I’m not depressed (at the moment, well maybe a little), just feeling philosophical.
Edit: the idea of this came to me because I was pondering why people fight so hard to beat diseases and live a few more years. What are they planning to do? Why exert effort just to be here longer when you don’t have a reason?
Just why?
Edit Edit: it appears that existentialism is the philosophy of the day
I like to recall some wise words of Christmas in these dark times:
Here’s the deal, newbie. You can stuff your stocking with shiny little toys from now until you grow some testicles, but until that stocking is filled with friendship, loyalty, love and devotion, well… it’s just plumb empty.
And no, you can’t purchase those things at Laura Ashley. And no, you can’t win them in the red book giveaway extravaganza. And, gee, I’m sure if these aren’t things that you can wind up and watch spin for eight hours.
Let me make this exceptionally clear. Christmas is about love. You can’t live without other people’s love. Not during Christmas, not ever.
So go spend this time with your friends and family. And if they laugh at you, laugh with them. And if they laugh at you again, hit them and go find some new friends. But for the love of god, jesus, Mary, and Joseph and his technicolor dreamcoat, don’t ever ever forget this, newbie. You have to give love to get love. So start giving. Now.
“Ambition is overrated. Whether a janitor or surgeon, being virtuous is what matters [1]. Avoid contempt and envy because we each have our part to play [2], powerless to choose our upbringing. Often there’s more than meets the eye so hold off on passing judgement. Everything is borrowed [3], so avoid craving credit too. The meaning of life is sharing (and) laughter [4], helping each other through peaks and throughs. Bref, GLHF.
- Dr. Michael Sugrue: Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: The Stoic Ideal.
- Nicky Case: Fireflies.
- The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed.
- YouTube: The Meaning of Life.”
[Quoting my own website arscyni.cc because POSSE: “Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.”]
There’s no point and the meaning you have to make yourself.
nihil novum sub sole
You get to create your own meaning. It becomes challenging when your meaning isn’t the default societal milestones, in the western world it’s - college, promotion, marriage/kids, house, retirement, death. If that progress doesn’t resonate, then it means that you have to connect to yourself on a deeper level to figure out your purpose/your life theme.
My purpose is organizing my internal world for self alignment, I do it through self expression using art, language and diagrams. I live for self expression.
Absurdists unite!
It has same meaning as summer breeze, or warm rays of sunshine. We make things to be more complicated than they really are. Enjoy experiences you are given, live thru pain, be a human. Existence is a weird, yup.
I work to make things less shitty for the people I care about and keep myself alive and comfortable. That’s about it. I’m not interested in having children because I have no confidence that the world will improve for the next generations.
Procreation and survival. That’s what all living beings have as an instinct and that’s the only meaning behind it. It’s merely a mechanism to prevail and improve.
Hedonic threadmill: it’s the hypothesis that we tend to a baseline level of happiness and on average, after some time, people who have won the lottery are as happy (or unhappy) as people who have gone bankrupt.
Look at us, we are apes, barely out of trees. We were fighting predators and cold and diseases that no longer exist. Just by being alive, we are the winners of millions of years of genetic lottery, evolution, fights, love and ingenuity.
We have access to most of human knowledge through devices that fit in our pockets, can visit other countries that were legendary to our forefathers, instead of hunting wild beasts we have satellites that guide us step by step to the nearest McDonald’s.
Imagine time-traveling a few generations back, describing our life to our grand-grandparents, seeing their eyes grow wide. Now imagine, at the end, telling them how ennui got to us and we can no longer find meaning in our life.
Everything is meaningless, nothing matters. Therefore whatever you decide is important is all that matters.
You can look up optimistic nihilism if you want
Absurdism is another (IMO better, but that’s just me).
Point? Like most gifts, there is no point. You just got it.
Thats how I treat my life: as a gift. Because what makes me me, existed as matter for eons. Inert. And by an insane oddity it got “infused” with life, thought, wonder but only for an extremely short while. And after that short period it will go back into that inert state. So i do nice things which are within my reach. Things that makes me feel good. And modern (western) society gives us a lot of time to do that. I know it doesn’t always feel like that but if you look at it historically we have the most off time ever.
Nice things can be anything. Maybe meaningless on the Grand scale of things, but I like making my family happy. I love cuddling my stinky old dog(well, not that old), I hate gardening but love the outcome of it. And yes, I love wasting time on movies, reading, gaming, theater. Or hikes. Or travel in general. The smell of the sea. The feeling of being in a forest. That first time you played “The last of us”. that one specific movie. Or read that one fantastic book. That feeling when you finished it. Or when you went to that insanely funny comedian. Or just hanged out drinking beers (or whatever )with friends or colleagues. Its all fantastic.
And most of the times I like my job and try to forward my little society with it. (I work for a municipality) Within my own little means.
So… meaning? Of life? Experience shit. Make up your own mind.
And please: don’t use big tech socials. They’re made so you don’t feel good, get addicted to them. Get you hooked. It and it’s goals (sell ads!) are evil.
I’ve been inert for eternity. I will not waste that little time I have. Experience something. Anything.
On a fundamental level there is absolutely no meaning to life, it happened randomly over great great spans of time.
On a human level the meaning of life is enjoying it to the best of your ability.
It’s what you make of it. Some people don’t make anything with theirs.
Personally, for me it’s to form community and to leave a positive lasting influence on others. Except fascists, they can rot in hell. For others, it might be to learn as much as they can or to impart their wisdom onto their children.
My view is that there is no point, so you make your own point or purpose. I don’t believe there’s an inherent purpose. I think we’re all just here, and that’s it.
