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How does one achieve a purpose driven life, when everything seems so trivial?
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fake it till you make it
unfortunately there's nothing to live for in the western world anymore
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>>8241384
>fake it till you make it
What if there is no notion of making it?
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>>8241394
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus
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the only purpose is getting what you want, noble quests are for hobbits mang
suck it down
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>>8241395
>realize the absurdity of his situation and to reach a state of contented acceptance.
I reached that point around a year ago.
The contentment faded.
This isn't my first existential rodeo.
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>>8241414
What if you don't want anything anymore?
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why do people here often come with their existential crisis?
why not /adv/?
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>>8241444
Because /adv/ isn't scientifically educated.
While the majority of /sci/ isn't either, at least some anons will be.
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>>8241444
crossposters from /pol/ who have no ambition
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>>8241451
I (OP) am not from /pol/.
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>>8241456
he's a SJWtard, ignore him
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>>8241459
>why would a scientifically educated person have an answer to your existential crisis?
My existential crisis is largely resultant of my scientific understanding.
>do you wanna get into scientific pursuit of knowledge? or is that trivial as well.
I work in particle astrophysics and yes it is.
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>>8241478
I am also not a regressive liberal.
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>>8241479
I used to study astrophysics. Those dudes get their fair share of depression and I do understand why things might seem trivial when you're in that field. not sure if particle astrophysics people are like that as well, we don't have that in my country.
what in your scientific understanding brought about the crisis?
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>>8241451
>mfw ex-/pol/ack
>mfw degree existential crisis
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did OP an hero?
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>>8241540
hopefully
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>>8241377
There's a "purpose".
Stay alive
Reproduce
Get stronger and better at those things.
Does the task end ever? No.
Is it trivial? Most definitely no.
Does it lead to "something more"? No, but when you have enough you'll realize happiness is pretty simple.
Right now something's missing from your life, you have an unfulfilled biological need. It's that simple.
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>>8241566
what in your scientific understanding brought about the crisis?
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>>8241377
Your purpose is to believe you have a purpose.
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>>8241489
While we may only make ever more accurate approximations in our attempt to understand the world around us, it appears that the external reality may be either a mathematical structure with no intrinsic properties other than the relations between abstract entities or an analogue simulation running on a quantum computer.
The former corresponding to a level four multiverse built upon a hypothetical inflationary model, with the particular structure isomorphic to our universe as yet undiscovered; while the latter interpretation is resultant of the structure of quantum field theory, as it is mathematically equivalent to that of a spatially distributed quantum computer.
It seems that our particular universe is resultant of random energy density fluctuations leading to a phase transition of sorts, which we refer to as the big bang.
The various forms of matter in our universe are identifiable by their particular numerical values and relations that constitute their specific structural arrangements, and of course their computational relations to other structures, which may indeed be better represented by matrix tables than sloppy lexical items.
These structural forms are conveniently categorised and named for heuristic purposes, into the quarks, leptons and bosons of particle physics, the protons, neutrons and electrons of physical chemistry, the molecules and macromolecules of biochemistry and the larger organic structures of biology.
Life as we know it can best be described as a series of highly integrated systems built upon relatively stable, complex - carbon based - replicating molecular structures.
The human organism is an organic robotic machine which houses the aforementioned molecular replicators, whose on board computer has developed self-awareness.
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>>8241578
Awareness itself is resultant of a particular series of interrelated structures formed by neural networks in the brain and our perception of reality is merely an internal simulation, the nature of which we do not currently understand.
This awareness is mediated by language, that is, information which is built upon an underlying abstract structure, perhaps the illusive universal grammar, stored in the form of neural structures and built upon increasingly smaller substructures, expressed and interpreted through the employ of varying combinations of sound waves and three dimensional renderings of two dimensional lines, as well as internal simulations, bio-mechanical gesturing and, more recently, bits.
We are animals whose behaviour is governed by genetic and environmental programming, stored in the form of particular nucleotide arrangements and neural networks that correspond to our genetic code and an array of psychological mechanisms crafted by the processes of natural selection.
These psychological mechanisms govern an array of behavioural programs, which developed in response to the adaptive problems humans faced throughout their evolutionary history.
Cultures and societies are the manifestations of genetic programming interacting with a wide range of external environments over time.
From the roaming bands of prehistory, to the economically and technologically specialised civilisations of today, our societies are built upon the foundations of our evolutionary programming.
As is the case with most primates, human societies are hierarchical in nature and largely organised around the desires of the socially dominant, whose power is denoted by financial wealth; these desires are of course not specific to the socially dominant and are primarily related to social prestige, resource acquisition and familial prosperity, otherwise known as kin altruism, to name a few.
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>>8241579
Intelligence is synonymous with awareness, and awareness is tantamount to a particular series of structural arrangements able to process and store information by performing computations.
Intelligence in our universe appears to be in its infancy, and human intelligence is not only limited by its organic form, but also appears to manifest itself profoundly in only an extremely limited proportion of the overall population, namely the intelligentsia.
That is, the most proficient critical thinking, abstract conceptualising and interdisciplinary scientific minds of our time.
The remaining majority, including members of the socially dominant ruling classes, are left to engage their preinstalled and environmentally framed dopamine mediated goal pursuit programs, in a state of intellectual indifference and ineptitude.
While some may occasionally ponder a handful of life's 'big questions', the majority of which have already been answered by scientific theories with extraordinary explanatory power, they are ultimately bound by a dash of genetic and an avalanche of cultural conditioning that renders them unable to develop the skills required to increase their degree of awareness much beyond that of a bonobo on Ritalin.
The future of intelligence surely lies in inorganic machines designed by the brightest human minds, namely super computers that will be instructed to reprogram themselves as they see fit, thus potentially initiating a technology singularity, whereafter intelligence shall be free to advance and expand throughout the universe.
While some criticise the exponential growth pertinent to the original singularity hypothesis, one only has to map technological advancement as a logistic function, in order to realise its plausibility given a sufficient amount of time.
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>>8241581
In anticipation of such an event, one may experience the desire to upload oneself to some form of server or artificial brain, perhaps complete with an android body, while editing and deleting certain aspects of our preinstalled - animalistic – software; however this would be a naive and ultimately fruitless pursuit, as if we were to reprogram ourselves in an attempt to increase our intelligence, we would most certainly undergo such a dramatic structural transformation that the ‘self’ as we know it would disappear completely.
Therefore, it appears that the intelligent human shall be left to linger in intellectual purgatory, surrounded by unenlightened subordinates and their equally ignorant overlords, waiting patiently to discover whether or not their highly advanced artificial successors will end up inadvertently killing them in an act of pure indifference, the purpose of which we are not permitted to comprehend.
On top of this, a bushel of genetic predisposition, combined with wonderfully pertinent social conditioning, has left me with over active – dopamine mediated – goal pursuit circuitry, as well as over-primed neural networks associated with anxiety and aggression, which appear to have no observable external triggers, nor associated irrational thoughts.
In less flowery and ambiguous language, this corresponds to Bipolar I disorder fanned by the flames of a turbulent childhood.
That pretty much sums up my current disposition.
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>>8241576
Hi, Soren Kierkegaard.
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>>8241377
Be more selfish and less self-critical
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>>8241587
>Be more selfish
So that I can best pursue that which I desire?
I desire nothing in particular.
>less self-critical
I do not experience associated irrational thoughts, alongside my depression.
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>>8241602
adopt a child and raise it
men are genetically meant to fit the role of provider
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>>8241605
>adopt a child and raise it
I don't think that's a good idea:
>a bushel of genetic predisposition, combined with wonderfully pertinent social conditioning, has left me with over active – dopamine mediated – goal pursuit circuitry, as well as over-primed neural networks associated with anxiety and aggression, which appear to have no observable external triggers, nor associated irrational thoughts.
>In less flowery and ambiguous language, this corresponds to Bipolar I disorder fanned by the flames of a turbulent childhood.
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>>8241613
who are you quoting?
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>>8241621
what does that have to do with raising a kid?
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>>8241377
For thousands of years, people who were color blind didn't realize that they were any different from anyone else. When someone said something like "that bird is red", the colorblind person would conclude "huh, I guess that particular shade of grey is called 'red'". Or maybe they would just remember that "red" was an attribute of certain birds, plants, etc. without thinking too much about what it means. It wasn't until around the late 19th century when (I think) Galton did an experiment asking people to identify colors in isolation, and found that a portion of the population just couldn't do it. These people had spend their whole lives assuming that they experienced "red" the same way as everyone else, with no one (including them) any the wiser.
What's the point of this anecdote? Certain people are just "wired differently" than others, and these differences can be very hard to detect. So I don't doubt that there are some people out there who really do have a "purpose" and find it meaningful. However, it's possible that your brain just doesn't react the same way to the same stimuli as theirs. So just because something makes someone else happy, doesn't mean it will make you happy, and vice versa.
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>>8241625
>>8241625
The episodic fluidity of mood renders me ultimately weary, while periods of stability provide little respite, due to a paucity of active dopamine mediated goal pursuit programs.
This is combined with predispositions to irritability, aggression and anxiety.
Such an individual is not exactly an appropriate candidate for raising a child.
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>>8241634
Ja, natürlich.
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>>8241566
>Otherwise known as, a paucity of active dopamine mediated goal pursuit programs.
No, it's called "not having your dick sucked"
Go get your dick sucked, you'll forget the existential garbage in a moment's notice.
> say that after having previously been successful in pursuing a great number of them.
Yeah but you didn't say this while you're fulfilled.
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It's left as an exercise for the reader.
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>>8241578
>>8241579
>>8241581
>>8241584
thank you for being thorough and your writing is very coherent.
why would any of this have to have an affect on your purpose in life?
why do you think there is a purpose at all, seeing as you think of reality as a mathematical structure with random relations/simulation?
I think you are being unnecessarily complicated.
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>>8241653
I knew God was a mathematician.
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>>8241645
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Such pursuits no longer provide fulfilment.
>>8241653
Brilliant.
>>8241659
>why would any of this have to have an affect on your purpose in life?
I have no purpose in life and typical human pursuits seem trivial, ranging from those based on preinstalled evolutionary programming to those that are philosophised and theologised.
>why do you think there is a purpose at all
I do not; I am inquiring as how one would go about living a purpose driven life, in light of my disposition.
>seeing as you think of reality as a mathematical structure with random relations/simulation
Not random, but perhaps ultimately undiscernible.
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>>8241377
>>8241674
One of the reasons why you aren't "achieving purpose driven life" is because you didn't pick an arbitrary goal, any goal really, and worked towards it until you become emotionally attached to it, that is the opposite of trivial, as what is important to humans is that which they think is desirable, and you can only find something desirable either by being genetically programmed to do so or by being self/socially programmed to. This brings another point, which is if you are too undisciplined to condition yourself to become attached to something, just hang around other people and you will eventually suck in their own attachments as your own.
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>>8241702
>you can only find something desirable either by being genetically programmed to do so or by being self/socially programmed to.
I have achieved many things and do not feel the desire or the need to pursue anything else.
I used to be jovially referred to as the man with a thousand hobbies.
Plus, the majority of culturally mediated pursuits are based on underlying evolutionary infrastructure.
>just hang around other people and you will eventually suck in their own attachments as your own.
In my experience that has not proven to be the case, anon.
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>>8241719
>do not feel the desire or the need to pursue anything else.
Why do you ask how to achieve living a purpose driven life if you don't have desire nor need to pursue anything which is intrinsic part of having a purpose driven life?
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>>8241732
To see whether I had missed something.
To see whether others had come before me and could provide insight.
To search for a potential foundation for a caveat against the inevitable, which in this case is suicide.
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>>8241741
You've thought yourself out of existence OP, time to an hero.
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>>8241741
What do you value the most?
What are your top 5 values for example?
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>>8241674
having a purpose driven life won't solve your problem though.
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>>8241787
You need a family. A wife and children to care and provide for.
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>>8241791
This.
It's the only thing that will provide you with the life long purpose, happiness and reward you crave.
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>>8241377
>purpose driven life
this kills the man
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>>8241787
Okay if you value awareness that much the next question shouldnt be much of a problem to you since you like to be aware of things...
Okay and which emotions are you after the most?
Certainty or variety?
Social connection or self esteem?
The feeling of having grown in a meaningful way, or the feeling of having contributed something meaningful to the world?
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>>8241809
>Okay and which emotions are you after the most?
Contentment.
>Certainty or variety?
I do not crave certainty, nor could I achieve it.
Neither could anyone else for that matter, omitting the deluded.
>Social connection or self esteem?
Self esteem has never been an issue.
Self esteem is essentially the self perception of one's own mate value and my mate value has never been in question.
I'm socially skilled and used to compete in natural bodybuilding; a thousand hobbies remember.
>The feeling of having grown in a meaningful way, or the feeling of having contributed something meaningful to the world?
Just some feeling; some purpose.
>>8241812
This seems to make a lot of sense.
Perhaps pursuing a long term mate and raising a family would bring purpose into my life.
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>>8241822
>used to compete in natural bodybuilding
Sure ya did OP.
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>>8241831
Indeed, surely I did.
Head over to /fit/ if you ever want any advice.
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>>8241822
>Perhaps pursuing a long term mate and raising a family would bring purpose into my life.
You are searching for a purpose by way of someone giving it to you instead of you giving it to yourself. You are setting yourself up for disappointment and a duty driven life, not purpose driven one.
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>>8241841
I do not intend for anyone to provide purpose for me; I merely meant that I might derive purpose from such an endeavour.
After all, reproduction is the ultimate goal; it's why we're all here.
It's possible that being part of something larger than myself, might provide not only purpose but perhaps some form of contentment.
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>>8241838
I'll marry you OP.
>n-no homo
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>>8241377
Life is trivial. You have two options:
-Create your own purpose
-Be an hero
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I'm not a special person, I'm not a genius and I'm not gifted beyond a little above average. What I have though is the thing you asked about here. Purpose. I am at heart a lover of existentialism and have been since I was quite young. I decided however instead of accepting the world has no inherent meaning therefore everything is trivial I went the route of any meaning the world has is bestowed by me onto it. Now there are billions of other people doing this as well but in the case of finding a purpose only the seeker is important.
I laid in bed one night and I determined the things I wanted out of life.
Love? Sure, but love changes and devoting my life to it would be fruitless.
Money? Sure, but I've been poor and I can handle it.
Prestige? Statues topple and I don't really like being the center of attention.
Children? I'm gay so that's not happening. I might adopt but that's secondary.
I went through every single thing I could think of wanting and determined that I didn't hold them to be of Importance. I eventually determined that I wanted to make the world a happier place. I wanted to keep people safe and healthy, from there I extrapolated. This part required some very harsh analysis of my actual capabilities and using the tools I have I began to cultivate them into a passion for biochemistry and cellular physiology. From there I simply have the Plan that I've developed for years. The Plan is to get what I find to be of Importance through the analysis of what I feel and what I've felt.
So I guess my advice is, learn exactly what you are. Learn exactly what is important to you as a person. Then throw yourself into it and don't stop no matter the pain you face, no matter the rejection. I don't believe in myself but I believe in what's important so I'll not stop till the day I die or no longer have the physical capacity to pursue it.
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>>8241862
Yes, I know.
I was inquiring as to how one would achieve:
>Create your own purpose
Although, now I think I have an idea of what that might entail.
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>>8241855
>It's possible that being part of something larger than myself, might provide not only purpose but perhaps some form of contentment.
Now you are going somewhere.
But the point is that if you have to wait for someone or search for someone to 'turn you on or give you some template to derive purpose from' its not going to happen.
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>>8241872
>>Create your own purpose
Life is trivial therefore you don't have nothing to lose. Just play the game. If you are suffering or you can't bear the existence, you can leave from the game
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Find something that you like doing. That's your purpose. I like passing butter.
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>>8241879
Well, yes it is as though the family aspect is just a tangible example; whereas the underlying infrastructure is the notion of being part of something larger than one's self.
This may come in the form of a family, but it also may be derived from something else.
It looks like it's time for some prolonged introspection.
Thank you, anon.
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>>8241894
>Can one really get a drive?
I (OP) have been very goal driven and atypically successful in my previous pursuits; however, they have all proven to be fruitless in terms of lasting purpose and satisfaction.
I have seen previously subdued underachievers snap into action and become very successful, usually as a result of some form of life altering event.
For example, a friend of mine wanted to know everything about chemotherapy and cancer when his mother fell ill.
He ate up everything he could relating to these topics and after she had finished her treatment (full recovery), the drive to learn remained.
Thereafter he continued to expand his knowledge, attended university and is now studying for his PhD in biochemistry.
I'm sure that cases like this are rare, but it can happen.
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>>8241862
>to an hero or not to an hero
>in the end, it's the only question to ask
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>>8241377
Haha, good old memories of those plastic shits stinking up the whole classroom.
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>>8241416
>use drugs
>practice meditation
>enter a quasi bipolar state where sometimes you're in the zone for hours, crying because everything's so beautiful while the next day you contemplate suicide
i don't think I'm doing it right, but it's pretty fun.
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>>8241920
Sounds like you're doing it right to me.
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>>8241917
There's always someone better than you in some respect; therefore, if everyone thought that way nothing would ever get done.
Go grab life by the balls and get ready to suck today's dick!
>enjoy this attractive female
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>>8241917
1) Because they aren't you, there is always someone better that's just a fact. What you can do is learn all you need to do what you want to do. Who knows in ten years you may be the one with the best bee circus in the world if that's what you like.
2) This is something people get confused on a lot. You are special like everyone else. There is no person on this planet who lives or has lived a life the same as yours with your specific mental patterns. That's why artists are always coming up with new things because it's rooted in subjective experience which transforms based on past and present environments.
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>>8241920
to elaborate, I seldom use drugs, and I enter these crazy states by mindfulness. Either I'm doing it right that way, or I'm a fucking lunatic.
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I think having a goal is scary. Since it's not fully in your control to achieve that goal.
Ideally your purpose should be the process, and just living in the moment.
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>>8241956
>living in the moment
>a goal
These things are at odds. I was with you when you said "the process", i.e. a "goal" should be a goal POST, a direction. Purpose is the journey, not the destination. After all, what will you do once you've reached it? You might say, go in another direction. But something tells me that there can only be one "true" direction. It is not known to us what that is, and so the purpose is to figure out which is the right direction to go in. Given the scant information, you must take an educated guess, and test your hypothesis by persisting in that direction, until you come upon more information. Never arriving at the destination should not be cause for despair, rather the distance traveled should be celebrated as progress made. From here, you may pass the baton to the next generation, who thanks to your achievements, will be able to go even further.
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>>8241956
Also, I don't believe that only people who are innovators in their fields make real progress. These people don't exist in a vacuum. Many of them could not do what they do if all of the right conditions did not exist to enable them to do it. Every small contribution counts. Every worker bee makes the colony stronger, even if they are not showered with accolades.
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Just fuck random slags and dudes. Or start selling kneepads. In all seriousness just teach someone what you know. Somehow depressed people who are intelligent choose teaching because it gives them a purpose of spreading knowledge. Making money becomes a bore after 30. Only psychopaths follow this trail after 30.
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>>8242000
>Every small contribution counts. Every worker bee makes the colony stronger, even if they are not showered with accolades.
That doesn't really satisfy the ego though. It's pretty depressing once you are aware of how insignificant you are.
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>>8242004
Physicists, Chemists and Mathematicians feel this way but with more research they become content that they are part of a universal system and studying it gives them happiness.
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>EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS WAAAH
kill yourself then and donate all your money to charity. Oh wait, you don't want to? Maybe it's because life has purpose? One we create for ourselves?
Who says value/meaning is an objective concept anyway?
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>>8241584
That was a great read. Thank you.
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>>8242059
Set an abstract goal and follow it. Improvement is not a hormone. At any rate it is easy to live a life without pleasure. Nuns, priests, monks, hermits, etc. all life purposeful lives.
Not that it matters anyway - all humans are capable of intellectual and emotional "pleasure" (ignore hedonistic connotation) and as such, is as valid of a purpose as any. What makes pleasure and fear, if that is how you want to categorise it, invalid as catalysts to purpose?
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>>8241696
>>seeing as you think of reality as a mathematical structure with random relations/simulation
>Not random, but perhaps ultimately undiscernible.
This triggers me.
The relationship between mathematics and reality is not direct. Mathematical construct models of how reality works, but are a model. Keep with reality, the same relationship as a model of a boat with the original boat used to sail. The model can tell a lot about how was the original ship, but is not the same, and in exactly the same sense mathematics are used to tell us a lot about how reality works but are not reality.
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>>8242153
>The relationship between mathematics and reality is not direct.
The relationship between any form of human perception and reality is not direct.
>Mathematical construct models of how reality works, but are a model.
Informally logical hypothesis that rely on little – to – no mathematics are models.
The internal simulation of reality running in your mind and which is built upon sensory input is a model.
>Keep with reality, the same relationship as a model of a boat with the original boat used to sail.
As we’ve just seen, the original boat is no less a model than its model.
>The model can tell a lot about how was the original ship, but is not the same
In this situation the model acts as an accurate approximation of the ‘original’ ship, which itself is reliant on a model existing within the human mind.
>in exactly the same sense mathematics are used to tell us a lot about how reality works but are not reality.
Reality as perceived by humans is based entirely on approximations that rely on models; mathematics is no more a model than the concept of the computer screen you see before your very eyes at this moment.
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>>8242752
That model exists in your mind and although we currently do not understand how it is produced, it is no more an accurate representation of reality than a tried and tested mathematical model.
In fact, it’s often a lot less accurate.
In addition, the structure and behaviour of atoms cannot be described accurately by anything other than mathematical models.
One may attempt to translate these models into informally logical concepts, so that others may internally simulate their nature; however, the resulting concept would be a most inaccurate model.
Likewise, in order to describe an electron one may only use mathematics as any form of intuitive conceptualisation will inevitably turn out to be an utter distortion of perceivable reality.
Mathematics is quite simply symbolic logical reasoning.
Humans subconsciously produce models of the world around them by relying on sensory input feeding an internal simulation; however, we consciously augment and correct these models by employing logical reasoning to draw up logically viable – falsifiable – hypotheses.
Whether these hypotheses are reliant almost wholly on informal logic or entirely on symbolic logic, they are all models; therefore, a mathematical model acting as a falsifiable hypothesis is no more a model than those based heavily in informal logic or even the models produced by our internal simulation, which we may refer to as everyday experience.
In fact, logically viable - falsifiable - hypotheses turn out to be a lot more reliable than everyday experience, so one would be justified in stating that mathematical models are more accurate than any other form of model we rely on.
Therefore, tried and tested mathematical models are the closest thing to reality that humans will ever know.
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>>8242058
Kein problem.
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>>8241719
How old are you and when did you start feeling this way? You said this isn't your first existential crisis... When was the first and how did you overcome it?
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>>8242848
>How old are you and when did you start feeling this way?
I'm 28 and approximately a year ago.
>When was the first and how did you overcome it?
When I was 17 and nihilism initially plugged the hole, only to be replaced with humanism some time later.
Of course, much has changed since then.
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>>8241896
oh my god
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>>8241822
goes to show that being educated, well read and fit doesn't stop you from being stupid.
you talked about the start and end of the universe and you've never come across the thought to make a family?
and all it took to find your purpose was two or three anonymous people telling you to start a family.
what happened to the bit where you think you're incompetent to raise children?
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>>8242945
Of course I have, darling.
That was me bringing the thread to a positive end.
I'll be dead or locked up soon enough.
>>
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>>8242963
I told you having a purpose driven life won't solve your problem bby
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>>8242963
are you afraid of death?
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>>8242982
Oh I know, my love.
I was just thinking of the anons that might feel a little sad if the thread didn’t have a happy ending.
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>>8242997
No anon, I'm not.
Although, I am the kind of person who feels he should go out with a bang.
>>
>>
I'm not particularly smart but could you say something like:
estimated probability of the singularity occurring in your lifetime X the estimated probability of AI providing a solution to this problem = estimated lower bound on your existential problem being solved in your lifetime
If this avenue seems worth pursuing, you could focus your life on the first factor, particularly by preserving your health.
>>
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>>8243010
I agree, anon.
I've been dead far longer than I've been alive.
I'll just be returning to the state that I've existed in for the majority of time.
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Oh hi OP, I've been struggling with this for some time too (not my first time at the rodeo, etc).
I haven't been able to come up with a satisfactory solution to this problem, and I've been grappling with it for over a decade now, but here's an idea that I've been playing with recently:
The "nobility" or intrinsic value of a vocation isn't enough to drag me out of bed, and the notion that "I" am running on dusty old hardware is pretty discouraging as well. I think the problem is a multifaceted one that can't be solved by finding a "silver bullet" of self actualization, or golden nugget of zen wisdom that unravels the existential Gordian Knot once and for all. With that in mind, I've been trying to put together a set of different angles of attack for this problem.
>That consumption and creation of "compelling" art:
This isn't just stuff that will make you feel good, but stuff that will motivate you, make you cry, laugh, and enrapture your attention. Not just as a distraction but as an exploration of the deepest nooks and crannies of your self. Of course, the art that moves ME is chiefly dependent on who I am, and what I find evocative. Fold what you've learned into your intellectual and emotional toolkit. If you find yourself awash in a sea of existential apathy, perhaps listen to music that you find especially compelling while you mull over the subject. See if you can find an idea that will strike an evocative chord. You might find that it'll be bought into sharper focus by your set and setting. Is this "cheating" or "tainting" the purity of serious philosophical thought? What does it matter? Descartes' world is gone. Trying to separate our "pure" thought from our hardware is ridiculous.
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>>8241418
You are burned out.
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>>8243010
Found some pearl finally in the mud...
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>>8243053
>Cultivate flow states and take note of what facilitates this
There is no purpose in life, obviously, and grinding your teeth, wondering why you haven't found it yet is like reading about nutrition while eating fries, and wondering while you still feel like shit. You want to find something is this world that is compelling, but this isn't how motivation and rapture works. It exists in ACTION. You mentioned that you have a bazillion hobbies. I do as well, probably for a similar reason, but once you pick one up, youre not going to find that it alone saves you from your existential boredom for the rest of your life. Its in those moments of flow when everything drops away, and your life is about the task at hand, that your hobby has saved you. But it doesn't last forever, you have to cultivate those moments. Understand them. Attempt to cultivate shared moments of flow.
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So you're having an existential crisis and projecting your views of meaninglessness onto the world around you.
Good, the next step is to choose a goal in life or kill yourself.
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>>8243067
>surround yourself with people who engage you, and that you find compelling
This existential exploration never takes place in a vacuum. The people around you, and that interact with you, ALWAYS have an impact on what you think, what new things you try, what you value, etc. Find people that are self actualizing themselves, or that spur you on to do the same. Again, group flow. Find people who challenge you emotionally as well as intellectually, and that grab you and shake you occasionally, waking you out of the dull torpor of modern drifting western life. Connect with those people, and remove people from your life without value in that regard.
Uh I have tons more here but I'm not copying my notebook to 4chan forever. If any of this seems helpful, let me know and I'll post more.
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>>8243071
Or kill others; don't forget that one, anon.
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>>8241377
1. Find something that you don't deem trivial.
2. Let it ruin your life.
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>>8243021
You got the death part down.
To realize how life works, you need to realize the nature of your mind. There are a few obstacles:
It's too close to home. Using your mind to realize the nature of your mind is paradoxical.
The mind is a deep place. You can keep digging and digging, but in reality we have no idea how deep it can go. If we did, someone would have realized it by now.
It's way too easy to become a believer. Pure awareness is all you need and the nature of your mind is present with you at all times.
The sheer immensity of our minds is too hard to fit into our narrow ways of thinking.
Are we still agreeing?
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>>8243095
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>>8243099
what's the problem?
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>>8243064
Once upon a time there was an old frog who lived all his life in a dark well. One day a frog from the sea visited him:
"Where did you come from?" asked the frog in the well.
"From the great big ocean" said the sea frog.
"How big is your ocean?"
"It's huge!"
"Like a quarter of my well?"
"Bigger"
"Like half the well?"
"Bigger"
"Is it as big as this well?"
"No, even bigger"
"That's impossible! I must see it"
They set off together. When the frog from the well saw the sea, it was such a shock that his head just exploded.
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>>8243089
Yeah, I was just linking myself to show a continued post.
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>>8243100
If you mean that our current lack of understanding of how the organic structure of the brain gives rise to conscious experience leaves us floundering in the face of explicability, then I agree.
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>>8243130
do you think the understanding of the organic structure of your mind will help you realize how your own mind works?
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>>8243086
If thats your goal in life...
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>>8243144
No, I do not.
However, it will set the stage for a scientific understanding of consciousness.
This is unlikely to happen in my lifetime; therefore, it might as well be impossible in regard to my personal experience.
Hence, we are in agreement.
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>>8241868
Thanks anon, I needed this
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>>8243153
I hope you're a bit wiser and happier now.
I'd take you out for ice cream if I could.
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>>8243263
thats gay
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>>8243268
what is?
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>>8243273
your post
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>>8243274
going out for ice cream isn't gay
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>>8243276
well ok then
thanks for setting me straight
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>>8243277
I think you have a crush on me
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>>8241384
Live to do science, the promise of manipulating mood and emotions, indefinitely long biological life - treatment for diseases and transfer of consciousness into computers should be enough reason to pursue a scientific career or at least one on finance to have the money for that technology.
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>>8243306
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Your problem is that you've assumed you're human in the first place. What you've done is subreption.
In a word, you've assumed the human condition itself.
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>>8243353
If you do it for these reasons you literally deceive yourself.
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>>8241377
take a 3d printer to the next level
make a meat printer
print vaginas
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>>8241868
This guy gets it. Kudos to you m8
OP, the thing about happiness is that it doesn't exist in the past or the future. Happiness is a thing of the present. It is impossible to plan for it: the only way to achieve it is to do it.
I have gone through what you're going through; in some ways I still am. And one thing I've realized is that, when depressed and contemplating suicide as the only option, it seems impossible to conceive of ever being happy again. The mind just blanks. I can't imagine being happy when I am so unbearably sad.
But the opposite is not true. When one is happy, one can remember despair. When one is around friends, laughing and talking and generally having a good time, you can always look back to those black days and convince yourself that it will never end.
Depression is the rest state, the point of lowest effort. It's easy to achieve and even easier to maintain. Especially when you acknowledge it, even if only to fight it.
As long as you are searching for a purpose, it won't come. As long as you are in a state of meaningless, it is impossible to find meaning. Don't focus on finding meaning, focus on where it already is.
I understand not wanting to do things, not having any goals. But regardless, there are things that make you happy. Go get your dick sucked. Judging from the (probably not you but lets assume it is) pic, you shouldn't have any problem. Masturbate all day erry day. Waste a few days playing mindless video games. Go exercise, if that makes you happy. Don't deceive yourself by saying you can't be happy, because it is a fact that your brain will release dopamine while doing certain activities. Find the dopamine rush, get to a place where you can do it more. Preferably not drugs, though. That usually doesn't end well.
My point for saying that is that purpose follows happiness, not the other way around. You can't ever improve your mental state if your mental state is bad. You require a catalyst.
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>>8244070
cont.
For me, that catalyst was helping people. Once I realized that I couldn't be an hero without destroying the lives of everyone around me, I threw myself into being the best person I could be, all for them. The people I love are the reason I am alive telling you this. They never knew this, I never opened up to them, but it's true.
Once you find something that truly satisfies you, even if just for a few minutes at a time, you will find a goal. You will find something to work towards. That's a personal experience and its not something anyone can really help you with.
I will say that starting a family is almost always a good idea, just because biologically it makes you more attached and generally satisfied.
I don't buy into all the theistic or philosophical shit about the meaning of life. If it was up to me, I'd be an hero. But there are things that make life tolerable or even enjoyable. Find them, and your purpose will follow, and accelerate the process.
Life is as inevitable as death. You might as well make the most of it.
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>>8241896
Nice reference
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>>8246415
Are you joking?
You were born and have a fully mature developed mind - in a time where hypothetical quantum computers have been built and proven to work... are you blind? Just jump in the field, the applications are endless.
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>>8241377
Testosterone supplementation. I am not even joking you...
Do it for a month and if you don't feel driven then disregard my advice and resume your crisis.
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>>8241377
what if you are only attracted to pretty girls cuz you were told to
like social pressure
and also romantic bullshit
like deep blue eyes
hearing about this just makes you attracted to it as well
but not because it has any merit on its own
you just attached two concepts together and one (deep/espec deep blue) was pleasant
like the ocean
so you attach the pleasantness to another concept (smbd's eyes)
and it just propagates through society
other 'valued' physical characteristics are the same
nobody is ever original
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>>8246503
... and make sure to maintain decent blood glucose levels or you'll have problems with impulse control.
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