The art of ignoring.

[ZenCat]

For me, ignoring people is a learned behavior that takes a sheer force of will to accomplish.

And often, I know it is essential to my mental health to force myself to ignore people (and/or situations) rather than continue my exposure or participation.

I don't use the "Ignore" function on forums, because in my capacity as a Moderator on my other forum, I feel it would be selfish and irresponsible of me to do so (though I have been GREATLY tempted) but I wouldn't hesitate to use it here if I needed to.

In fact, I made a decision this morning to "ignore" a couple of threads I've been participating in because I found myself reading them and gradually became aware of the fact that my body was completely rigid, with my stomach clenched, and my mind seething with intent to further support my position with authoritative evidence. So I got a glass of water, reread the thread, decided I'd already said (and supported authoritatively) more than enough to support my perspective and that anything else would be superfluous, would not change the status quo one iota, would possibly even exacerbate an already tense vibe, and bring me no satisfaction whatsoever. Big loops never do bring me satisfaction. So I'll utilize the Art of Ignoring instead :lalala:

 

[ohmermaid]

i can never be bothered to use the ignore function on forums, unless it's towards a spammer or something. xD

if somebody is so blatantly ignorant and arrogant to the point where it's wasting my time, i ignore them. when that happens, i end up forgetting about them - it's not that i willfully and actively continue to ignore them, it's just that i genuinely... forget about them. even if they had been right in my face. it's almost like a delete key in my brain and i forget about the person and the issue until someone happens to bring it up and i'm like, 'oh yeah! i remember that.'

but i don't know; for me it's not so much ignoring as a form of attack or aggression, as it is me not wanting to waste my time. i'll talk if i know that someone is willing to listen, but otherwise, i see no use in shouting to walls.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

I agree with Mermaid; I don't even think of it as ignoring. It's just kind of a passiveness towards that person. They can shout and cry and scream all they want; I'll just shrug it off. I don't bother hating people; it's pointless to me, and it affects me more than them to think about it.
Besides, ignoring someone is probably the most effective way to end a pointless problem with someone. If there's no way they'll understand that there should be an end to a problem, then there's no point trying to compromise towards that end.