A lot of people get "misanthropy" confused with "schaden freude"; even though the subjective mind frames share a lot in common, the two are distinct from each other. Rather than getting into semantics, however, let's see if we can use the world wide webz to illustrate the difference.

Schaden freude is what you experience at the end of this video.

Satisfying in a way, no? You may have thought, "that'll teach that guy to mess with mother nature," right? That frisson of enjoyment you experienced at the end, that's schaden freude.

Misanthropy on the other hand is a bit stronger of an emotion.

Do you remember the Jimmy Kimmel YouTube clip that went viral a few weeks ago? Kimmel had challenged parents to trick their kids by "letting them open" a Christmas present early, but when they open the present it's a dispiritingly mundane item like an old banana, or a half-eaten sandwich. Here's the clip.

Funny as the prank is, some may find the naked consumer greed a bit appalling, especially from the more openly resentful of the kids in the clip. Granted, we need to remember that these are kids, after all, and they likely haven't mastered the art of being gracious in the face of disappointment. Deep within your mind, however, you harbor a fear for a world of people who never did learn to adopt that grace; you wonder what a population of adults who have never been denied gratification would look like and shudder at the prospect and bury the imagined horror under tons and tons of vodka.

Along comes Buzzfeed's "People Who Didn't Get What They Wanted For Christmas" to bring those fears to life. Looking through the featured entries, none of the original tweeters seem to be older than 21, but still.

If beneath a kneejerk "jesus, whiners, talk about first world problems" reaction you found yourself kinda hating mankind just a little, that, my friends, is misanthropy.

Filed in Arts & Entertainment and tagged Afternoon Video Break, Ant Crusher Playing African Bullfrog, Bad Christmas Presents, Buzzfeed, Jimmy Kimmel, People Who Didn't Get What They Wanted For Christmas

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