their childhood or whatever asinine sentiment is popular among the seculars are who im referring to. 

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[Non Nobis]

Most recently I was saddened a bit by the deaths of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher.  Mother and daughter deaths like that ARE sad, no matter who you are talking about.  And "Singing in the Rain" and "Star Wars" are favorites of mine. "Singing in the Rain", of course, came out years before I was born (yes, I double checked, it was years), but "Star Wars" started when I was in college.  When a part of your life (and people in it who made it happier in any way) become a memory, it can be a little sad.

Obviously that is different from worshiping celebrities and becoming histrionic about it. It is not the same as losing a loved one, of course; or losing someone really significant to the world. I don't go into mourning for movie stars, just feel a brief sentiment. And I don't blame 2016 for anything, it is just time and life.

As a young guy, perhaps none of this "sadness" makes any sense to you, K.

[Kaesekopf]

Feelings are for girls

[emoji38]

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[Jayne]

I'm glad to see this thread because I have been noticing these FB posts too.  The personification of the year, as if it were responsible for people's deaths, is pretty silly.  It is especially so, when people ignore the  role of recreational drugs in many of the cases of celebrities who died unusually young.   It also bothers me that so many people behave as if deaths of celebrities are somehow more tragic or significant than anyone else's.   The Gofundme to protect Betty White from 2016, I found particularly foolish.

I can understand that there is some nostalgia involved when an actor from one's youth dies.   I am around the same age as Carrie Fisher and saw the first Star Wars movie when it first came out.  I chose my wedding dress because it reminded me of Princess Leia's dress and we played the Star Wars theme as a wedding recessional.  It became a family tradition to incorporate a Star Wars reference into one's wedding.  My oldest son, for example, gave his groomsmen Storm Trooper shaped cufflinks.

So learning of the death of Carrie Fisher did not leave me completely unmoved.  I was a bit sad.  Nevertheless, I find most of the popular response to be unreasonable and out of proportion. 

[Daniel]

I think you all should just stay away from the Facebook. Problem solved. lol

Now I was on Facebook the other day, in one of the mathematical memes groups (yeah, I hate memes, but was on there anyway for some reason), and what I did see was that somebody had posted that 2016 is the sum of all positive integers from 1 to 63. Which is true, because it's a triangular number.
But it sort of called to mind that the sum of all positive integers 1 to 36 (or, all numbers on the roulette wheel) is 666, another triangular number. And sometimes people are superstitious about 666.
But as for 2016... I really have no idea what vos are talking about. I haven't seen any posts identifying the year 2016 with the personification of Death. But then again, I don't use Facebook much.