Why is the phrase as popular as it is?
On another note, I also don’t quite understand what it means or implies. When someone doesn’t have faith in humanity, what does that mean?
Also, what is the humanity in the phrase? Do they mean all 8 billion people? Or is humanity understood here as something metaphysical?
It’s one of a thousand silly memes that were born from a single Reddit comment that got copied by everyone until it became insufferable.
Wow, what an incredibly Internet-cloistered thing to say. No, this absolutely in no way neared coming from Reddit. I’m sure it predated reddit by at least 100 years.
You got more on that?
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/faith-in-humanity-restored
Edited to add: I know it’s kind of pithy to respond with just a link, but that’s really all there is to it. Like “a gentleman and a scholar” or “full of win”, it’s just a phrase that someone typed out of hyperbole, and people latched onto it, turning it into a meme.
You want me to pluck the very first instance a sentence was written on Reddit? I don’t know the exact date. I was around and watched it and many other phrases and memes organically appear and then disappear.
It’s like asking for an etymology for the word “bat” and expecting an exact date of first usage.
How high are you?