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Hunter S. Thompson on Finding Your Purpose (1958)
- S_Daedalus 10y ago"All advice can only be a product of the man who gives it" That's on a par with, "Buy the ticket, take the ride." I think.
- giis 10y ago"In short, he has not dedicated his life to reaching a pre-defined goal, but he has rather chosen a way of life he KNOWS he will enjoy. The goal is absolutely secondary: it is the functioning toward the goal which is important." I find this is quite new & profound.
- jrcii 10y ago"It's not about the destination it's about the journey" is extremely cliche in my experience, though it may be good advice.
- mynameishere 10y agoYes, banality to an embarrassing extreme. That someone would comment "I find this is quite new & profound" gives me a philosopher's wince. Oh well, maybe said commentor is 10 years old.
- danenania 10y agoA lot of academic philosophy can be boiled down to the same sort of simple conclusions. The difference is you have to wade through hundreds of pages of dense self importance to extract them.
- andrepd 10y agoOh, someone came to a conclusion that you had come to before? How inferior must they be to you.
- njloof 10y agoIt may be cliché, but it's still hard to comprehend until you reach a life goal and have to ask yourself, "Wait... Now what?" It's much easier when there's a milestone -- just pick another one. (Graduated? Graduate again!) Then you run out of milestones and have to ask more difficult questions.
- xufi 10y agoAgreed, I find myself the same way. I end up keep asking myself. Is this really what I want in life? or perhaps there's another avenue or path that I could take that would fare better for me in the long term
- AstralStorm 10y agoThe real question is one of assigning value to each goal. The valuation changes as do you. It is easy to get into a local trap of running for a goal you no longer value. It is also easy to get trapped in switching between goals without progress.
- visakanv 10y agoProfound, yes, but also pretty much as old as time. "Don't do something, be someone." "The journey is more important than the destination." Etc. etc. Maybe new to folks who're used to a goal-obsessed environment. Nice to see that more people are opening up to it.
- bambax 10y agoThompson is not exactly saying that the journey is more important than the destination; he's saying that as we grow and change and experience different things, we become another person, and therefore the destination is irrelevant. The goal we may have had when we started, doesn't change, but we do, and so it's unlikely that we desire it as much as we did or thought we did. We can't "make it" because there is indeed no destination. The meaning of life is to grow.
- marcosdumay 10y ago> The meaning of life is to grow. That's exactly the message on "the journey is more important than the destination".
- putlake 10y agoDilbert cartoonist Scott Adams has recommended the systems approach vs. a goal-oriented approach. I think he explains it in a more accessible way. Here's his presentation pitching his book: Passion is Overrated and Goals are for Losers http://www.slideshare.net/Scottadams925/goals-are-for-losers-passion-is-overrated http://www.slideshare.net/Scottadams925/goals-are-for-losers...
- whamlastxmas 10y agoHe also writes about it in "How to fail at everything and still succeed" but probably in less depth since I think it's only a chapter.
- louprado 10y ago"But beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life". So says every philosopher that ever lived.
- unexistance 10y ago"no one HAS to do something he doesn’t want to do for the rest of his life. But then again, if that’s what you wind up doing, by all means convince yourself that you HAD to do it. You’ll have lots of company." Conformity
- Fezzik 10y agoSaid slightly differently: "If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it." - Frank Zappa
- trentmb 10y agoI was told to follow Zappas 'advice.'
- wonkaWonka 10y agoWhile we're referencing things from the 70's, including prog rock: You can choose a ready guide, in some celestial voice. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears, and kindness that can kill. I will choose a path that's clear. I will choose Free Will.
- transposed 10y agoAh, that one does it every time for me. Gotta love music with a message
- jomamaxx 10y agoZappa preacher saying 'don't follow anyone's advice except mine'? It's definitely fair to remind people that they have options, but most people want stability, family, to watch the game, enjoy the sunset, and derive little joy from shaking things up and wagging it in other people's faces. Moreover - most people recognize that life is just as much a responsibility as it is an opportunity. The 'Rock N Roll' movement was about self actualization, but when everyone fully self-actualizes, there is nobody left to pay the bill for the hotel room that was just trashed. Life is fairly mundane, it's mostly just work, dealing with people, common things. Even for 'famous and exciting people'.
- chebastian 10y agoWas about to repost this but then i saw, "10 foods that most def will give you cancer" that host page gave me cancer.
- pests 10y agoThe source of information is not a valid complaint if the information in nonetheless useful or valid.
- chebastian 10y agoI would argue that the source is a valid complaint, but i might have overreacted after reading atleast one more article. Like this one, http://tranquilmonkey.com/19-super-foods-naturally-cleanse-liver/ http://tranquilmonkey.com/19-super-foods-naturally-cleanse-l... They actually do write in the article that there is no research done to back up the "superfood detox" and actually seem to provide some good tips instead. But I still cant understand why they go for that style of article headlines.
- pests 10y agoThe facts should stand for themselves without care who expresses them. I agree to always check who the source is. Be aware of its baises and so on. Still, in 1945 Raymond L. Libby invented an oral delivery method for penicillin. Had Hitler done this, would that discovery not still have been important or valid?
- et-al 10y agoIs this a better alternative? https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/05/hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan/ https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/05/hunter-s-thompson-t...
- amist 10y agoI prefer Mike Rowe's opinion on that subject. http://youtu.be/CVEuPmVAb8o http://youtu.be/CVEuPmVAb8o
- SCAQTony 10y agoIronic that he became an opera singer and a TV host which is just the sort of occupations he was slamming people for pursuing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Rowe#Early_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Rowe#Early_life
- et-al 10y agoPerhaps in hopes they won't follow his mistakes? Also, in that Wikipedia article, he's quoted to have sang in the opera to meet women. > "I joined the opera to get my union card and meet girls. I was a saloon singer, so I went down to the Baltimore Opera and learned an aria and auditioned. I figured I'd do one show and quit. But the girls were everywhere and the truth is, the music was really decent."
- AndrewKemendo 10y agoI remember reading this in college and coming away with the feeling that what he was proposing was impossible. I didn't know what my Abilities were and how they relate to the others around me such that I can use them effectively. Not only that I didn't even know what I desire aside from food and sex. Luckily I was on a career trajectory and had quite a bit of experience ahead of me so I took solace in the idea that world travel, responsibilities etc... would flesh a lot of those abilities and desires things out for me. It's been 13 years since, and I still have no idea where my Abilities lie or what I Desire aside from food and sex. I like his suggestion to read Sartre, though I suggest Camus instead.
- toomim 10y agoDid you not desire to write this comment?
- AndrewKemendo 10y agoIt's more of a neurotic addictive compulsion and ego seeking behavior than something that is desirable as a sense of fulfillment. These neurotic addictive behaviors (checking social sites, compulsively reading random things, chewing tobacco, drinking alcohol, sleeping) dominate most of my non-mandatory, un-allocated time. Everything else is just a yawning void of nothing, including my wife and 3 kids. Not for lack of trying (Open Water SCUBA License, Private Pilots License, Skydiving license, Hit 100 some odd countries traveling, Competitively Cycled/Ran etc...).
- reddytowns 10y agoI think you might want to step back and ask yourself what you expect life to offer you and if those expectations are too high. Sounds like a great life, and you seem to be letting the beautiful things slip through the cracks, because you're judging them not good enough.
- AndrewKemendo 10y agoAt a certain point you realize that experiences and stuff are equally as meaningless in the end.
- SCAQTony 10y ago"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does…" — Jean Paul Sartre (Existentialist philosopher) Following your passion[s] may or may not be bad advice but predicting the consequences of doing should be measured. Life has a way of making that self evident.
- e15ctr0n 10y agoFor those not familiar with Hunter S. Thompson and looking to get an understanding of his outsize personality and cult following, I highly recommend watching the 2 movies in which Johnny Depp played his character: * Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/ * The Rum Diary (2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376136/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376136/ If you are not already a fan of Johnny Depp, these movies should do it.
- pimeys 10y agoYeah, nice movies. But damn, read the books! Adding to those two, I'd definitely read: * Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_on_the_Campaign_Trail_%2772 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_on_the_Campa... * Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1967) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_and_Terrible_Saga_of_the_Outlaw_Motorcycle_Gangs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_a... His ability to just push himself into the situations and into what he was writing was outstanding. He saw and he wrote, one of the best writers from U.S.
- k-mcgrady 10y agoAgreed on books over the movies. First time I watched F & L I turned it off. Eventually I read the book which is fantastic. I did go back and watch the movie then and liked it more but the book is much, much better. As for The Rum Diary I'd suggest the book first because there are a few major character changes between it and the movie and it was harder to follow the book after seeing the movie. Unlike F & L the movie for Rum Diary is on par with the book in my opinion.
- pimeys 10y agoMy plan on this week (thanks to this post) is to dig deeper into the Gonzo Papers. Any recommendations where to start?
- dmix 10y ago
- Tadlos 10y agoYour time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. -- Steve Jobs
- sundarurfriend 10y agoJust to balance it out: http://www.fastcompany.com/3001441/do-steve-jobs-did-dont-follow-your-passion http://www.fastcompany.com/3001441/do-steve-jobs-did-dont-fo... ('Do what Steve Jobs did, not what he said')
- terryf 10y agoTL;DR: Finding the correct path to take in life, is the correct path to take. Cleverly self-referential, yet not impossible. Succint.
- GarvielLoken 10y agoAll true truths are Truism.
- oasisbob 10y agoI'm away from my well annotated copy* of _The Proud Gentleman_ but this letter has almost certainly come from that collection. It makes more sense in context of his other writings from the time. Another quote, from the same, which I remember as vividly as (and juxtaposed with) this letter: "Everybody is looking for someone who can stand up in the wind. It is lonely standing up and crowded lying down. I refuse to be an anchor for other people’s dreams—but then I refuse to anchor mine to anyone else." * I wish my younger self knew the risk of loaning such a loved and personal book
- NhanH 10y agoI can't seem to find that book (The Proud Gentleman) on Google. Any chance you have a link to it?
- nes350 10y agoI'm pretty sure oasisbob refers to "The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1)".
- miles 10y agoOP was likely referring to Thompson's The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 (The Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345377966 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345377966 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10880.The_Proud_Highway http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10880.The_Proud_Highway
- kosei 10y agoMy favorite passage from this: "a man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance." So very true.
- SanderMak 10y ago> If you’re genuinely satisfied with what you are and what you’re doing, then give those books a wide berth. (Let sleeping dogs lie.) I find myself doing this. Avoiding books that I think might upset my current reality for no apparent gain. It does make me feel intellectually dishonest, though. As in, I should be able to read anything and handle it rationally.
- marcosdumay 10y ago> I should be able to read anything and handle it rationally You are not a robot. That belief is intellectually dishonest, and is only there because of ego.
- sytelus 10y agoIs finding goal in life so hard and complicated? Why not settle with "do something that helps survive, expand and evolve human species"? Of course, the deeper question is why we want to do that? But until we figure that out, isn't that a worthy goal to pursue?
- bbcbasic 10y ago> "do something that helps survive, expand and evolve human species" Sex?
- randomsearch 10y agoAs others have said, don't look for goals look for a lifestyle. Understanding how best to live your life is a gradual learning process and is not really so complicated. The school of life video on it is 60 seconds and covers the basics: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iUdhJ_S_z3w https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iUdhJ_S_z3w
- endswapper 10y ago"As others have said, don't look for goals look for a lifestyle." is really bad advice. A lifestyle merely describes and/or quantifies the way one lives. I'm not sure how you get to this conclusion based on the post or the comments, and I am not sure what value it provides. I think this is the precise mode of conformity Thompson is railing against. Currently, conformity is the common path, "the floating," Thompson describes. It seems to me the outliers with a purpose and the will to swim to their goals find fulfillment along the way.
- randomsearch 10y ago"A lifestyle merely describes and/or quantifies the way one lives." This is correct. I don't draw the conclusion from the post, I make this statement to directly contradict the post, which I believe is unwise. A further video that underlines my point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4
- GoToRO 10y agoThere is no purpose.
- ObeyTheGuts 10y agoThis just reaks peasantry. All creatures desire power and you do all to have more power if some thing gives you more power than other you drop the weaker one for stronger one. Very strighforward and simple. Now peasants create this how to do smallest amou of competition while satisfieng max hedonism retarded bullshit...
- ioda 10y agoMy Journey In search of purpose 1. Hated working for others. One day manager refused to grant hike (in salary). Googled for a resignation letter, and mailed him the first one found. 2. Didn't know what to do. Decided to do freelancing. Took up a project that was too big for my mouth (read, implementing an ERP for a small retail chain) . Took away some good 2.5 years of my life, for peanuts. But learned a ton. The project was a failure from client's perspective, but I had my contractual obligations met. learning - Freelancing is not my cup of tea 3. Started an e commerce company. Was one of the first companies in hyper local space. But had a similar feeling that this is not my cup tea, since it required raising large amount of capital for a poor margin business. Shut it down after 2 years. Learning- I want to build something organically 4. Finally I stumbled upon a business which I truly love. It is yet to make any money. Have been toiling for the last 2 years. But I enjoyed the journey hell lot. And most importantly I feel I can make this work 5. So I took some 5 years to find that one thing that I really love doing, and that I am reasonably good at. Still the unproven part is whether there is a 'need' for that in the market, to make it economically viable. 6. Was it worth it? It was hell lot of pain. Getting depressed at times. But to me there was no choice. So no regrets. I would have done the same , if I were to go back and do. And hopefully we (me and my co founder) will make it. Overall learning- You cannot discover yourself without getting lost. And getting lost is painful, at times, very very painful. But some pain are worth it (for some). Whether to float or to swim is a hard choice. But if you decide to swim, make sure that 'to swim' is the only choice you have. Else you are more likely to 'get' back to 'float'.
- Paul_S 10y agoI was the happiest when not thinking about it. There is a trite and often reapeted lesson there.
- blubb-fish 10y agoI'd be sceptical of life advice from somebody who committed suicide.
- hsur8192 10y agoFor the record, he did so at the age of 67, facing both failing health and the loss of that which he seemed value most (his ability to write). While you can argue (with no small amount of validity) that his life choices contributed to this decline, his decision to take leave of life seems consistent with his views expressed herein on being true to oneself and one's calling, and he does seem to have fit plenty of life into those 67 years...
- k-mcgrady 10y agoThis quotation seems pretty apt and in my view makes his suicide seem reasonable and consistent with his views: "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson
- 3minus1 10y agoHe's really taking that Shakespeare quote out of context. It's about suicide not striving towards goals.
- goldenkey 10y agoWhich is really the only choice in existentialism. You are the one out of your realm..not the letter.
- devilsavocado 10y agoLike most Shakespeare, a single interpretation rarely does it justice. I think it ties in with Thompson's idea of either floating with the tide or swimming towards a goal very well. The soliloquy it is taken from is about Hamlet debating whether to avenge his father's murder (swimming) or not (tide), and whether to continue living (swimming), or just accept death (tide).
- 3minus1 10y agoyou have it reversed. The choice is whether to continue being tormented by all life's degradations and pains (floating) or end them yourself by committing suicide (swimming)
- losteverything 10y agoFrost's The Road Not Taken, originally written as a joke, is an easy frame to view my life, imho "And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. " is just the choice Thompson postulates. To me, I now believe the overarching purpose of life is to have children. Two distinct groups: those with children and those to help those with children. Parenting (becoming a parent) puts a humans heartbeat into perspective like nothing else can
- njloof 10y agoAnd becoming a parent challenges me to figure out how to impart life lessons like these. I think it's best if I help her discover them and choose among them.
- endswapper 10y agoI think Andrew's post hijacked this thread - not his fault. You make a good point, but I would like to make it more broad. The purpose, the secret to life, and to fulfillment, is being of value to others. Children are just the most immediate, appropriate people to be of value to, and it's often in a service capacity. I think becoming a parent is the most effective way to reset our own egos. I think being self-serving is built-in and there are all sorts of wonderful benefits to that evolutionary mechanism. To Thompson's point, we are all just floating until we find a purpose. Floating has little value. So, it is worthwhile to adopt a purpose for the value that it provides. When that purpose ceases to provide value it should be abandoned in the most severe way possible. Through this process we have the potential to identify our character and our abilities. And for those in and around Andrew's comments: ful·fill·ment fo͝olˈfilmənt noun 1. satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one's abilities or character.
- marknutter 10y ago> To me, I now believe the overarching purpose of life is to have children. Two distinct groups: those with children and those to help those with children. I reached the same conclusion myself very early on when it became very obvious that it's the most logical conclusion to reach based on the evidence we currently have about the "meaning of life". From a biological perspective, the meaning of life is to stay alive procreate. It sounds empty and ironically, a bit meaningless, but most of what we do in our lives that we find great joy in are rooted in these two very fundamental goals. Every time we eat a delicious meal we're keeping ourselves alive. When we have great sex we're fulfilling our procreation desires. Even travel can be traced back to those two base desires because we've evolved to take great pleasure in exploring new worlds and relying on our wits to survive. Now that I have two children of my own I'm more certain than ever that ultimately, it's what I am here to do. My life only has meaning insofar as my children's lives have meaning, and in that way I am fulfilling a centuries old promise to my ancestors who ultimately gave me life by living meaningful, fulfilled lives themselves.
- fsiefken 10y agoCoincidentally, yesterday I attended a talk by Bernardo Kastrup on the topic of finding our purpose in life. Kastrup is a philosophical idealist, he explained an alternative to the existentialist view of creating your own story and meaning in a essentially meaningless universe outside of ourselves reasoning in part from recent insights in physics. For example: * S. Gröblacher, T. Paterek, R. Kaltenbaek, Č. Brukner, M. Żukowski, M. Aspelmeyer, and A. Zeilinger. An experimental test of non-local realism. Nature 446, 871–875 (2007) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7138/abs/nature05677.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7138/abs/nature05... In minute 38 I ask the question if he can describe an example of finding meaning in life. https://youtu.be/D-EeF1quouY?t=2305 https://youtu.be/D-EeF1quouY?t=2305 In one of his books he says the meaning of life is "about experiencing existence, in all its angles and glory, for the sheer and pure sake of experience itself! We don’t eat a nice meal, make love or travel to beautiful locations just to understand or make sense of something. We do these things because the experiences themselves imbue our lives with a kind of timeless meaning, independent of comprehension." -- Kastrup, Bernardo. More Than Allegory: On Religious Myth, Truth And Belief (p 203). John Hunt Publishing. Ask yourself the right question in the moment itself, fully aware of your emotions and the things around you, and the answers could rise up automatically - 'the meaning of life' cannot be an armchair intellectual exercise he says. This has been my experience in life as well, it takes practise to get back to the Nexus. As Dr. Soran tells Picard: "They say time is the fire in which we burn. Right now, Captain, my time is running out. We leave so many things unfinished in our lives... I know you understand"
- swombat 10y ago> In one of his books he says the meaning of life is "about experiencing existence, in all its angles and glory, for the sheer and pure sake of experience itself! We don’t eat a nice meal, make love or travel to beautiful locations just to understand or make sense of something. We do these things because the experiences themselves imbue our lives with a kind of timeless meaning, independent of comprehension." -- Kastrup, Bernardo. More Than Allegory: On Religious Myth, Truth And Belief (p 203). John Hunt Publishing. That's an interesting perspective, but, let me poke at it bit. If you were to be able to experience all those things you describe but had no one to share them with, would they have meaning? What if you were in a simulation so that it seemed like you were doing all these things with other people, but you knew that you are in a simulation all alone? Would these things still have meaning? Would the experience be worthwhile? I would suggest that whilst they may still be somewhat worthwhile, without other people to share those experiences with, without a public sphere within which to express your unique and distinct story to the rest of humanity, life becomes significantly less meaningful. To build meaning, we need both the private experiences you describe and the existence of others who can bear witness to our lives and give it an existence outside of our own minds. Yes, the experiences are valuable but they become exponentially more so when they are part of the story of our lives, communicated to our equals.
- paulpauper 10y agoFlagged. this site seems to be an agreegator that is intended to generate adsense ad revenue , not original content For example, the article on the sidebar about the 'dying man' was copied from Reddit and elsewhere https://www.google.fr/#q=Powerful+Advice+From+a+Dying+Man https://www.google.fr/#q=Powerful+Advice+From+a+Dying+Man We should try to link to original sources, not aggregation sites.
- rdtsc 10y agoI like Hunter's writings but I wouldn't look for coherent philosophical ideas in it. I see his writing as artistic, very entertaining, really unique phraseology, inspirational, stuff that really represents the feel of the 70's in US (at least that is what I am told, I wasn't born yet then).
- ycombinatorMan 10y agoReminder: this is a man who killed himself
- yojex 10y agoFunny you should bring that up, considering the circumstances in which he did so. I recommend everyone do some research on his suicide, it's very interesting. Start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#Death
- triangleman 10y agoActually brings another perspective to his referencing Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, which has been interpreted as a discourse on suicide.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- size12font 10y agoBe happy is having something to look forward to. People always complicated this topic.
- k-mcgrady 10y agoThey 'complicate' it because your simplified version is inaccurate. If the only good thing in my life is a party I'm looking forward to in 6 months time I can assure you I will be unhappy for the vast majority of those 6 months. If it was as easy as you say we would all be happy and that is far from the case.
- 323454 10y agoSuch a different voice compared to his later work. It really drives home that HST, though seeming crazy, was fully conscious of what he was doing and intentional in his choices.
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- nasakin 10y agoOne of the best things I've ever read in my life. Thank you for sharing this.