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> My question to people with this attitude is, what is the point of your life? > I've lost a lot of friends and recognize that life is way too short to not be

> My question to people with this attitude is, what is the point of your life? > I've lost a lot of friends and recognize that life is way too short to not be putting as much time as possible toward something you find totally compelling. ... > This pervasive idea that "it's just a fucking job" is ultimately a milquetoast cop-out. Spend your hours doing something that has impact to you. Why can't "raising a family" be the totally compelling thing you do that has impact on you? The "point of your life"? I'm not saying that is me, but I think the people that choose that are making a perfectly rational choice.

AndrewKemendo 7y ago
I mean it's so vague that it doesn't make sense. What is a measurable outcome from "raise a family?" Does that just mean producing offspring or are you requiring a certain outcome for the children and the unit as a whole, in order to feel content? These are independent autonomous humans who have their own goals - so what happens when they deviate from the things you wanted them to do? I have three kids and I can tell you right now, there is nothing straightforward that you can plan out with respect to outcomes. It's gonna be a crapshoot, and the best you can do is just do your best and hang on.
- kd5bjo 7y ago
  “And if any appear never to assume the chair, but always to stand and serve, it is because we do not see the company in a sufficiently long period for the whole rotation of parts to come about. As to what we call the masses, and common men;—there are no common men. All men are at last of a size; and true art is only possible, on the conviction that every talent has its apotheosis somewhere. Fair play, and an open field, and freshest laurels to all who have won them! But heaven reserves an equal scope for every creature. Each is uneasy until he has produced his private ray unto the concave sphere, and beheld his talent also in its last nobility and exaltation.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6312/6312-h/6312-h.htm http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6312/6312-h/6312-h.htm) It seems to me that no person is in a position to judge whether another has found the thing that they should be shaping their life around. As much as we like to assume they are, humans aren’t rational creatures and activities that appear completely pointless from the outside can be incredibly meaningful to the one doing them.

AndrewKemendo 7y ago

I mean it's so vague that it doesn't make sense. What is a measurable outcome from "raise a family?" Does that just mean producing offspring or are you requiring a certain outcome for the children and the unit as a whole, in order to feel content? These are independent autonomous humans who have their own goals - so what happens when they deviate from the things you wanted them to do? I have three kids and I can tell you right now, there is nothing straightforward that you can plan out with respect to outcomes. It's gonna be a crapshoot, and the best you can do is just do your best and hang on.

kd5bjo 7y ago
“And if any appear never to assume the chair, but always to stand and serve, it is because we do not see the company in a sufficiently long period for the whole rotation of parts to come about. As to what we call the masses, and common men;—there are no common men. All men are at last of a size; and true art is only possible, on the conviction that every talent has its apotheosis somewhere. Fair play, and an open field, and freshest laurels to all who have won them! But heaven reserves an equal scope for every creature. Each is uneasy until he has produced his private ray unto the concave sphere, and beheld his talent also in its last nobility and exaltation.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6312/6312-h/6312-h.htm http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6312/6312-h/6312-h.htm) It seems to me that no person is in a position to judge whether another has found the thing that they should be shaping their life around. As much as we like to assume they are, humans aren’t rational creatures and activities that appear completely pointless from the outside can be incredibly meaningful to the one doing them.