Your embedded a false assumption in your summary, which is the source of your problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRU-0uH2rw
Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
61–70 of 91 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#62Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#63Are you getting enough exercise, eating well, and maintaining good relationships? You sound depressed or maybe dysthmic. A lot of how you feel is due to simple biology and not finding the right thought. Your gut flora probably has more to do with it than what book you may or may not be reading.
Who you are isn't set in stone. You can be an unhappy intellectual as long as you want. You can also introduce factors that shake up your personality and interests and emotions, experiment with them, and see which version of yourself you like better.
Think of yourself as a repo that you just have to keep refactoring and forking and rebuilding until you make it work the way you like...
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#64Break your life down to habits. Are you actively pursuing hobbies or just watching videos/theorizing? My guess is you're in the latter camp which is a common problem in modern times.
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#65I’ve found the solution to this problem to be to attack the underlying physiology that is responsible producing these emotions (or lack thereof) without using any form of medication, ESPECIALLY anti-depressants.
Like many of life’s problems, my solution is simple but not easy. I drastically changed my nutrition (strict keto diet), exercise routine (1.5 hours of exercise a day, half of that high-intensity aerobic), disciplined sunlight exposure, and sleep optimization (no screens for 2 hours before bed, earplugs and sleep mask, no alcohol/drugs, 8 hrs minimum, usually get 9)
It sounds like a lot all at once but I found that incrementally adding things worked for me.
I used to contemplate suicide daily for a span of about 2 years and then eventually my feelings subsided naturally. Now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and a lot of the external forms of gratification are coming along with it.
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#66First, like some commenters, I believe you may be depressed. If you have resources to help you, please seek it out to verify. The more personalized (counseling) the better.
Second, any chance you are passing time by watching tv and surfing the internet?
There’s a period of my life I used to watch a lot of tv series and doom scrolling. Looking back, I was depressed with my studies. These mindless activities helped to numb my soul, making life less painful.
Slowly though, I realized the cognitively cheap entertainment was a form of addiction, and that it was robbing me of my creativity and energy.
Third, regarding exercise and diet. Super critical. But! You need to find the right kind that suits you. I highly recommend bouldering. You can do it alone, any time, and there’s a clear and constant progression you can see. Also, people are generally nice and social.
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#67I don't think looking up to Feynman as a role model is a good idea. The stories Feynman told about himself and the way he portrayed himself were not necessarily true. I've read an account of someone who was his neighbor and knew him well (was a physicist, too), and it wasn't very flattering. It sounded like Feynman was pretty insecure and cared a great deal what people think about him and that they consider him a gen…
> It sounded like Feynman was pretty insecure and cared a great deal what people think about him and that they consider him a genius and a very interesting man. So, just like almost everybody else - but in his case he was indeed a genius and very interesting... > Zorba the Greek is a fictional character. Not a great role model at all, since he's purely a made up construct. Missing the point...
> So, just like almost everybody else
Projection?
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#68Just possibly, your low engagement and low interest are symptoms of depression or similar.
What cures are there for depression other than 1. anti-depressants 2. therapy / exercise / diet changes 3. a perspective change 4. ignoring it
Religion/spirituality, which might be 3. But meditation gets you into a place where you just go "I'm unhappy" without the unhappiness actually consuming your life. Religion removes sources of unhappiness - you make peace with your inevitable death, missing a limb, missing a child, being broke, not being smart enough, wanting more, and so on.
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#69The way to joy is Jesus of Nazareth. Partake of the Gospel.
Pleasures are plentiful and transient. Satisfaction can be had in worldly accomplishment, and even philosophy.
Joy under the sun (and beyond) is due neither to the flesh nor the mind, but the soul.
Re: Ask HN: How did you find joy in life?
#70I've felt the same way for over 15 years, no solution in sight. I've tried the meds for many years, I've tried therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and many other things and nothing has worked. I've also started to feel less interested in things I thought I was interested in. The only thing really keeping me alive and fighting is my girlfriend and my family, which I have pretty poor contact with if I'm honest, but…
I thought about exactly this today. If my family or a gf need something, I just do it. Call it, buy it, work it, solve it. No procrastination, no psychological problems. But when I’m finally alone, nothing drives me at all. It’s sad to think that I must go and find/make someone to live for, just to able to live.
Makes me think that people who talk about kids are just those whom it hit much earlier.