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What if you could do it all over? (2020)

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Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#31

Post by patching-trowel »

y-curious wrote: post #30
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

So, why continue living? The nihilist pit is something I recommend you claw your way out of, ASAP.

For me it’s not a nihilist pit. The fact that I’m gonna die and nothing I do matters that much alleviates some dread. It’s not a deep and endless ocean I’m swimming in, just a comfy little pool.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#32

Post by jampekka »

y-curious wrote: post #30
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

So, why continue living? The nihilist pit is something I recommend you claw your way out of, ASAP.

Just ask why not instead?

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#33

Post by anonzzzies »

y-curious wrote: post #30
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

So, why continue living? The nihilist pit is something I recommend you claw your way out of, ASAP.

I like life, I said. I just know its useless which frees me of many things others are bothered with.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#34

Post by jebarker »

I question whether the author's story about their mother's farm stand is really about unled lives in the past sense. They seem to be telling a cautionary tale about it but his mother was trying to change her future life in the present. I don't think that warning about dwelling on possible past lives and suggesting you shouldn't make changes in your current life are the same thing.

Probably relatedly though, I never really think about how things could have been and yet I am haunted by disatissfaction (despite having a great life) and always looking for how I'll change myself or my situation (work mostly) going forward. Maybe these are two views on the same neurosis.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#35

Post by MangoToupe »

y-curious wrote: post #30
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

So, why continue living? The nihilist pit is something I recommend you claw your way out of, ASAP.

[flagged]

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#36

Post by jampekka »

owebmaster wrote: post #15
futureshock wrote: post #12

I think the fantasy of going back hides the reality that new possibilities are always stretched out ahead. I have lived many lives. New careers, new cities, new countries, new friends, new families. By my count I’ve lived 14 iterations of life and counting. New lives are always beckoning. After awhile you get good a recognizing the ones worth stepping into.

> I think the fantasy of going back hides the reality that new possibilities are always stretched out ahead. It also hides the incapability of many to do what they should to succeed. Most people already know what they should do different to succeed without going back in time but still they do not have the will power to do it and they probably would still not have if they had a time machine.

What do you mean by succeed? I find learning to not care so much about succeeding - at least in the usual criteria imposed by the society - is maybe the best thing I've learned since touch typing.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#37

Post by xyzzy9563 »

anonzzzies wrote: post #23
jmathai wrote: post #6

Family and children eliminated thoughts of my “unlived” lives. Life is hard. Focusing on gratitude helps me be thankful for what I have instead of thinking about what may have been.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

If you have children you can help continue a chain of humans millions or maybe even billions of years long.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#38

Post by anonzzzies »

xyzzy9563 wrote: post #37
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

If you have children you can help continue a chain of humans millions or maybe even billions of years long.

Why would I want to? But let's say I want to, we have been here for a few 1000 years and our trackrecord is absolutely horrifying. We kill people not even to eat but for some religious madness... You really believe your offspring will live in a billion years?

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#39

Post by xyzzy9563 »

anonzzzies wrote: post #38
xyzzy9563 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have children you can help continue a chain of humans millions or maybe even billions of years long.

Why would I want to? But let's say I want to, we have been here for a few 1000 years and our trackrecord is absolutely horrifying. We kill people not even to eat but for some religious madness... You really believe your offspring will live in a billion years?

Sure, it's a pretty high chance they will go into space. If they use energy storage it could even be trillions of years. It really depends if humanity self-destructs or not.

Also different animals kill each other all the time. It's part of the cycle of life. I don't get why you have such a negative perspective.

Re: What if you could do it all over? (2020)

#40

Post by jebarker »

xyzzy9563 wrote: post #37
anonzzzies wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never needed that: I like life because I know I will die soon and nothing I do matters. That is the thing I would've liked to know earlier.

If you have children you can help continue a chain of humans millions or maybe even billions of years long.

Sometimes when I'm struggling with the day to day mundane aspects of early years parenting I reframe it as the work of continuing the human race. Somehow makes it easier to keep pushing on as something so significant _should_ be challenging.
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