At what age did you realize that the world was a shitty place?

[Kingofkings1992]

It was around early 20’s for me

[OneViewpoint]

"Shitty place" is a subjective assessment. You're upset because you finally woke up to the fact that the world isn't the sugar coated fantasy that Hollywood and corporate marketing sold you. Life is a struggle with disease, greed, wars, poverty, hunger, jealousy, natural disasters, accidents, racism AND pleasure, natural wonders, science, art literature, music, art, love, beauty.

Personally I like the dichotomy. I think there would be no appreciation for the good stuff if we didn't have bad stuff to provide perspective. And we would have no character if everything in life came easily at no cost. Without adversity there are no heroes.

[Kingofkings1992]

It’s not subjective. By any objective measure, it’s an accurate statement. One would have to be blind or stupid to earnestly believe that the world is a good place.

[Anonymous]

I got my first glimpse at the world's cruelty at a fairly young age, at school, when I was heavily bullied and picked on by the other students and classmates due to my learning disability and being introverted and shy.. I was also constantly criticized by my family for the same reasons (for supposedly "being weak" and having differing interests to them (like reading and drawing). But at least back then I had a hope that not everyone was like that, which was shattered later, when I started using social media.. Social media is like having the power of reading people's ugly thoughts.. It makes you realize how hypocritical some of them really are.. They smile in front of you and then roast you behind your back for clout and likes on Tiktok.

[Mon1to]

I don’t have a specific age in mind, but over time, I’ve been through a lot. Not to make it a competition, but I’ve experienced abuse and seen things I never should have at a young age. I had depression at 14-15, and now I often feel exhausted. But even at my lowest, I know I’m meant to be alive—because life changes, and there are still moments of joy worth holding on for!<3

[DryGermanGuy]

Never because the world is not relevant for me or anybody else. What happens in your household, your city and maybe your country is far more important and I can’t really complain there. Other people in other places have it worse, of course.

[WindAtMyBack]

I don't think it's a shitty place. There are shitty things that happens, but that does not make it a shitty place. The news focuses of the shitty stuff and makes it seem far more prevalent than it really is.

[Blunky]

As far back as I can remember. People wonder why kids in abusive households don't reach out. The world looks very different when the people you fear and hate the most are the ones coming home to you every day.

[lightbulb27]

teens but it keeps unfolding. I didn't have the depth of suffering and misery put upon some people til later.

Overall, I've been very fortunate vs so many that lived hell on earth.

[katiesmuff]

I don't think it is a shitty place, just a very confused place at the moment.

[combative]

Probably like 7 years old.

[Kingofkings1992]

Damn childhood is supposed to be good at least

[combative]

Life has been good, but it's easy to observe that a lot is wrong with the world even at a young age.

[Kingofkings1992]

I certainly couldn’t tell shit about the world at 7. Pretty sure most 7 year olds can’t. It takes being at least 14-15 to even remotely understand life. And even then, it’s not much. The brain is not fully developed until 25

[combative]

Well I could pick up on the general unhappiness of a lot of my elementary school teachers pretty much from Kindergarten onward. Around 7 years old I could see teacher bias and general lack of humanity due to my dyslexia. My IQ tests were off the charts, my math skills were superb, I was athletically and artistically gifted, but I had problems processing written characters when reading. Rather than acknowledge that I just had a small problem to work through, they acted like I was mentally retarded (I have an IQ of 158) even though I was probably smarter than them even at that age. They tried to ostracize me and basically wanted to throw me away into a dark hole and not teach me even though the evidence proved I was brilliant. This lead to fist fights with students that picked up on the fact that I was being treated as a lower class student with teacher bias against me. I didn't even have a good teacher until 4th grade and my 3rd grade teacher was essentially evil so I pretty much had to teach myself. By 8 years old I was watching the Berlin Wall fall on live television. People were desperate to escape socialism and they had been put in what was essentially an open air prison behind multiple large walls with barbed wire and armed guards to keep them from escaping their own country. Kids that fled socialism that year ended up in my school the next year to tell me all the horror stories. By 9 years old I had a Black girl I was legitimate friends with calling me racist because I refused to take her to the school dance. That was how she handled rejection, to use the racism trope. Just label the White 9 year old male a racist when you don't get your way even though you've been friends with the guy for several years.

[combative]

By 11 years old street thugs were trying to mug me and I was forced to beat up two guys that were around 17 years old on my own in a two on one fight in a dark parking lot. I got a black eye but I kept my dignity and my possessions. By 12 years old I had a revolver pointed in my face... and the story goes on... Childhood isn't all shits and giggles.

[combative]

At 14 I had to attend my first several funerals for people of my generation because 5 of my classmates died in a car cash several of whom I was really close with. By 15 two more of my friends were dead. I experienced plenty before I even made it to high school and I'm just kind of skimming through some of the crap.

[combative]

I was 11 when I experience my first gang riot. The Bloods followed the school bus to school to attack a Crip gang member who was on the bus. They were smashing the school bush window with baseball bats and shit on school campus at the bus circle trying to get to him. The Crip made a dash for it across the school grounds to the apartments on the other side of school where several car loads of Crips were waiting and a gang riot broke out. on school grounds. Other kids that weren't gang members joined in the brawl. Probably severl thousand kids stampeded around the school grounds in the riot. The riot squad was called and the school basically went into lock down. I think I was about 13 when I saw a gang member throw a large landscaping rock through the back window of a rival gang's car as 5 people stomped one person on the sidewalk into a pool of blood. Then the police showed up at the park. Kid sitting in the back seat of the car had his skull cracked open and he was hanging out the back door with his brains leaking out on the pavement. The gang members abandoned the car and ran off laving their friend to die on the street.

[combative]

*bus

[ProbablyClueless]

Honestly... like 5 or 6. Life wasted no time in shitting on me.

[BarryLiverstone]

I haven’t. God created the world and it’s a good place.

[Kingofkings1992]

I don’t believe in god

[BarryLiverstone]

Not yet. You may in the future.

[exitseven]

When I was in high school.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Soon as I realized I'm black !!!

[Kingofkings1992]

Boohoo. Stop your whining

[Anonymous]

Age 13 I always knew what I was look at

[AviatorTom]

I'm not there yet.

[DrPepper12]

Same.

[noohair]

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