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That may be the underlying cause of some suicides but it doesn't explain why depression and suicides have increased for teenagers in the last 5 years. Also, if

by spuz 9y ago

That may be the underlying cause of some suicides but it doesn't explain why depression and suicides have increased for teenagers in the last 5 years. Also, if we need distraction to survive the ultimate meaninglessness of life as you claim then why would technology make depression worse instead of better?

Razengan 9y ago
> why would technology make depression worse instead of better? I can only speak for myself, of course, and in my case, the ever increasing access to information and social contacts, actually eliminates the hope of finding any large-scale meaning in this world, ever-so-gradually, when you keep failing to see any point no matter what you learn and who you meet. Not exactly depression, maybe it falls under nihilism, but.. Everything just is, and it doesn't ultimately matter what you do. I suspect that even if I had a starship capable of traveling to other worlds, and a long enough lifespan to see them all, I'd still find everything ultimately pointless.
- jm__87 9y ago
  So what if life objectively has no meaning? You can only experience it through your own subjective viewpoint, so why not find something that is subjectively meaningful to you?
  - where_do_i_live 9y ago
    And there lies the problem. That means your lack of existence is on par with anything else. So you can find something random meaningful to you or poof just end it early. Usually this leads to drugs first and not outright suicide, but it is still nonetheless quite harmful to the individual.
    - jm__87 9y ago
      I think you missed my point... your lack of existence is on par with anything else, to some objective observer. You are not an objective observer. You can choose to care about yourself. You just have to accept the trade off that caring about something means there will inevitably be some pain to go along with it too when things don't work out the way you want.

by spuz 9y ago

Razengan 9y ago

> why would technology make depression worse instead of better? I can only speak for myself, of course, and in my case, the ever increasing access to information and social contacts, actually eliminates the hope of finding any large-scale meaning in this world, ever-so-gradually, when you keep failing to see any point no matter what you learn and who you meet. Not exactly depression, maybe it falls under nihilism, but.. Everything just is, and it doesn't ultimately matter what you do. I suspect that even if I had a starship capable of traveling to other worlds, and a long enough lifespan to see them all, I'd still find everything ultimately pointless.

jm__87 9y ago
So what if life objectively has no meaning? You can only experience it through your own subjective viewpoint, so why not find something that is subjectively meaningful to you?
- where_do_i_live 9y ago
  And there lies the problem. That means your lack of existence is on par with anything else. So you can find something random meaningful to you or poof just end it early. Usually this leads to drugs first and not outright suicide, but it is still nonetheless quite harmful to the individual.
  - jm__87 9y ago
    I think you missed my point... your lack of existence is on par with anything else, to some objective observer. You are not an objective observer. You can choose to care about yourself. You just have to accept the trade off that caring about something means there will inevitably be some pain to go along with it too when things don't work out the way you want.