Apathy

>>35030371
Make a thing. Make a video game. Make an album. Make a drawing. Make a thing that you made and you can say hey look I made a thing.

>>35030371
Perhaps try something new? I dunno, work out? Go on night walks? Listen to audiobooks?

>>35030371
After taking Paxil for a decade. It started doing this to me. When I'm off it I can feel Emotions, but withdraw is bad.

>>35030386
That doesn't work for me. I only did that as a kid, afterwards I didn't like it.

>>35030408
I've been trying new stuff. Since the new year began I started taking walks every day (2 times on weekends), meditating, and going to bed earlier. I never felt bad once, but I never felt good either. It all shattered last night when I realized how pointless it was living with no emotion. This morning I tried to make myself sad, but I only got angry that I couldn't feel pleasure.

>>35030421
That's why I've avoided antidepressants.

Any other ideas?

>>35030371
The truth is life is boring. Everything becomes dissatisfying eventually. Familiarity sets in and it breeds contempt. The only way to avoid life becoming stale is if you constantly live spontaneously. However that is incredibly difficult to do unless you're born into wealth and there is no material restriction on what you can do.

>>35030658
How is it that almost everyone can continue on living happy lives doing the same things they always do? In my life I've probably seen less than 20 movies, yet the magic is still gone. Something's changing inside me and I don't know what it is. It feels unnatural. I'm only 18, why would it happen so young?

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>>35030371

I sort of know your feel. I rarely enjoy anything; Most activities exist to distract myself from anxiety and depression.

Remember, you can always kill yourself if things get too rough

>>35030697
not him but because all the movies/songs of a generation are the same, you watch one means you have watch all of them.
Take our current superhero movie for exemple

>>35030697
>How is it that almost everyone can continue on living happy lives doing the same things they always do?

They don't. Have you not noticed that pretty much everyone is an alcoholic? People binge on the weekend and drink heavily during the weekday just to escape the misery and drudgery of their lives. In my hometown it was not unusual for every single person to drink a bottle of wine a day, even more sometimes.

As Nietzsche said, some people are old in their youth. You've looked at what is currently available and found it wanting, which unfortunately as a realization most people experience later than 18.

You need to leave escapism. No more video games, movies, any sort of digital entertainment. You need to get out there, talk to people, work on something with your real hands, or work on something online but that requires you to put in effort. This is your brain telling you that the way you're going will lead to lonliness and an empty life.

>>35030720
I get what you mean, but it's deeper than that. Last year I read and finished a shit ton of books, ranging from classics to modern stuff - Shakespeare, Dumas, Flaubert, Achebe, Dickens, Heller, McCarthy, etc. - I didn't enjoy any of it. Same thing with movies. I used to like experimental film, now, nothing. At best I don't feel bored out of my mind.

>>35030745
I've always sort of been this way, but it's really fucking weird how fast this is happening. Last December, I loved music. Now it doesn't affect me at all. I was one of those "born old" types, but it's getting really bad now.

>>35030760
I've done social stuff the past year. I can make a room full of people laugh, and I laugh with them, but the reaction doesn't make me "happy" or feel good anymore. I haven't felt lonely in years either.

>>35030799
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/schopenhauer/arthur/essays/chapter4.html

This surmises my views accurately. You should real it OP.

>>35030817
Existentialist philosophy is neat, but I don't know how people apply it to their own lives. Like, I read The Myth of Sisyphus and instead of giving me a grand reason to live like it was advertised, it was a philosophical argument. I really just want my old pleasures back.

What did you get out of it?

>>35030889
I think part of it is to start living in a manner which is necessary for you to derive innate meaning. If you don't know how to do that, start with a utilitarian basis - do what brings you pleasure. If you don't know what brings you pleasure, start from avoiding that which causes you pain.

The stem of all my problems has always been boredom. As stated in the article, you always long for some future event but when that is realised it becomes the present and therefore you end up despising it. I always thought that when I'd get a job and have independence from my parents, that I'd be happier but the reality is far from different. Dreaming and the realisation of one's dreams are not the same thing.

>>35031084
(ctd).

And so, having understood that - the principle of being dissatisfied with the present - I started to live my life so as to avoid boredom in the present. I move periodically to a different country to live every year and that helps a lot. You either put yourself out or consign yourself to depression.

>>35031110
In short, if you think your life is intolerable - why do you think it would get better by doing nothing?

You smoke pot, don't you OP?

>>35031084
>>35031110
I don't understand. You understand that your cause for pain is boredom, but to fight it, you just do this that are enjoyable anyways? Not to be rude, but I could have come up with that directly. I tried living a life without many desires recently, and it was boring. No pleasure at all is a miserable life.

>>35031144
Could you rephrase this? I don't understand.

>>35031192
I've never had a stronger drug than caffeine. Most people in my family are addicts, so I feel I have to avoid recreational drugs.

>>35030745
>As Nietzsche said, some people are old in their youth.


Do you have a direct quote for this?

>>35030817
Finished the essay, and I do like it. Is the rest of Schopenhauer's work as accessible as this? Where could I begin?

>>35031446
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Voluntary Death (21)

"In some the heart ages first and in others the spirit. And some are old in their youth: but those who are young late stay young long. To many men life is a failure: a poison-worm gnaws at their heart. Then let them see to it that their dying is all the more a success."

>>35031541
Schopenhauer is an easy read because of the simplicity of his writing. The World as Will and Representation is the key text.

>>35031671
Thanks, I look forward to reading more.

Did it truly change your way of thinking? Assuming you are the anon that posted the essay, what changed? Moving to a new country every year sounds neat, but it's still just seeking out new pleasures that will fade like he mentions. You mention the utilitarian perspective prioritizes happiness above all, but isn't that what all humans strive for, academic or no?

>>35031241
Not necessarily what is enjoyable but what is varied. Of course this realisation is easy - its no different to a mother saying to her child 'well if you're bored, go outside!'. That is to say, do something different but to do something different everyday;therein lies the difficulty.

>>35031144
I mean a lot of people on this board hope one day that they will wake up and someone everything will be better. You are the agent and you must act upon your will. Doing nothing will result in nothing.

>>35031743
Considering this problem came from nowhere, are you sure it couldn't fade? The majority of problems on this board are solvable with effort, but mine is vague. I'm prepared to do anything that might fix it (I've been considering more exercise), but might it not fix itself eventually?

>>35031736
Yes I am that anon. In a sense yes because it was the first time I translated a philosophical text into physical action. True - traveling from country to country is experiential and it is about seeking out pleasure. However the point is to move on to to the next thing before you utterly despite it. Schopenhauer's present is unsatisfactory because it is stagnant, a constantly evolving one is not.

Consider that most people on this board have ended up losing pleasure in video games, despite the fact it was once their most valued pastime. How can that be? Because video games became familiar to them, it stopped becoming a pleasurable activity and just became something they did - like going to work or making dinner.

>>35031857
>solvable

Do you think most people on this board would be happy if God granted them a gf? The novelty of it all would be enthralling - for about a couple of months, before they began to complain about the tedium of their lives once more. People fixate on one element of their lives and think 'if I can just solve this everything will be OK and fall into place'. That is the promised future with which we delude ourselves and what Schopenhauer was writing about in that article.

>>35032001
I understand the idea that existence is hollow and true happiness is impossible. That said, life can still be pretty enjoyable when these pleasures are attainable. When I enjoyed music, I kept chasing after the next high and was content, though I knew it was impermanent. If I did regain the ability to enjoy my old hobbies, I would be very happy, and would not get bored unless I lost the ability to enjoy them again.

Personally, my own sense of variety came in music. I constantly listened to different styles and it kept it fresh as much as going to different countries has kept life fresh for you. My issue now is that the sensation of pleasure itself is disappearing, and soon it may be gone entirely. What do I do then?

>>35032166
>sensation of pleasure itself is disappearing

Not that guy but I know this feeling all too well. Its hard and all the advice I've been given so far is 'well, that's just how life is'. What am I supposed to do now? Fill my days with endless drinking or some shit...

>>35032373
Maybe it's a genetic thing. My therapist actually told me to avoid all drinking because I would probably get addicted.

>>35032373
I sometimes think we've exceeded our allotted evolutionary time. When you look at humans during our early anthropological history, for various reasons they rarely made it past 30 - a lot of women would die in childbirth, men would die of wounds or dental decay. I can expect to live to 80 now according to my country's statistics; I'm only 23 and I've already had enough.

>>35032463
Life is like a sandbox game with no content in it at this point.

>>35032463
I get what you mean. Just look at any person when they get over 40 or so. Every worthwhile trait starts declining. Athletes, creative people, geniuses, wise men, all lose importance. I do hope there's more after this because the cycle of life when looked at objectively is disappointingly bland.

>>35032520
I also had this thought a while ago, that when human society was much smaller than this - even during the middle ages, human beings had more worth at a market level. If you were the only blacksmith in a village and everybody relied on you to get shit repaired, that meant you had a function and purpose integral to that community. Now there are billions of people, many of whom with the exact same qualifications and experience as you. If you died tomorrow another would fill your place in a second. That really bothers me.

>>35032666
We've become almost ant-like in the sense that each unit of Human is now irrelevant.

>>35032666
One thing about mass communications that bums me out is how a sense of scale and wonder are burned out of us. You can just go on Youtube and see some six-year old asian kid play piano better than you ever will. Same with yo-yoing, skateboarding, etc.. Seeing it in person is neat, but not amazing like it might have been in the past.

Hopefully in our lifetimes we get a great book or something that sums all of this up and puts it together meaningfully. I guess that's happened before in philosophy, but I still see potential.

>>35030371
Stop masturbating. That'll help a lot.

>>35032916
Doesn't it just boost your testosterone levels after a week before slowly declining?

>>35032940
It does wonders for your mental health. At least for me.

>>35032916
Sure anon that's why you're still here.

I really enjoyed this thread and the philosophical content.

Sort different than the usual >tfw no gf

Penultimate bump

>>35030697
Dude all I did in highschool was either hang out with friends or watch movies when I wasn't hanging. By the time I was 18 I had seen hundreds, and now that I'm 27 I am probably pretty sure I will see at least 1000 movies while I'm alive as long as I don't stop watching them completely.
I might have even watched like 50 or a more per year in my peak days which were late highschool.
Never had a gf though and am still a virgin. More because of my personality around women then and not because my time was taken up by the kino.

>>35034976
And you still enjoy it, no?

That's why this is so frustrating to me. This problem seems to be rare, and it's hard to find solutions.

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Have you considered taking drugs? They're just chemicals that force your brain to feel a certain way.

Even though abusing drugs cannot provide permanent relief from apathy nothing can; once you take the existential nihilism redpill they can provide you with brief periods of respite where you can enjoy things.

At the weekend I take drugs to defeat apathy. I don't go out partying; I just sit in my room on the computer as usual but it enhances the experience.

If you're responsible and sensible about it (i.e you're not slamming heroin every day or suddenly picking up a daily benzo habit) drugs can be enjoyed without ruining your life.

>>35035142
I've thought about pot and LSD, but due to me being a friendless shut-in I have no idea how to acquire any. Wouldn't be against trying it though; even my mother did drugs in college.

I know this feel. Its like you fall into a dark void and your not sure who you even are

I have no direction and I dont feel like doing anything

>>35032916
I'm actually less cheerful when I don't masturbate. When I do, I'm an anxious nervous wreck that wants to die and drown his misery in alcohol. When I don't, I'm an anxious nervous wreck that wants to die and drown his misery in alcohol, who also constantly feels horny. It's dumb.

>>35035289
I find when I don't masturbate before I sleep, I have a slight urge to fap all the following day, and it drives me wild.

Final bump, any more suggestions?

>>35030371
Conquer the world.
I'm serious.

>tfw you created the next Hitler on a taiwaneese karaoke forum

>>35038260
Not worth the stress desu. Just look at what happened to Hitler.

>>35036256
This, masturbating before sleep is correct for the body which feels released and then hallows you to rest better. Just like people having sex, they do it at night.