4 ms·

Fatalism will also not fix anything. But I suppose death comes for us all, yes? Why do anything at all?

by j2kun 6mo ago

WarmWash 6mo ago
I think "adapt or die" is the takeaway.
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
MidnightRider39 6mo ago
This is the only relevant question. And it leads right to the next one which is “what is a good life?” But humans have a huge bias for action. I think generally doing less is better.
- DaiPlusPlus 6mo ago
  > I think generally doing less is better. My sedentary lifestyle is responsible for my recurrent cellulitis infections. Just saying.
  - lazyasciiart 6mo ago
    I got hit by a car while out for a run. Just saying.
  - MidnightRider39 6mo ago
    You can probably find a million situations where doing less is terrible. I think first step would be to define for yourself what doing less actually means - it could mean taking a walk instead of chasing dopamine -> doing less but you move more. But whatever it’s a philosophical question and there aren’t any right or true answers
- skybrian 6mo ago
  On the other hand, if a dead person can do it better than you can, it's not that much of an accomplishment.
  - MidnightRider39 6mo ago
    I didn’t mean that you should strive to do as little as possible; rather that if you have 2 choices, do more or do less - then I would be biased towards doing less. Of course not always a realistic option
tombert 6mo ago
I feel that fatalism, especially when people treat it as some sort of personal philosophy, is kind of lazy. It requires no effort to say "fuck this, nothing matters anyway", and then justify doing literally nothing.
- palmotea 6mo ago
  > I feel that fatalism, especially when people treat it as some sort of personal philosophy, is kind of lazy. I think a lot of fatalism is fake. It's really someone saying "I like this, and I want you to believe you can't change it so you give up."
- Nevermark 6mo ago
  Apathy has a striking number of motivated evangelists!
- gspr 6mo ago
  It also makes no sense! "Fuck this, it doesn't matter - but I'll happily spend effort communicating that to others, because apparently making others not care about something I don't care about is something I do care about." Wut?! Well, I say it makes no sense. Alternatively, it makes a lot of sense, and these people actually just wanna destroy everything we hold dear :-(
  - joquarky 6mo ago
    Perhaps the current societal trajectory is destroying everything that they hold dear. I mean, just look around you.
    - tombert 6mo ago
      Then do something about it. Vote for better politicians. Donate money to causes that you think are important. If you think you can do it better, and this isn't meant to be facetious, run for political office. Being fatalistic can be a great excuse not to do anything.
mikkupikku 6mo ago
> But I suppose death comes for us all, yes? Why do anything at all? Wrong take. Death comes for us all, yes, so why hold back? Do you want to live forever?
- JoshTriplett 6mo ago
  > Do you want to live forever? Yes, of course. Do you prefer to die? Those are the only two alternatives, and a decision that you don't want one is a decision that you prefer the other.
  - mikkupikku 6mo ago
    Cringe.
  - bandrami 6mo ago
    I can think of no concept more horrifying than personal immortality and if you disagree I don't think you've thought about it enough.
    - JoshTriplett 6mo ago
      I'm sorry to hear that you don't want to exist in the future. I do. I have thought about it extensively, and there is literally no scenario in which I consider not-existing better than existing. There is an essentially infinite amount of creativity and interesting complexity available in the richness of interactions with other people and the things people create. What, exactly, are you "horrified" about?
      - bandrami 6mo ago
        The difference between "essentially infinite" and "actually infinite". Infinity is a very long time.
  - jacquesm 6mo ago
    No, there is no alternative. Everything eventually dies, so you better make peace with it. The only people who believe that they won't die are religious people who believe in an afterlife (which is a preposterous position) and the people who have their heads or whole bodies frozen because they think they are so special that the future will honor their contracts and revive them. Both of these are bound to lead to the exact same outcome so it doesn't really matter what you believe but it may guide you to wiser decision while you are alive to accept reality absent proof to the contrary.
0x3f 6mo ago
It's fun to pet the cat. It's not fun to rage against an unstoppable force. Well, maybe it is for some people. But I find people often underestimate the detrimental effects.

Fatalism will also not fix anything. But I suppose death comes for us all, yes? Why do anything at all?

by j2kun 6mo ago

Fatalism will also not fix anything. But I suppose death comes for us all, yes? Why do anything at all?

WarmWash 6mo ago

I think "adapt or die" is the takeaway.

deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

MidnightRider39 6mo ago

This is the only relevant question. And it leads right to the next one which is “what is a good life?” But humans have a huge bias for action. I think generally doing less is better.

DaiPlusPlus 6mo ago
> I think generally doing less is better. My sedentary lifestyle is responsible for my recurrent cellulitis infections. Just saying.
- lazyasciiart 6mo ago
  I got hit by a car while out for a run. Just saying.
- MidnightRider39 6mo ago
  You can probably find a million situations where doing less is terrible. I think first step would be to define for yourself what doing less actually means - it could mean taking a walk instead of chasing dopamine -> doing less but you move more. But whatever it’s a philosophical question and there aren’t any right or true answers
skybrian 6mo ago
On the other hand, if a dead person can do it better than you can, it's not that much of an accomplishment.
- MidnightRider39 6mo ago
  I didn’t mean that you should strive to do as little as possible; rather that if you have 2 choices, do more or do less - then I would be biased towards doing less. Of course not always a realistic option

tombert 6mo ago

I feel that fatalism, especially when people treat it as some sort of personal philosophy, is kind of lazy. It requires no effort to say "fuck this, nothing matters anyway", and then justify doing literally nothing.

palmotea 6mo ago
> I feel that fatalism, especially when people treat it as some sort of personal philosophy, is kind of lazy. I think a lot of fatalism is fake. It's really someone saying "I like this, and I want you to believe you can't change it so you give up."
Nevermark 6mo ago
Apathy has a striking number of motivated evangelists!
gspr 6mo ago
It also makes no sense! "Fuck this, it doesn't matter - but I'll happily spend effort communicating that to others, because apparently making others not care about something I don't care about is something I do care about." Wut?! Well, I say it makes no sense. Alternatively, it makes a lot of sense, and these people actually just wanna destroy everything we hold dear :-(
- joquarky 6mo ago
  Perhaps the current societal trajectory is destroying everything that they hold dear. I mean, just look around you.
  - tombert 6mo ago
    Then do something about it. Vote for better politicians. Donate money to causes that you think are important. If you think you can do it better, and this isn't meant to be facetious, run for political office. Being fatalistic can be a great excuse not to do anything.

mikkupikku 6mo ago

> But I suppose death comes for us all, yes? Why do anything at all? Wrong take. Death comes for us all, yes, so why hold back? Do you want to live forever?

JoshTriplett 6mo ago
> Do you want to live forever? Yes, of course. Do you prefer to die? Those are the only two alternatives, and a decision that you don't want one is a decision that you prefer the other.
- mikkupikku 6mo ago
  Cringe.
- bandrami 6mo ago
  I can think of no concept more horrifying than personal immortality and if you disagree I don't think you've thought about it enough.
  - JoshTriplett 6mo ago
    I'm sorry to hear that you don't want to exist in the future. I do. I have thought about it extensively, and there is literally no scenario in which I consider not-existing better than existing. There is an essentially infinite amount of creativity and interesting complexity available in the richness of interactions with other people and the things people create. What, exactly, are you "horrified" about?
    - bandrami 6mo ago
      The difference between "essentially infinite" and "actually infinite". Infinity is a very long time.
- jacquesm 6mo ago
  No, there is no alternative. Everything eventually dies, so you better make peace with it. The only people who believe that they won't die are religious people who believe in an afterlife (which is a preposterous position) and the people who have their heads or whole bodies frozen because they think they are so special that the future will honor their contracts and revive them. Both of these are bound to lead to the exact same outcome so it doesn't really matter what you believe but it may guide you to wiser decision while you are alive to accept reality absent proof to the contrary.

0x3f 6mo ago

It's fun to pet the cat. It's not fun to rage against an unstoppable force. Well, maybe it is for some people. But I find people often underestimate the detrimental effects.