3 ms·

> 56. Sometimes unsolvable questions like “what is my purpose?” and “why should I exist?” lose their force upon lifestyle fixes. In other words, seeing friends

by meken 6y ago

> 56. Sometimes unsolvable questions like “what is my purpose?” and “why should I exist?” lose their force upon lifestyle fixes. In other words, seeing friends regularly and getting enough sleep can go a long way to solving existentialism. Been seeing this for myself recently. I got really depressed continuing to search for answers to questions of why excel instead of stagnating, why work hard instead of slack off, etc. I've come to the conclusion that there is no answer to these questions (unless you are deeply religious), and that just by doing the former set of things makes us happy, and non-depressed people just do them because it makes them happier.

not_knuth 6y ago
Same. 1. The philosopher's disease of always asking "why?" and critically evaluating things is a strange one. In Western countries this is how we are taught to think and it has many benefits, but physical happiness is seldom one. I have also found the line of thought to lead to a deadlock of "But why should we always ask why?". That question can ultimately only be answered by stating that "Asking why?" should be considered an axiom. And the matter of stating those axioms is up to everyone. In other words, like you say, trying to find answers to statements instead of questions is nonsensical. 2. I have come to like the idea that I am merely an organism programmed to survive and reproduce and all my needs and wants branch off from that. That may sound somewhat hollow, depressing and like giving up, but it has helped me a lot. Makes me question things a lot less. At least it gives me some kind of answer with which I can justify and understand my irrational behaviour. Also, the moment I am around people more often I find that 1. flies out the window and I completely forget about it – only living by 2. Just like point 56. says it does.

by meken 6y ago

not_knuth 6y ago

Same. 1. The philosopher's disease of always asking "why?" and critically evaluating things is a strange one. In Western countries this is how we are taught to think and it has many benefits, but physical happiness is seldom one. I have also found the line of thought to lead to a deadlock of "But why should we always ask why?". That question can ultimately only be answered by stating that "Asking why?" should be considered an axiom. And the matter of stating those axioms is up to everyone. In other words, like you say, trying to find answers to statements instead of questions is nonsensical. 2. I have come to like the idea that I am merely an organism programmed to survive and reproduce and all my needs and wants branch off from that. That may sound somewhat hollow, depressing and like giving up, but it has helped me a lot. Makes me question things a lot less. At least it gives me some kind of answer with which I can justify and understand my irrational behaviour. Also, the moment I am around people more often I find that 1. flies out the window and I completely forget about it – only living by 2. Just like point 56. says it does.