71–80 of 153 posts
[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]
When the zeitgeist is overwhelmingly nihilist, dare to be an absurdist.
Once you realize that life has no meaning, except that which we arbitrarily assign, you can only go a few ways with it. Of all the 'ism's you could choose in that moment, absudism is perhaps the least worst.
"Credo quia absurdum est."
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When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.
Your comment is exactly what successful and rich people say. You can find a lot of joy and acceptance among the poorest of people: the mind is remarkably adaptable, yet it's only those that always strive for more that cannot enjoy life's little moments. I truly dislike this recent trend of making people feel bad if they have learned to just slow down and be content with life. "It's privilege being able to take a brea…
See perhaps Viktor Frankl on this:
> Man's Search for Meaning (German: ... trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen. Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, lit. '... Say Yes to Life nonetheless: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp') is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose to each person's life through one of three ways: the completion of tasks, caring for another person, or finding meaning by facing suffering with dignity.
> Frankl observed that among the fellow inmates in the concentration camp, those who survived were able to connect with a purpose in life to feel positive about and who then immersed themselves in imagining that purpose in their own way, such as conversing with an (imagined) loved one. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected their longevity.
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A triple "It's not this... it's that"...
The robots use it a lot because it's a common construct in their training data, because it's a common construct in text written by humans
[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]
When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.
You can also use “this too shall pass” if you want a lighter version
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On the contrary, read the piece. He's not saying it from comfort, he's saying it after a heart attack, after his kids grew up, after the form he loved became a young man's game. The farce isn't a punchline delivered from above; it's what's left when the registers that used to hold you don't anymore. And his answer isn't despair, it's "we've got to keep trying… there's a breeze beneath my wings." That's not whimsy. Th…
A triple "It's not this... it's that"...
[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]
This is the kind of thought that only rich and successful people can have. If you're working every day in a coal mine so you can feed your children otherwise they will go hungry, then you don't have these kind of thoughts. Similarly, if you're fighting in a war so your family isn't raped or murdered then you don't have these kind of thoughts either. Basically, you're lucky if you live in a situation that gives you th…
The name for this view of the universe is "absurdism". It was first espoused, as far as I can tell, when the discourse of Qohelet was recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes. So yes, they had it in the 1700's although perhaps not by that name.
> If you're working every day in a coal mine so you can feed your children otherwise they will go hungry, then you don't have these kind of thoughts.
This is almost the opposite of the truth. Those with careers that do not occupy their minds do not sit around with their brains idling and empty all day. They spend much of that time thinking about exactly this sort of thing.
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I'm not sure what you are trying to express here. Is it "rich people shouldn't express their worldview" or "the idea that life is inherently meaningless is incorrect"? A younger me ingested this sentiment as a call to action to create the meaning I wanted in the world.
> Is it "rich people shouldn't express their worldview" If that was the case, how better off we'd be.
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I'm not sure what you are trying to express here. Is it "rich people shouldn't express their worldview" or "the idea that life is inherently meaningless is incorrect"? A younger me ingested this sentiment as a call to action to create the meaning I wanted in the world.
> Is it "rich people shouldn't express their worldview" If that was the case, how better off we'd be.
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A triple "It's not this... it's that"...
I can’t be the only one who finds it rude to use AI to contribute to a discussion. I find invasive I had to read what I thought was human. Using it for translation would be different though.
[stub for offtopicness] [article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]