Existential Depression - The Philosopher's Bane

[Serge A. Storms]

Why on Earth would you assume that Earth's ability to support life was "perfect?" Earth has expendable and rapidly deteriorating natural resources, volcanic activity that comes as a result of having tectonic plates instead of one surface, and we're orbiting a star that will eventually kill us. Earth had ideal circumstances for life, sure, rare and extraordinary circumstances, as far as we know, yes, but "perfect" leaves out a number of flaws with Earth, the Sun, and the laws of nature, which don't allow for "perfect" conditions for life anywhere.

If you have ever seen the evidence stating how mind boggingly unlikely life is then you may also come to call the earth perfect. Seriously, if some tiny details were any different, we wouldn't be here at all. Still, perfect is a subjective term. I am also of the opinion that the earth supports the hunter-gatherer way of life for humans. Like the native american way. People lived for thousands of years without coal or crude oil...

Yes some parts of the earth aren't habitable but I'm not picky when it comes to living at the foot of an active volcano or trying to survive as I am, on the lunar surface.

You're assuming that life could only be the result of one amino acid combination, a dangerous and misleading assumption usually made by creationists and ID freaks that don't want you to know what abiogenesis is.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Why on Earth would you assume that Earth's ability to support life was "perfect?" Earth has expendable and rapidly deteriorating natural resources, volcanic activity that comes as a result of having tectonic plates instead of one surface, and we're orbiting a star that will eventually kill us. Earth had ideal circumstances for life, sure, rare and extraordinary circumstances, as far as we know, yes, but "perfect" leaves out a number of flaws with Earth, the Sun, and the laws of nature, which don't allow for "perfect" conditions for life anywhere.

If you have ever seen the evidence stating how mind boggingly unlikely life is then you may also come to call the earth perfect. Seriously, if some tiny details were any different, we wouldn't be here at all. Still, perfect is a subjective term. I am also of the opinion that the earth supports the hunter-gatherer way of life for humans. Like the native american way. People lived for thousands of years without coal or crude oil...

Yes some parts of the earth aren't habitable but I'm not picky when it comes to living at the foot of an active volcano or trying to survive as I am, on the lunar surface.

You're assuming that life could only be the result of one amino acid combination, a dangerous and misleading assumption usually made by creationists and ID freaks that don't want you to know what abiogenesis is.

No, I'm not a creationist... That's just silly. I am however in marvel at how intricately ideal the world and universe is set up for us to live in it. It's composition is nothing short of miraculous in my opinion. Hence I believe in the intelligent design theory. I'm sure and hopefull science will one day be able to prove the existance of god. By my defintion of such a being anyway. Science just needs to know where to point it's microscope...

And I've never encountered abiogenesis yet so I'm going to google it now...

Googling...

Switching to wikipedia...

Getting bored now...

Okay on first glance there is a lot of big words that I don't feel the need to look up. But to me there seems to be as much objective truth to believe that inanimate matter suddenly spawned animate matter as there is to say God himself came down and zapped it. I don't personally care If it ever gets proven one way or the other but I know I'm grateful it happened and I can appreciate the miracle of life for what it is. This is my problem with cold hard science... Where's the Love baby?...

 

[Gebi10000]

Been there. And I've made my aim in life to as nice to people as possible,and try to find forfillment in my work.

 

[Serge A. Storms]

Why on Earth would you assume that Earth's ability to support life was "perfect?" Earth has expendable and rapidly deteriorating natural resources, volcanic activity that comes as a result of having tectonic plates instead of one surface, and we're orbiting a star that will eventually kill us. Earth had ideal circumstances for life, sure, rare and extraordinary circumstances, as far as we know, yes, but "perfect" leaves out a number of flaws with Earth, the Sun, and the laws of nature, which don't allow for "perfect" conditions for life anywhere.

If you have ever seen the evidence stating how mind boggingly unlikely life is then you may also come to call the earth perfect. Seriously, if some tiny details were any different, we wouldn't be here at all. Still, perfect is a subjective term. I am also of the opinion that the earth supports the hunter-gatherer way of life for humans. Like the native american way. People lived for thousands of years without coal or crude oil...

Yes some parts of the earth aren't habitable but I'm not picky when it comes to living at the foot of an active volcano or trying to survive as I am, on the lunar surface.

You're assuming that life could only be the result of one amino acid combination, a dangerous and misleading assumption usually made by creationists and ID freaks that don't want you to know what abiogenesis is.

No, I'm not a creationist... That's just silly. I am however in marvel at how intricately ideal the world and universe is set up for us to live in it. It's composition is nothing short of miraculous in my opinion. Hence I believe in the intelligent design theory. I'm sure and hopefull science will one day be able to prove the existance of god. By my defintion of such a being anyway. Science just needs to know where to point it's microscope...

And I've never encountered abiogenesis yet so I'm going to google it now...

Googling...

Switching to wikipedia...

Getting bored now...

Okay on first glance there is a lot of big words that I don't feel the need to look up. But to me there seems to be as much objective truth to believe that inanimate matter suddenly spawned animate matter as there is to say God himself came down and zapped it. I don't personally care If it ever gets proven one way or the other but I know I'm grateful it happened and I can appreciate the miracle of life for what it is. This is my problem with cold hard science... Where's the Love baby?...

I never said you were creationist, I just said that you were stealing one of their arguments. Then again, the aversion to big words is telling for someone that also claims to suffer from existential depression.

 

[Raven's Nest]

I never said you were creationist, I just said that you were stealing one of their arguments. Then again, the aversion to big words is telling for someone that also claims to suffer from existential depression.

Well it was an inadvertant bit of stealing. Just the point that appeals to me the most.

I'm not really concerned with being right or correct in my understandings of the world. I just want to be happy with what I decide upon. I don't consider myself naive enough to be religious and I know I'm not intellectualy intelligent enough to place my faith in science.

Thats why I'm an idealist, a pessimist and in this situation in the first place

 

[Raven's Nest]

the problem is that for the world to be perfect in meeting our needs, we would have to exist before the world. that is the problem with your logic. the world is not perfectly made (more or less) to suite our needs, we are perfectly evolved (more or less) to exploit its benefits. that's the error ID makes, and the same one you do.

OT: I don't get why so many people make errors in causality, it's not a hard concept, you've learned it since you were a baby. Because A thus B. The problem I see is that B (humans) confuses it self with A. you can't change the world because then we wouldn't exist. But if it was different to begin with you would care because you wouldn't exist, or because you do exist but didn't notice the change since it's been like that for eternity (a really long itme)

I guess i'm either being too vague or just incorrect in using the term perfect.

On the very basis that we are alive today, I would put stock in the thought that a perfect event needed to happen for us to be alive. The world may not be perfect, but the spark was. I'm not trying to change that, or the world in a geo-physical sense.

That event couldn't or indeed wouldn't have happened any other way so it must be perfect.

Any other possibility is simply unknowable until we can witness it happen on another planet.

 

[Smudge91]

"It essentially means I have realised there is no meaning to life other than what I create for myself... It is only my own sense of morality that makes me care about anything anymore."

This is quite a happy thought, i mean by the fact you decide what you make of yourself and you are in charge of your future rather than being held down to anything like god. The meaning of your life is up to you, life is what you want to make it. Ofcourse people could interpret this as there is no hope etc however it actually gives the freedom of choice which could be quite liberating. Have you been reading Satre by any chance as he is the existenial king.
I've felt lost, especially at the moment where i'm trying to work out where in the world i fit in.
edit: Also philosophy is one of those wonderful things where there will be no answers ever.

 

[Littlee300]

Unfortunately, so called human nature doesn't agree with that philosophy and we destroy and pollute the earth instead...
Knowing that I am powerless to stop it is what causes my existential depression. The knowing that I will never be happy in the world the way it is, and the way it is likely to be. That's enough to give anyone depression.


You can at least desperately try

 

[Lieju]

I went through this when I was 10 or so. Finally I realised that since there was nothing I could do about it, there was no sense in worrying, and while I couldn't be certain my senses gave me a realistic picture of the reality, the only thing I could do was to act as it does, and try not to worry about it too much.

I still think about those things, though.

 

[Littlee300]

Been there. And I've made my aim in life to as nice to people as possible,and try to find forfillment in my work.

Nice focus on life, my focus is to well try to get out of much work I can in life.... Yeah i ain't lazy at all....

Edit: Since my existence is seems a bit disappointing so I am gonna Google tips how to stop being lazy...

 

[paragon1]

Okay, I'm going to tell you something you may find a little disturbing. Your life has no meaning. Neither does mine. Nobody's does. This planet, our sun, our galaxy, and our (probably) our Universe is going to come to a quiet halt. Since our time is limited, we should enjoy it, or at least try not to make anyone else too miserable.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, in a nutshell, 42. (cookie for the reference)

 

[quack35]

I'm kind of confused. What does the article mean by "gifted children"?

I thought everyone went through this kind of stuff.

 

[lizards]

damn man that post just described my life past 12

everything (except maybe the hug thing) was right even (and im not proud to admit it) sucide which i was very close to for many years

i mean seriously nearly the whole thing i was saying in my head "well damn, this describes me"

 

[wikicated]

thanks for sharing the piece

When their intensity is combined with multi-potentiality, these youngsters become particularly frustrated with the existential limitations of space and time. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to develop all of the talents that many of these children have. Making choices among the possibilities is indeed arbitrary; there is no "ultimately right" choice. Even choosing a vocation can be difficult if one is trying to make a career decision between essentially equal passion

been having quite a bit of trouble with this one i mean there's so much to learn id like to learn every language id like to learn more about chemistry physics and other sciences but ehhh there's not enough time

so many books so little time.

i could see my self suffering from Existential Depression
ive been dipping more into other religions and philosophy
it seems the more you think the worse it gets

i don't know, this may of not made sense but, i feel slightly better

and again thank you for sharing that article

 

[ottenni]

Invest in a hobby or take up sport.

 

[Kilo24]

I'd suppose that I'd be in a similar state. Myself, I'm weary of the whole cyclical thinking that myself and countless other people have been through, and would rather drop the whole damn thing and get on to something that shows some possibility of improvement. But it seems that the only real way to do that is abstractly redefine "improvement" which is fundamentally a really bad logical faux pas...

Well, whatever. The world continues to exist.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

For me, it was simple. Realizing what a small speck of dust I was in the universe first made me depressed, but eventually made me very happy.

Let your insignificance set you free. The fact that you don't fit into a galactic scheme makes your world of experience all the more precious, because it's yours and no one else's.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I'm kind of confused. What does the article mean by "gifted children"?

I thought everyone went through this kind of stuff.

only the bright ones. becoming self-aware is laden with traps, I think someone left them there to prevent people from becoming too smart for their own good. The only way to get past them is to humble yourself.

 

[Rassan]

I think about this often and it just seems I can never be pleased despite all the good things I have in life right now. It all seems to be my state of mind has been hectic ever since I could remember. There's no true goals set. Now that I think about it, the majority of my sleep is dreamless.