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There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

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Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#41

Post by InternetUser »

mkhalil wrote: post #4

"Why don’t we want to be alone? Because the stuff that’s down there is stuff you don’t want to see." This really resonates with me. The "Fear of missing out" is something I try to avoid like the plague, but sometimes I wonder why do I even care? edit: replaced the acronym FOMA

> The "Fear of missing out" is something I try to avoid like the plague, but sometimes I wonder why do I even care?

Ok, then don't care. Maybe it's time to finally grow up. Or then again, maybe the desire for company is perfectly natural and instinctual.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#42

Post by nabla9 »

Being alone and hiking and camping in the wilderness without human contact for longer period can be amazing experience. There can be initial anxiety and intense desire to go back after romance goes away and your internal shit comes to light. When there is constant need for do chores to survive but also free time and no human contact, no books, radio or music, mind gradually settles into itself.

It's like coming from bright light into a dark room. Gradually your eyes adjust and you start to see more. Coming back into the civilization is similar to someone pointing flashlight into your eyes. So much external triggers for behaviour. Realizing that I'm not actually me with other people and I'm disappearing into network of others. Me with others is mainly just bunch of triggers that fire based on conditioning.

If I can feel intense otherworldliness from just week or month alone, I imagine that if someone spends decades alone, civilization might seem like miserable alien ant colony. Everybody is responding to commands from others and carrying stuff they don't care about.

ps. It also can trigger psycosis, panic or some kind of madness (prairie fever, cabin fever) in some people. Romanticizing it as escape from all your problems might give people the wrong idea.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#43

Post by influx »

mAdamTus wrote: post #29
dr_bloodmoney wrote: post #12

I read about this man when the story first broke and found it extremely fascinating. I can relate to wanting to be alone and living an isolated existence. I love being in nature, away from the world and have often thought about pursuing such an existence permanently. But I just cannot comprehend his methods. Move to Alaska. Learn to hunt. Carve out a place for yourself somewhere. What he did tells me he was just insa…

His methods aren't insane. They're rational for survival in human society/civilization without participating in it. Think of a rat or other mammal pest. They effectively survive off of civilization in the same way. And since he got away with it for the entire time...successfully...it seemed effective, too. > alaska Living fully alone isolated from civilization in terrain as hostile as wild alaska isn't realistic. See…

Your sample size is one. Let me double it for you, I highly recommend Dick Proenneke's story, Alone in the Wilderness.

https://youtu.be/iYJKd0rkKss

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#44

Post by woodandsteel »

grabcocque wrote: post #14

The idea of introverts and extraverts being distinct groups of people with completely different neurological responses to social situations is a largely false one, created by self-help woo merchants to unhelpfully pathologise the feeling that EVERYONE has from time to time that they want to be left the fuck alone. You know what? It's a normal, neurotypical part of life as a homo sapiens to want to be by yourself some…

>The idea of introverts and extraverts being distinct groups of people with completely different neurological responses to social situations is a largely false one

Are you saying it is possible there are neurological differences, but it hasn't been proven?

Or are you saying it has been proven that there are no neurological differences?

I could be wrong, but my best guess is that you are not familiar with this area of science, much less science in general, and made that claim for reasons having more to do with your personal philosophy. Am I right?

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#45

Post by roceasta »

tray5 wrote: post #17

My personal theory for explaining hermits throughout history is simple, these people had/have aspergers. I have aspergers myself, and I can very easily see someone who has aspergers who for whatever reason no longer wants to socialize anymore getting up and doing their own thing out in isolation. I don't truly believe that any neurotypical person, and for that matter many aspies could do it, but if you're brain is wi…

>socialization doesn't provide that reward that it does for most other people

Exactly. If one doesn't get the reward then it's too easy to commit errors and not worth the effort to correct them.

However I do think 'spergs' have a better knowledge of the rules than normies. Just as a native speaker doesn't need to know grammar in order to speak correctly, so normies don't need to know the rules of social interaction.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#46

Post by pm90 »

nabla9 wrote: post #42

Being alone and hiking and camping in the wilderness without human contact for longer period can be amazing experience. There can be initial anxiety and intense desire to go back after romance goes away and your internal shit comes to light. When there is constant need for do chores to survive but also free time and no human contact, no books, radio or music, mind gradually settles into itself. It's like coming from…

I think you're correct in that people do romanticize it a lot. Regardless of whether going outdoors is actually running away from your problems or not, it does provide a refreshing break from human society, as you so elegantly described it. Sometimes, shit happens and life feels rather worthless... but these experiences can act as anchors of sanity, a reminder of the amazing beauty of nature that will continue to be there regardless of what we do, what terrible circumstances we face etc.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#47

Post by pm90 »

white-flame wrote: post #15

It baffles me that people think it's so shockingly outlandish that there are people who don't reactionarily buy into the tribalistic pressures around us to simply act like everyone else. Humanity is not homogeneous, yet some notions like these are always projected out to be considered an immutable, inescapable constant. I can only guess that's that same fear of being different shining through. I presume that on sites…

There are very real evolutionary pressure on humans to be social and pliant and buy into the notion that society is a net good, whether it be a tribal one or a more modern version. Just think about it: the outliers get ostracized and more often than not don't pass on their genes to the next generation. Until very recently, we had extremely tribal behavior among human societies as well. So it makes sense that most people still naturally think its kinda outlandish to not want to be a part of society or take part in its rituals.

I can't express how glad I feel though, that I am living in an age and country where not being socially pliant isn't something that would get me killed. Where I can continue to live my life the way that I want to, rather than buy into social norms and regulations, many of which seem rather anachronistic.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#48

Post by fiatjaf »

nabla9 wrote: post #42

Being alone and hiking and camping in the wilderness without human contact for longer period can be amazing experience. There can be initial anxiety and intense desire to go back after romance goes away and your internal shit comes to light. When there is constant need for do chores to survive but also free time and no human contact, no books, radio or music, mind gradually settles into itself. It's like coming from…

How much time before the eye adjusts?

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#49

Post by pm90 »

factsaresacred wrote: post #27

> Years ago, I went to India for a ten-day, silent retreat. I wanted to make myself go where I was afraid to go—deep down, inside my own head. I found it terrifying. Why don’t we want to be alone? Because the stuff that’s down there is stuff you don’t want to see. We live in a world in which who we are is defined by what we do . We are a role - parent, engineer, carer. Strip that away and all that remains is a who .…

It is terrifying before but liberating after. So I was extremely afraid of sky diving but once I did it, that felt liberating.

Its easy to talk about re-framing our mindset, especially for things that frighten or embarrass us. Much harder to carry out. But I do agree its important to take action regardless... that seems to be the only thing that helps with it.

Re: There Have Always Existed People Who’ve Simply Wanted to Be Alone

#50

Post by pm90 »

evervevdww221 wrote: post #24

I have the impulse to become a hermit myself, fundamentally because I'm tired of living up to other people's ideologies: going through schools and finding a job in a cubical. getting married at the right age and then raising the right amount kids, saving for their college fund and then for retirement. but why? I can't help but compare with my surroundings, even I have quit Facebook for many years. I can't be myself w…

One of the goals of adult life is to be able to find the things that one likes to do and find creative ways to do them, when the most straightforward way does not seem possible. I don't mean to offer any solutions to your situation, but this is something that made me feel a lot more control of my own life :)
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