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I enjoyed his points. I've often thought of the meaningless of things, but I like how he called them rituals. “Vanity of vanities!” says the Teacher, “Vani
by sethc2 10y ago
I enjoyed his points. I've often thought of the meaningless of things, but I like how he called them rituals.
“Vanity of vanities!” says the Teacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”
The above is a quote from Ecclesiastes, which, even if you're not religious, is a pretty interesting book, and it seems to sum up pretty much what he is saying.
Fitting enough, shortly after that opening statement in Ecclesiastes this is said.
"What has been—it is what will be;
what has been done—it is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
There is a thing of which it is said, “Look at this! This is new!”
But it already existed in ages past before us."
- jasode 10y ago>his points. ... , but I like how he I don't know the writer but there's a good chance the author (HN userid Jasamba) is a "she".
- cortesoft 10y agoI don't know, this line seems pretty male-centric: "It’s as if you are now in the elite of the elites of the monkeys, in the good part of the forest where the trees grow bountiful and most female monkeys would kill to be considered a worthy partner by you, so that they too can perform the successful monkey rituals with you"
- Jasamba 10y agoFemale monkeys can be conscious of the ongoing situation you know ;), plus it could be the other way round as well if not for the centuries of 'I is man, so I is provide for family' prevailing expectations.
- Jasamba 10y agoThanks for the suggestion, will check it out. I have been looking for a different answer than the usual 'yeah life is meaningless, which is why you make the most of it'. Hopefully something more nuanced and existential crisis relieving.
- eli_gottlieb 10y ago>I have been looking for a different answer than the usual 'yeah life is meaningless, which is why you make the most of it'. That's a bit confused. Normally, you make the most of life because it's entirely real and entirely meaningful.
- Jasamba 10y agoIs it? (real). Last time I checked, this article was right next to the "Are we living in a Computer Simulation", and it's not been written by random depressed people (like me) either.
- benkitzelman 10y agoGlad I didn’t read this on a Monday! I found this article to be a bit of a bleak outlook, or interpretation of life. At least Ecclesiastes offers a little bit more hope of finding meaning in the ritual than this article (thanks for posting). ‘This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.’ So I guess it acknowledges that we are in the pursuit of contentment / satisfaction - not money... at what ever level of ritual we are following