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Re: undefined

#101
post #79
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better, people die at elevated rates from both of these! It is not either or.

Well, approx. 45k people a year die from traffic crashes in the US a year. [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F918 ] And 48k from firearms (including suicides and accidents) [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F919 ] COVID-19 is also estimated to have killed 48k in 2023. Both combined are still less than from drug overdoses though. [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F367…

When you run the numbers in terms of years lost, the traffic and firearm deaths will come out with a bigger share.

Re: undefined

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm late and not sure who will read this, but I've ended up at the "why do we have kids?" question. Honestly speaking from someone who has 2 beautiful little girls and very squarely middle class life with all its ups and downs. I've recently, but slowly mentally shifted towards being a nihilist. There are so many things to live for, I agree, but at the same time there's like a 10:1 ratio of why living sucks. My privi…

I don’t want to downplay what you’re going through, but I do want to gently caution you against taking a (hopefully temporary) personal feeling as a universal human truth… A large proportion of people certainly must think life is worth living and continuing, and probably most of them have less wealth and resources than you do!

> A large proportion of people certainly must think life is worth living

Most people do what they do without considering what they're doing and why, it's just a habit. I think you are categorically wrong.

Re: undefined

#103
post #101
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, approx. 45k people a year die from traffic crashes in the US a year. [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F918 ] And 48k from firearms (including suicides and accidents) [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F919 ] COVID-19 is also estimated to have killed 48k in 2023. Both combined are still less than from drug overdoses though. [ https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D158/D362F367…

When you run the numbers in terms of years lost, the traffic and firearm deaths will come out with a bigger share.

Cite?

Re: undefined

#104
post #2

I'm afraid this poor guy will be besieged by people who heard about a vacancy in San Francisco. I've unfortunately had my share of dead friends and relatives. I wish I could say that it somehow has made me stronger, more mature, but I'm afraid that the opposite is more true. Each is a trauma that I never entirely recover from. They make the world more bleak, confusing, cold, scary. And it makes it harder to comfort p…

I'm late and not sure who will read this, but I've ended up at the "why do we have kids?" question. Honestly speaking from someone who has 2 beautiful little girls and very squarely middle class life with all its ups and downs. I've recently, but slowly mentally shifted towards being a nihilist. There are so many things to live for, I agree, but at the same time there's like a 10:1 ratio of why living sucks. My privi…

It's probably good to approach nihilism from a skeptic's angle. Think about who nihilism serves and creates profit for; the perfect consumer is a nihilistic consumer. Nihilism and hedonism are ironically linked at the hip.

What snapped me out of my nihilist arc was that whether or not life made any sense or had any purpose (and I wasn't sure at the time that it did), I certainly preferred to be as much as possible "my own tool" rather than someone else's.

Yes, most of the world struggles constantly and has struggled forever. But I am the result of that struggle that made it this far, as are we all. The best I can do is keep that survival going, and maybe make the world a little closer to a less idiotic and brutish reality than the one I entered. That requires an intense dose humility.

I am not going to change the way everything works all at once, but to view things as all or nothing somewhat entails believing that I have a lot more power than any one person does. That's unrealistic. If I more realistically instead "think local" then my actions really do matter, even if it's on the microscopic scale rather than macroscopic scale.

And surprisingly enough, thinking and acting on the microscopic scale has proven in my experience to have a funny way of creating macroscopic effects if iterated consistently over time.

Re: undefined

#105
post #2

I'm afraid this poor guy will be besieged by people who heard about a vacancy in San Francisco. I've unfortunately had my share of dead friends and relatives. I wish I could say that it somehow has made me stronger, more mature, but I'm afraid that the opposite is more true. Each is a trauma that I never entirely recover from. They make the world more bleak, confusing, cold, scary. And it makes it harder to comfort p…

I'm late and not sure who will read this, but I've ended up at the "why do we have kids?" question. Honestly speaking from someone who has 2 beautiful little girls and very squarely middle class life with all its ups and downs. I've recently, but slowly mentally shifted towards being a nihilist. There are so many things to live for, I agree, but at the same time there's like a 10:1 ratio of why living sucks. My privi…

I'll go out on a limb here and posit that a key underlying problem might be the society you live in. Societies make (or: impose) choices.

Re: undefined

#106
post #2

I'm afraid this poor guy will be besieged by people who heard about a vacancy in San Francisco. I've unfortunately had my share of dead friends and relatives. I wish I could say that it somehow has made me stronger, more mature, but I'm afraid that the opposite is more true. Each is a trauma that I never entirely recover from. They make the world more bleak, confusing, cold, scary. And it makes it harder to comfort p…

When you lose someone close, time doesn't heal you; time helps to fill the emptiness... You just forget the feeling of constant sadness and longing for that person. But as soon as you smell the summer rain or the scent of freshly baked bread, your sadness overwhelms you again

Re: undefined

#107
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm late and not sure who will read this, but I've ended up at the "why do we have kids?" question. Honestly speaking from someone who has 2 beautiful little girls and very squarely middle class life with all its ups and downs. I've recently, but slowly mentally shifted towards being a nihilist. There are so many things to live for, I agree, but at the same time there's like a 10:1 ratio of why living sucks. My privi…

Every generation brings us closer to a day where we can actually eliminate suffering?

It's better to see the world development in that way

Re: undefined

#108
post #26

FB has been a little creepy about death. A FB "friend" (e.g. not a close friend) had died and about a year later FB started exhorting me to reconnect with him. I located his obituary and memorialized his account out of respect. Too many times I've been invited to wish a deceased friend "happy birthday." I go to their page and find it memorialized. Nevertheless, there are many friends wishing them happy birthday, obli…

Agree, it's quite creepy...

Re: undefined

#109
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

okay, fine. what about introspection? What about what is considered mentally healthy or not? what about how it affects others around you? If you have past experiences or trauma or other orangic or inorganic neurological or mental issues having a "flat affect" can be "wrong". If what you're feeling isn't helping you, how would you know that there's another way unless you get help? This sounds defeatist and if you peek…

A feeling is only a feeling. How you react to that feeling is the important part. Until then, you and only you own those feelings.

Agree! Our reactions to our emotions can impact not only ourselves but also those around us.

Re: undefined

#110
post #2

I'm afraid this poor guy will be besieged by people who heard about a vacancy in San Francisco. I've unfortunately had my share of dead friends and relatives. I wish I could say that it somehow has made me stronger, more mature, but I'm afraid that the opposite is more true. Each is a trauma that I never entirely recover from. They make the world more bleak, confusing, cold, scary. And it makes it harder to comfort p…

When you lose someone close, time doesn't heal you; time helps to fill the emptiness... You just forget the feeling of constant sadness and longing for that person. But as soon as you smell the summer rain or the scent of freshly baked bread, your sadness overwhelms you again

I lost my dad just under two years ago.

After a few months, I described my situation as "I'm no longer bleeding, but the wound still hurts if something bumps it."

I notice it getting bumped less now, and it hurts less when it does. It still hurts at times, though.

Note well: I wasn't super close to my dad. This may not apply to someone you were really close to. (For that matter, it may not apply at all - people are different.)

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