Dropping a mental turd here...

[99.vikram]

I wrote this because I was getting bored/depressed. I decided to dump it here. Enjoy.

It doesn't matter what I do. I feel this horrible, omnipresent loneliness hanging over my shoulder. No, not over my shoulder. It's staring me in the face every second of my existence. As long as I busy myself in the goings on of the world around me or the people who populate my own little uiverse, I can stifle it and have some respite. But now, when I am alone and unoccupied, I feel it in it's full force. The music only seems to make it worse, emphasizing how it can penetrate into you no matter how hard you try to shield yourself. It's not just loneliness either. It's a whole host of horrible realities. The fact that there is no home for anyone. All you ever have is this one point in space and time, and it will be taken from you eventually. The fact that friends, even family are temporary and they think of you as a tool to be plied. Worst of all, the reality that existence is pretty much pointless. I am just another phenomenon in the grander mechanism of the universe, which is likely just part of some even bigger machine. Copernican principle, right?

The trouble is, the phenomenon of life is cursed with sentience and self awareness. We have power, but not purpose. I feel this intimately. I find myself desperately looking for purpose, sometimes by adopting what others say is my purpose. But none of it makes sense. Money? Power? Respect? Why bother. It's all dust in the larger scheme of things. So logically, our purpose and actions have to both be relevant to our own, immediate present. So that makes all the wise words of great men worthless. So what if my action will benefit my sons? My son ceases to exist when I cease to exist. There is no universe without an observer. So there are only two options open to rational people searching for meaning. (1) Intelligent hedonism. Live only to serve yourself, and help others along the way if that helps your cause. (2) Be an observer. Since nothing we do seems to have any meaning whatsoever, maybe all we can do is understand the universe that spawned us.

It's a strange machine, that exists to create an observer just so he can notice that the machine exists. Man seems to be headed down this path as it is. During his quest to further his own life, he has unwittingly collected a vast amount of knowledge about the world that created him. Perhaps as more and more people get tired of serving themselves, they will start amusing themselves with knowledge. Either that or a HoloTV.

 

[MJ12]

This will make you feel better
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CMwdAc1Dzfg
Am I right or am I right? <3

 

[Ravioli]

 

[Laivasse]

Sounds like you're having something of an existentialist crisis.

I find that it helps to isolate a few abstract concepts that you can personally identify with - like honour, or whatever - and try to center your life around those things. You're adding non-material meaning to your own existence and possibly improving the world for future 'observers'. Just a throwaway thought.

 

[Ennui]

I wrote this because I was getting bored/depressed. I decided to dump it here. Enjoy.

It doesn't matter what I do. I feel this horrible, omnipresent loneliness hanging over my shoulder. No, not over my shoulder. It's staring me in the face every second of my existence. As long as I busy myself in the goings on of the world around me or the people who populate my own little uiverse, I can stifle it and have some respite. But now, when I am alone and unoccupied, I feel it in it's full force. The music only seems to make it worse, emphasizing how it can penetrate into you no matter how hard you try to shield yourself. It's not just loneliness either. It's a whole host of horrible realities. The fact that there is no home for anyone. All you ever have is this one point in space and time, and it will be taken from you eventually. The fact that friends, even family are temporary and they think of you as a tool to be plied. Worst of all, the reality that existence is pretty much pointless. I am just another phenomenon in the grander mechanism of the universe, which is likely just part of some even bigger machine. Copernican principle, right?

The trouble is, the phenomenon of life is cursed with sentience and self awareness. We have power, but not purpose. I feel this intimately. I find myself desperately looking for purpose, sometimes by adopting what others say is my purpose. But none of it makes sense. Money? Power? Respect? Why bother. It's all dust in the larger scheme of things. So logically, our purpose and actions have to both be relevant to our own, immediate present. So that makes all the wise words of great men worthless. So what if my action will benefit my sons? My son ceases to exist when I cease to exist. There is no universe without an observer. So there are only two options open to rational people searching for meaning. (1) Intelligent hedonism. Live only to serve yourself, and help others along the way if that helps your cause. (2) Be an observer. Since nothing we do seems to have any meaning whatsoever, maybe all we can do is understand the universe that spawned us.

It's a strange machine, that exists to create an observer just so he can notice that the machine exists. Man seems to be headed down this path as it is. During his quest to further his own life, he has unwittingly collected a vast amount of knowledge about the world that created him. Perhaps as more and more people get tired of serving themselves, they will start amusing themselves with knowledge. Either that or a HoloTV.

Loneliness ain't no thang. As far as any one of us is concerned, we're the sole person in the universe.

You've got the whole awareness of the bleak state of the universe and existence part down, all you have to do now is read some Sartre.

Our existence IS pointless, ridiculous, and without purpose. Our life has no intrinsic meaning beyond the fact that it exists in the first place. We do not ask to be born and brought into consciousness, we are merely placed in the world and forced to do what we will with it. Here's the fun part - life might be bleak, and it's easy to just wallow in existential despair or quietism, wah wah life is meaningless and absurd wah wah, but you are ALIVE! As such, you must act (or die). You have the power to make decisions (free will) and control every action, make every choice. You could ruin your life or someone else's at any moment. What I'm saying is that YOU have the responsibility to make the decisions that define exactly who you are and what your life is like. Why despair when you could be doing things to make your life better (when the definition of a "better life" is entirely up to you)?

You only live once, take advantage of it. Learn, experience, whatever, live with no regrets but learn from your mistakes, and never once let yourself stop to whine, complain, or despair because all you're doing is counting down the seconds to your death when you do that. What Laivasse said is true - it's good to pick values / ideals and then pursue them. Honor, compassion, whatever.

Read the lecture Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre, and you might get a better idea of what the hell I'm talking about. It's available to read online:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm

 

[Rizzo]

emolife2.net

But seriously... After reading your post i actually feel a bit down myself.

 

[Slug Advisor]

I can lend you some of my intangible happiness.

 

[Shift]

Have a break, have a kit-kat.

 

[Letters]

Isn't this like the third "existential crisis" thread this month? Jesus, stop overthinking this crap!

Pretty much, you can theorize and think on this shit all you want and you won't ever figure it out. You can't know it's all pointless, and you can't know there's a point. If you wanna break it down to something and try to live by that, though, feel free! If it just depresses you, I don't think that's really smaaaart...

What if there IS a part of us, to give it a name let's say "spirit", that's with us (actually IS us even) somehow throughout life, that's also capable of living in some other plane of existence we cannot even comprehend. There's such a ****ton of stuff out there we haven't even glimpsed, to say everything is pointless is just as much of a leap of faith as that.

To me, Ennui's post seems like a very, very, I dunno, "mechanical" way to live. Who really has no regrets?! Come on! And despairing is part of life too! Omitting the things that make us human from life... I don't see that working at all! I try to stay fluid, accept that there's things I cannot know, and roll with it. It's a lot less depressing once you realize there's so many possibilities.

Live how you want, try to be a great person, be happy, blah blah blah, that's the only advice I have to give. Ya, I just blah'ed pretty much everything, but that's the fun!

 

[Dinkleberry]

This probably won't help (anything I was told was like water off a ducks back - gotta get from A to B purely by yourself I think. It's a ****ing long, dirty road too)...

I had a tough battle with thoughts of a similar nature to yours.

Sometimes, I'm too analytical and curious for my own good (curiousity kills that cat). Observing our species from afar, I imagined we'd look like ants, but parasitic. Look at how our society is structured - natural selection. Strongest, smartest, most brutal people running the place with a limited tolerance for those that were born disadvantaged. If you did some statitistics course at school you'll probably have come accross the Gaussian (or normal, or bell-shaped) probability distribution. I can imagine human characteristics and skills with some kind of qualitatitive meaning, and an alien might see that our society organises itself, overall (on average?), according to these distributions. 'Winners' mostly in the upper X percentiles, and people 'destined' to die loveless and homeless in the lower Y percentiles.

So, what makes us humans special, what makes us different to ants? Our idea of consciousness is just a bit of a gift from Mother Nature that has helped us survive better, made us 'fitter'. Plants can make food from the ****ing sunlight! To me, that seems as bloody amazing as our brain! With a few steps, I came to value individual human life no less, but came to appreciate the plants and animals around us a whole lot more.

By putting ourselves on the same level as the living things around us, it's quite a reassuring thought that WE ARE LIMITED TOO! Specifically, science and logic - it might all be spot on, but it is an artificial set of tools we've developed to explain what we observe around us. We cannot TRY and comprehend what we can't observe. I believe that makes me fairly strongly agnostic, and with that brought me comfort. I think I've become more anti-atheist than anti-faith these days (well, against anyone who BELIEVES they are right - atheists basing their views on stuff I can relate to is what worries me more though).

Purpose? For me, I saw some options:
1) Perpetuate the piece of shit that is human society [not very attractive really, but people seem to be quite good at it]
OR
2) Sort myself out and aim to one day be in a position to inform people about the existence of option 1 in the hope of planting a few more chunks of sweetcorn into said piece of shit, whilst enjoying the little things that buck the trend of the XY percentile theory (or make it go away for a little while, preferably without using drugs to this end)

No hope of that? Failing that, I'd like to see how this mediocre film ends, I've already invested time and effort getting this far

EDIT: To roughly sum up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTW8oUV8Aq0

Also, what Letters said.

 

[Seppo]

we are born.
we live a miserable, lonely life.
we die.

that's the way i see it. glad i could help you!

 

[PvtRyan]

Oh shut up. Who gives a shit about 'deeper meaning'? Just live a life that you enjoy and find fulfilling, what more 'purpose' could you want? All this stupid existentialist crap. Yes, when you die, that's most likely the end of it all for you, but you might as well enjoy the ride as long as you're stuck on it.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Oh shut up. Who gives a shit about 'deeper meaning'? Just live a life that you enjoy and find fulfilling, what more 'purpose' could you want? All this stupid existentialist crap. Yes, when you die, that's most likely the end of it all for you, but you might as well enjoy the ride as long as you're stuck on it.

You say do what makes you happy, but if there isn't anything that does make you happy you're ****ed without meaning because there's no reason to carry on, unless you hang on to the fact that things might get better at some point (which isn't always the case). Sometimes if you have the luck to glance at what the future may hold, the alternatives down the road might look rather bleak indeed should you continue your current path, and can see how you might make things better just to avoid that.

 

[PvtRyan]

You say do what makes you happy, but if there isn't anything that does make you happy you're ****ed without meaning because there's no reason to carry on (unless you hang on to the fact that things might get better at some point, which isn't always the case).

That's called depression, a mental disease which you should get help for.

 

[Slug Advisor]

You say do what makes you happy, but if there isn't anything that does make you happy you're ****ed without meaning because there's no reason to carry on (unless you hang on to the fact that things might get better at some point, which isn't always the case).

Well, if you lack intangible happiness, you can have some of mine.

 

[Dinkleberry]

That's called depression, a mental disease which you should get help for.

Edited, wasn't meant to sound so bleak there.

Do you think that this is the cause, or the result of the existential crisis?

 

[Dinkleberry]

Well, if you lack intangible happiness, you can have some of mine.

I'll swap you for a tangible half penis :naughty:

 

[Sheepo]

I must say I find all this bullshit as well.

Soooooome people.... make life........ a little harder.. than it is

 

[Remus]

we are born.
we live a miserable, lonely life.
we die.

This.

Now have a nice day damn it! That's an order!

 

[MJ12]

I first read the title as "Dropping a metal turd here..."

 

[Remus]

I first read the title as "Dropping a metal turd here..."

Yeah me too...

Metal droppings, that can't be good.

 

[VirusType2]

I enjoy life when I'm:

having fun
sleeping
laughing
having sex

and sometimes: entertainment and eating are enjoyable


so therefore the purpose in life is to do these things as much as possible.


because the alternative is to sit there and starve to death.

starvation = pain. this is the exact opposite of what I would like.
sitting there = boring. again, the opposite of fun.


I recommend that you try to enjoy your mandatory life sentence.


You know I'm going to compare life to prison.

If you are going to serve a life sentence, you better learn how to make the best of it.

You are alive, so live.

 

[L3N!N]

Been feeling this way lately too. I go to sleep at night wondering what really is in store for my when I die, and if there is anything to live in at all. D:

 

[joule]

Life is what you make it. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[Shift]

Personally I think some people should grow the **** up and realise that there are people in this world with real problems and that they dont know how lucky they are. You have free will, opportunities to do great things with your life, some people would only dream of that.

Quit whining about a pointless and daft subject and just ****ing well get on with it, living your life is all about finding your purpose.

 

[Sheepo]

Personally I think some people should grow the **** up and realise that there are people in this world with real problems and that they dont know how lucky they are. You have free will, opportunities to do great things with your life, some people would only dream of that.

Quit whining about a pointless and daft subject and just ****ing well get on with it, living your life is all about finding your purpose.

I second this pruposal

 

[Dinkleberry]

I must say I find all this bullshit as well.

Soooooome people.... make life........ a little harder.. than it is

Personally I think some people should grow the **** up and realise that there are people in this world with real problems and that they dont know how lucky they are. You have free will, opportunities to do great things with your life, some people would only dream of that.

Quit whining about a pointless and daft subject and just ****ing well get on with it, living your life is all about finding your purpose.

You're gazing out of the window one day and ask yourself 'why?'. Like Vikram said to start with - when bored, you try and answer it. Looking back, you're right - it is sweet to be in that position, compared to how some other people have it, but at the time the uncertainty can make you feel shitty.

I used to think all of this was bullshit too, and put it down to a lack of self control or whatever, but some things are harder to drop than others!

Also, when you ask why "there are people in this world with real problems", do you think there's any harm in trying to find out why they might have these problems? We got a nice big brain, what the **** else we going to do with it?

 

[Kula Meenur]

Have a break, have a kit-kat.

This.

 

[99.vikram]

Personally I think some people should grow the **** up and realise that there are people in this world with real problems and that they dont know how lucky they are. You have free will, opportunities to do great things with your life, some people would only dream of that.

If I was poor or starving, I wouldn't be asking these questions. But I wouldn't be asking any other questions either. So philosophy is for happy, well fed people.

Oh shut up. Who gives a shit about 'deeper meaning'? Just live a life that you enjoy and find fulfilling, what more 'purpose' could you want? All this stupid existentialist crap. Yes, when you die, that's most likely the end of it all for you, but you might as well enjoy the ride as long as you're stuck on it.

I'm not asking about death or the afterlife. What should we endeavour towards in our life - building a better society, or pure scientific pursuit?

 

[Dan]

you should try dying your hair black

Also, it's time we got a philosophy forum

 

[Kula Meenur]

or perhaps a thread that explores philosophy on a larger in-depth level

 

[repiV]

If I was poor or starving, I wouldn't be asking these questions. But I wouldn't be asking any other questions either. So philosophy is for happy, well fed people.


I'm not asking about death or the afterlife. What should we endeavour towards in our life - building a better society, or pure scientific pursuit?

Why on earth do you have to "endeavour towards" either of these things? Can't you just get on with the business of life? It's the simple things that make you happy, not these crazy schemes. There must be millions of people who've buried themselves up to their eyeballs in a "good career" or some shit for decades and been rewarded only with misery.
Truth is, it's the quality of your relationships and your environment that really matters.

 

[nurizeko]

I wrote this because I was getting bored/depressed. I decided to dump it here. Enjoy.

It doesn't matter what I do. I feel this horrible, omnipresent loneliness hanging over my shoulder. No, not over my shoulder. It's staring me in the face every second of my existence. As long as I busy myself in the goings on of the world around me or the people who populate my own little uiverse, I can stifle it and have some respite. But now, when I am alone and unoccupied, I feel it in it's full force. The music only seems to make it worse, emphasizing how it can penetrate into you no matter how hard you try to shield yourself. It's not just loneliness either. It's a whole host of horrible realities. The fact that there is no home for anyone. All you ever have is this one point in space and time, and it will be taken from you eventually. The fact that friends, even family are temporary and they think of you as a tool to be plied. Worst of all, the reality that existence is pretty much pointless. I am just another phenomenon in the grander mechanism of the universe, which is likely just part of some even bigger machine. Copernican principle, right?

The trouble is, the phenomenon of life is cursed with sentience and self awareness. We have power, but not purpose. I feel this intimately. I find myself desperately looking for purpose, sometimes by adopting what others say is my purpose. But none of it makes sense. Money? Power? Respect? Why bother. It's all dust in the larger scheme of things. So logically, our purpose and actions have to both be relevant to our own, immediate present. So that makes all the wise words of great men worthless. So what if my action will benefit my sons? My son ceases to exist when I cease to exist. There is no universe without an observer. So there are only two options open to rational people searching for meaning. (1) Intelligent hedonism. Live only to serve yourself, and help others along the way if that helps your cause. (2) Be an observer. Since nothing we do seems to have any meaning whatsoever, maybe all we can do is understand the universe that spawned us.

It's a strange machine, that exists to create an observer just so he can notice that the machine exists. Man seems to be headed down this path as it is. During his quest to further his own life, he has unwittingly collected a vast amount of knowledge about the world that created him. Perhaps as more and more people get tired of serving themselves, they will start amusing themselves with knowledge. Either that or a HoloTV.

Its simple enough for me, there is no meaning to life, no purpouse to fullfill, no magical fairy tale destiny to acheive, we are just what we are, imperfect (human concept, not valid in reality) biological organisms that at least have the powert of self awareness and intelligence.






My advice, live for yourself, friends and familly, take a nice mix of hedonism and observastion. If you want to do something beyond pleasing yourself and others (doesn't hurt to be altruistic, since you freely admit self service is ultimately pointless, it matters not if you spend your wealth on others) then live to learn. Make learning about the universe your goal. You don't understand physics?, FINE!, read about it anyway, read about particular theorums until they make your brain hazey. Read up on the sciences, histories, cultures and societies of Earth, just devote your life to the intake of knowledge for your own pleisure.

Don't find satisfaction in the human constructed world?. Stop. Stop and take a look at nature.

Take in thew world around you, ignore the immediate human concerns, the small pointless human issues, take time to appriciate the awesome beauty of life itself, appriciate the greenery, the wind, the sky, ponder the infinite expanse of stars beyond that blue veil, look closely at leaves, look at everything from the small bugs on a blade of grass to the large hills.









But my guess is your just having a downer, and maybe your relatively familiar with having a downer, have a holiday, get away from everything thats making you feel naff and making you over-think things.


At least, just realize your outlook is probably more based on a chemical imbalance/biological factor rather then some inate in-escapable "truth" of existance.

If life was as bad as you think, everyone would feel the same, but some people positivbely love life, others go up and down, say most folk.


The wonder of self awareness is ironically the thing making you see life as worse then it really is.

Just try...somehow....to let go of your intellectualand emotional concerns, and just take stock of the fact your alive at all, and appriciate it.

you should try dying your hair black

Also, it's time we got a psychiatry forum

Fixed.

 

[Rizzo]

Seriously, there are alot of people out there with depression, and you just don't snap out of it becouse someone told you to go out and ****ing live life.

It is however not the bestest idea to tell people on the internet about your problems.

 

[Shift]

But the annoying thing is that people think they are depressed when they arent, and they adopt a selfish attitude. Ive been there myself once and I realised I was being stupid and selfish and just like that I snapped out of it, went out that night, woke up the next morning hungover but happy.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

But the annoying thing is that people think they are depressed when they arent,

What is depression but a state of mind? For the majority, as opposed to those with brain damage or some sort of chemical imbalance.