Is Chris "getting better"?

[Marvin]

By improving society, it's as something as small as simply improving your community around you. Volunteering is bettering society. So is helping your neighbors. The lemonade stand he did a while back for (cancer research?) is bettering society. This is of course not his responsibility, but these are still good activities that would improve him as a person.

Agreed, but I don't fault Chris for not making it his main priority.

Then why is he constantly in court?

Constantly in court is a big exaggeration. Chris has very little negative impact on the community. He's maybe a minor nuisance.

Jesus, Chris is stupid.

And paranoid. That's a Barb thing, I'm pretty sure. When you look at everyone around you as a mark, it gets a lot harder to trust people.

 

[Karen Riley]

Improvement could be viewed from a few different angles. Improvement for the individual? Improvement for the state? Improvement for humanity?

Improvement for the individual is identical to happiness. No question about that. Few people would say that a person who got a great promotion at their job, but they're suddenly way more unhappy, has improved.

Improvement for the state and humanity is a bit more complicated. If you're focusing on that, that's probably an off-topic discussion.

When you put it like that Marvin you're right, like you say somebody could work a great job and be unhappy, even if that job did improve society. If Chris feels happier recently then he has improved in one way and more than likely the most important way at that. I'm just not 100% sure that he truly is happy but everybody seems to have a different viewpoint on that. I also can't rule out Chris doing something stupid that ruins everything for him but let's hope not, most of us would be happy for him if he had a happier life.

 

[Radgy Chadobah]

i feel like i'm being set up

like we'll all go "welp i guess he's just some tranny weirdo in redneckistan" and the subforum will become really stagnant for months

then the new sanic drops and chris will drop some 13 page manifesto about SEGA and throw tan paint at the windows of the nearest gamestop.

people have been saying he's dried up since like....2008 when the ED talkpages got deleted. every time things get well and truly dead in the water, something happens. chris finds way.

It's the ciiiiiiircle of lolcow liiiiiiife....and they'll amuse us allllllll....

 

[BigAltheGreat921]

That is one thing to consider while some can debate on whether or not Chris is getting better in light of going out more, he did mace a Gamestop employee over Sonic Boom. Compared to that back then when he wore the classic striped shirt, he got hog-tied by police in a parking lot and according to one of his charges from the October 28, 2011 incident, he comitted assault.

He did commit assault, but since Snyder was merciful he only got slapped with a misdemeanor. It was essentially leaving the scene of an accident.

 

[Hollywood Hulk Hogan]

Brother, it depends on your definition of better. He seems happier, which is better and he is apparently no longer homophobic. However, he is still a fat, lazy, sexist, useless, naive, perverted, unintelligent weirdo. Until he applies himself and gets less lazy, he won't improve much.

So he went from a 1/10 to a 1.2/10

 

[GS 281]

I am challenged to define improvement as being defined by happiness.

Brother, it depends on your definition of better. He seems happier, which is better and he is apparently no longer homophobic. However, he is still a fat, lazy, sexist, useless, naive, perverted, unintelligent weirdo. Until he applies himself and gets less lazy, he won't improve much.

So he went from a 1/10 to a 1.2/10

So basically, he's just one of us now.

 

[Lipitor]

He hasn't even gotten any better at drawing.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

My theory: Chris isn't getting more normal, the world is just getting weirder.

 

[Ahffline]

Brother, it depends on your definition of better. He seems happier, which is better and he is apparently no longer homophobic. However, he is still a fat, lazy, sexist, useless, naive, perverted, unintelligent weirdo. Until he applies himself and gets less lazy, he won't improve much.

So he went from a 1/10 to a 1.2/10

The Hulkster speaks the truth. Chris is definitely happier with himself and his life now. There's no disputing that. He went to a convention - i.e., out of his house, away from Barb and the hoard, and around new people - and he even participated in the cosplay contest at said convention.

But through it all, Chris is still Chris. For every "ooh, he's gone out and sensibly socialized," we have a "don't call anybody." It's like a weird cosmic balance that he maintains. He's better in the sense that he seems a lot happier now, but he's still the same entitled, whiny arsehole that inspired the first incarnation of this forum.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Oh, stealing might definitely be a personal improvement if it makes you happy. In my earlier comment, I distinguished personal improvement from improvement to the group

Behavior that alienates people (therefore straining current/obstructing the formation of future relationships) and invites negative consequences from society/the law is not personal improvement. You can't measure improvement just by happiness in the moment, long term net gain is integral to it.

 

[Marvin]

But through it all, Chris is still Chris. For every "ooh, he's gone out and sensibly socialized," we have a "don't call anybody." It's like a weird cosmic balance that he maintains. He's better in the sense that he seems a lot happier now, but he's still the same entitled, whiny arsehole that inspired the first incarnation of this forum.

No, we have a "don't call anybody" for dozens of the socializing events. And even then, I consider the "don't call anybody" thing to be an anomaly. Chris definitely learns.

Behavior that alienates people (therefore straining current/obstructing the formation of future relationships) and invites negative consequences from society/the law is not personal improvement. You can't measure improvement just by happiness in the moment, long term net gain is integral to it.

That's certainly something to consider. I didn't just mean immediate happiness, like being a junkie. My point was that even with the most crazy examples, like stealing, could be tenable for some people. I mean, what if some redneck in a trailer park makes a living by fencing stolen car parts? I don't know, maybe he's happy with his life. (Or as happy as you can be being a redneck in a trailer park.)

I think most of Chris' behavior is sufficiently non-harmful to the point where bigger social issues don't really factor into it. There are some exceptions, of course. I'm very annoyed Chris has and regularly makes use of a handicapped placard. He's not crippled, he's just fat. And of course, Chris goes around town acting like a jackass and making retail employees jobs harder. That's not a huge deal, but he should definitely cut it out.

 

[darkhorse816]

I'd say he's getting savvier--he's not posting videos and he's being slightly more careful, he's getting out more, he's being more sociable, but I wouldn't say he's getting better.

He thinks he did nothing wrong when he maced a guy, and is instead blaming SEGA, and is still using autism, trolls, and every single thing that's wrong with him as a crutch. The moment he shows remorse, shows some clarity, then I'll say he's getting better.

 

[LordCustos3]

Chris is getting better......at what?
Being more and more like a real life Reldnahc Notsew Naitsirhc?

Spoiler

Doesn't he know yet that Martin Gore already beat him to it?

https://sneed-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1f/40/2f/1f402fad2314cc2cffb74a045457a00f.jpg

 

[boogerface]

Honestly, I think it's just that western society has gotten a lot more weird, to the point where someone like Chris can be the way they are out in the open, and still manage to find other like minded people.

I mean, if someone had told me in 2004 that within a decade trannies would be fairly accepted, that the kind of people on tumblr would be pushing their weird SJW views and getting traction, or that all this autism shit would be where it is, I would never have believed them. I don't think Chris has matured all that much, he's just stopped interacting in the manner that he used to, and has managed to find a large group of mentally unstable, but somewhat accepting people who he can be weird around.

 

[Lysistrata]

In most ways, I'd have to say no.

Catie showed that for all his withdrawal from the internet, he's none the wiser when it comes to China, and still very much led around by his ugly growth. His lexicon is still as much of a butchery of the English language as it was a decade ago, perhaps more so.

He seems happier, for now, but I'm unsure if that'll change if he decides that the tolerance offered to him at Impulse isn't enough, and starts trying to cajole some girl into a relationship (and obviously fails).

 

[Tubular Monkey]

Whether he knows it or not (he doesn't) I think Chris's happiness is measured in his perceived potential. He was giddy as a schoolgirl during the Ivy saga, because there was such huge potential for happiness. Everything was horseshoe crabs and rainbows. Now he's a clubbing gay woman with a penis and is a world-class belly dancer. There's SO MUCH to look forward to. It's all going to fall into place now! And then it won't, and he'll crash again. Maybe into slumber, maybe into a pedestrian.

 

[Innocuous]

Chris gets lots of government benefits and could live like a king on his own. Like really, anyone could have a really comfortable life on the tugboat and associated benefits in Charlottesville.

Nobody that I know of lives like a king just on benefits-and trust me, I know very smart people that got laid off and had to struggle. Not just anyone anywhere can have it easy on that kind of thing. They have budgets and live cheap and still have problems. You really think CWC will be wise about cutting his impulse spending? You think he'd manage money and have a budget plan? Also consider that he may eventually need to reapply for his benefits. What about his credit? He does not even know how money works or where it comes from.

"Improvement" should be defined as increasing Chris' happiness.

Okay, so I'll sit on my ass and drink whiskey all day. That's an improvement because it results in happiness?

I did see your earlier comment about distinguing personal improvement and improvement. Improvement is making a better life for yourself by achieving goals. You know, success and excellence. How can there be two types of improvement? Drinking or stealing shouldn't be considered improvement.

 

[GS 281]

Chris has gotten worse. He has learned that he does not have to control his "impulses", and therefore he can go out and spray a worker at GameStop, threaten a worker at Wal-Mart, do whatever field agents don't happen to find out about, Leave the house head to toe looking like an inmate from Arkham Asylum, etc. 5 years ago he was a moderately homophobic, slightly racist borderline shut-in who was banned from a game store for being belligerent to little children. He is still being banned from places, but how he's getting into threatening altercations with store employees.

Spoiler: Massive A-Logging

I look forward to the day when I log onto this site and see Marvin explaining why it was that Chris' infiltration of Nintendo's offices with a semi-automatic weapon was a turning point for Chris and him explaining why it is that it is not necessarily the fact that he shot a bunch of people that he got better, but it is that afterwards he was not able to hurt anyone because he was in handcuffs.

 

[Marvin]

Nobody that I know of lives like a king just on benefits-and trust me, I know very smart people that got laid off and had to struggle. Not just anyone anywhere can have it easy on that kind of thing. They have budgets and live cheap and still have problems.

Chris gets $1300 a month, has medicare and can work a part time job to make a shitload of extra money. If I was in his shoes, I'd find a cheap apartment, maybe a roommate, and just spend my time banging UVA students.

You really think CWC will be wise about cutting his impulse spending? You think he'd manage money and have a budget plan?

?

He does that stuff already.

Also consider that he may eventually need to reapply for his benefits. What about his credit? He does not even know how money works or where it comes from.

Nah, he knows those things.

Okay, so I'll sit on my ass and drink whiskey all day. That's an improvement because it results in happiness?

I did see your earlier comment about distinguing personal improvement and improvement. Improvement is making a better life for yourself by achieving goals. You know, success and excellence. How can there be two types of improvement? Drinking or stealing shouldn't be considered improvement.

Improvement's a pretty diverse word. It would follow that there are lots of subtle differences in how you apply it.

And yeah, if you're happy sitting on your ass and drinking whiskey all day, then go for it. When it stops being happy for you, stop doing it.

 

[That Guy]

You know, I think it's a 50-50 sort of situation. He has gotten better in regard to things like socializing more and keeping his life private.

On the other hand, it's only been 8 months since the Gamestop incident. Chris is still getting banned from places and he has the potential for a massive public chimpout at any time. The macing incident caught us completely off-guard and I have the feeling it won't be the last time Fatty gets in trouble with the law.

I know Marvin and others love to go on about how Chris is finally becoming a normie but I'm not completely buying it just yet. He's still a man baby that has deep psychogical scars from being a shut-in for years and having Barb as a mother. Bellydancing lessons with a hippy won't change that.