Asklemmy

I have been following the advice of Waymond in everything everywhere all at once: be kind

I think that's our main job while everything doesn't make sense.

Because you’re human and that’s what we do. There has been and always will be problems that exist beyond our control. What has made humanity unique is its ability to overcome or adapt to conflict.

You’re having what’s called an Existential Crisis where you question what the point of any of it is at all. Be it during the crisis we’re currently enduring or be it in a time of great peace and splendor, there very likely is no point to any of this.

Don’t allow the world to inflict unnecessary burden upon you. Find and focus on your inner peace.

If you want to find a purpose, be a good, genuine, and kind individual. Bring joy to others.

The point is your gained wisdom through experience. That's what the old people always tried to tell us.

Are you going to solve any of those problems? No. Are you going to be able to join some organization or movement that solves them? Probably no. Will you be able to affect any change that the world will take notice of? Probably not.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be a part of it. Not everything that has value makes meaningful changes on the world. There was a French artist, Marcel Duchamps, who once exhibited a urinal. This was clearly not an attempt to move art in any direction, or change public perception, he was kinda just being an asshole. But it had that effect anyway. People still get pissy about it, in the form of, "Is it art?" conversations. Is it? Doesn't matter. It was a low effort one-off idea that has lasted for decades.

Life isn't actually a race to see how much you can achieve. And if it was that, then it wouldn't be measured by money. It wouldn't be measured by "legacy," the way we use that word for rich people and sports stars. If it really was a contest, then it would be based on how much good you can manage in the face of constant depressive onslaught.

The world has never seemed like it has a point to most people. But they try their best, and they make meaningful impact on the lives of others, often without intention or even knowledge of having done so .

One of my most influential people has no idea that he did anything. He's around somewhere, although I haven't seen him for 20 years. All he did was treat me like a person when I was a dumb teenager (not to say all teenagers are dumb, but I was). It really wasn't much. But I hadn't been treated that way before, so to me it's influential because it was something he did that he didn't have to do.

That guy is not going to be lying on his deathbed thinking, "At least I was a good influence on scared of planes." For all I know, he doesn't remember me. Doesn't matter. He spread some good into the world. That's your job. That's your point.

Just be a better you tomorrow than you are today, as many days as you can manage. Know that no one does that every day. And you'll live a meaningful life that maybe has influence. Your legacy is you.

While climate is new, corruption among ruling classes is a story as old as civilization.

Was living ever motivated?

Well, one of the differences between now and then is the access to bad information.

If you were living in a village and a village far away from you was all killed off, maybe you'd hear about it eventually.

Today, you'd be able to see photos the same day.

So online access is overstimulating your "wow this is screwed" circuitry in ways you wouldn't have experienced decades, centuries, millennia ago.

Maybe a bit of a break from online news would be helpful.

The world has always sucked and had issues. But you were just way less likely to be constantly aware of it.

If anything, the past few years show some incredible promise for things changing in terms of corruption among ruling classes, even if the climate is long term going to completely screw us.

But humanity was never going to last forever, and whether or not you are part of the last hurrah for the species shouldn't necessarily detract from your experience in the here and now of it.

Find your own meaning and path on a relative basis, and be less caught up in existential dread, especially given there's little benefit to absorbing yourself in the latter.

While I see the world with same problematic lenses I draw a different conclusion.

If nothing matters why not remove buts from life!

Travel the world. Eat things that are not healthy. Take a simple job because no point chasing the future. Help out other people. Test all the hobbies you want but afraid of.

The world is fucked but it doesn’t mean your life have to be fucked.

I don't know who told you this but there has never been any point to anything.

Why bother? Don't bother! What can you do about climate change? What can you do about animals going extinct? What can you do about the economy?

Nothing!

So if you can't do anything about it, it's not worth fretting about. You should worry about your life! Care for your family. Care for your friends. Do your best at school or work. Try to grow in life by learning new things. Try to gain as many new experiences as you can. Set a goal (not too big) and work towards that. Set a new goal and work towards that.

The point I'm trying to make is to stop worrying about the big problems in the world and focus on the little things, because the little things are what matter. You can still support Greenpeace or XR, you can vote, you can donate, but there's not much more you can do. If you waste your life worrying about things you can't influence and wither away in depression, everybody looses.

When I'm in that pit, most good advice isn't helpfull.

What is helpful is to acknowledge that the pendulum of this cold and indifferent universe swings both ways.

When you're deep in the shit, and you see all the walls crumbling down, and you feel how fleeting all the good things are, just remember that the bad things are just as fickle and fleeting.

The world has been ending since it began. It's important to pay attention, notice, and do your part when the opportunity presents itself. It's equally important to remember that none of the apocalyptic events in human history has ended humanity yet. When you can't stop ruminating on the lowest points of your life, remember that you've been through all of that, and you're still here.

Life is a struggle, and a beautiful mess. Nobody is ever "done" with the hard parts, but we're never "done" with the good parts either.

Take a deep breath and remember that you'll never get dealt a good hand if you cash out, and you're never playing alone.

There is never a point. Just do enjoy while it goes.

Same reason people have gone on for a million years. Noe of that matters or is really as bad as it sound at an individual level. Individually you have it better now than at any point in history, asking why ‘you’ should go on because of the unknown future effects of the climate crisis (which is real enough, and shouldn’t be understated) sounds more like depression than a valid outlook that people should have considering actual world events.

Even the worst off people on earth, on average, are better off now than they were 1000s or even 100s of years ago. There have always been poverty, starvation, wars, rich taking advantage of the poor, and fewer safeguards or oversight on top of that.

Sigh... Definitely feels like that more and more

All we can do is be nice and try to have fun. Take days off, don’t work beyond the hours you’re required to. If a boss gives you shit about it, let them have their little fit and ignore them.

Life ain’t about work. It’s not about Instagram, Facebook, or any of that pointless bullshit. Find things you like to do, even if the interest is initially mixed, and give them a try. Buy old video games and books. Buy a Raspberry Pi and make something. Buy some pencils and a pad and draw random shit, even if it’s a bunch of 5 second drawings. Turn it into a challenge where you draw 3 things from the world around you daily. Go take walks and don’t think. Just look at birds, animals, trees.

Fuck the US government, politicians, pundits, any of the people that leech off of our emotions. They are not worth our time and the manufactured outrage they shovel on us everyday is not worth our time. Ignore social media and the dumb shit celebrities say. Turn the TV and the news off.

Want to help the environment in an immediate way? Go pick up trash in a neighborhood. No one else doing it? Go by yourself or start up a group.

Just do anything other than plugging into every news pipeline that is an onslaught of mentally-taxing bullshit that you can’t change. If it’s out of your control, it’s not worth worrying about.

"It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted in a profoundly sick society " - Jiddu Krishnamurti

The world is pretty fucked up, it always has been and so it will continue to be.
And none of it really matters either, it's all just a tiny flash of light in the darkness that will soon fade away to nothing.

However, here we are, living in a beautiful planet that was blessed with life, so many different plants and animals, sounds, smells and tastes, music and art, being able to talk with others, laugh, cry, love. We're only microscopic creatures that live on the tiniest spec of dust imaginable, but to our tiny eyes there is plenty of beauty to be found. And for as long as we are able to see that beauty, there is a point to it for us, we can try our best to enjoy what we have for the little time that we have it, before we finally become one with the universe.

Who benefits from your lack of hope/care/will/action?

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of problems around, and the power structures in this planet are in favor only of the ultrarich. The way you feel is not completely misplaced. But it's also convenient for whom wants to keep those power structures as is.

There are things in life to make it worth to live, your relations to your family and friends, and the things you do that makes you happy. Give priority to that.

And about the problems around, they may seem impossible to beat, but they are not. People built this system, people can change it, or take it down. Try to find nonprofit organizations that cares about the same things you do, and get involved. There are political parties that do not runs for office, these organizations can be useful to widen your understanding about how society works, and what we can do now and in the future.

the only way to guarantee that things will continue sucking is to give up

I still have hobbies and people I wanna keep happy ^^ If there is any hope, giving up closes any and all possibilities. Be the best you can be, until the we know the final resolution.

I like the food most of us have access too. Ice cream and pizza makes me happy. Soup dumplings, ramen, Air fryer chicken. So much good food. Also, I'm waiting drive for Stranger things last season.... Idk I've got stuff to do.

Life has always been what you make it. If you're looking for purpose to come to you naturally then you'll be waiting just long enough to die.

I've been having that feel too as well as with immediate future choices. I finally might be able to buy a house, but I'm in Florida. So do I put money, time, and effort into a house that'll be under water when I get done paying it off (assuming it isn't destroyed by a hurricane), or do I seriously start looking at moving jobs/states to even have a chance at having a house that will be there in 15 to 20 years? Renting seems like an even worse option since this last year has proven they can just charge 50-100% more and get away with it. And once the house thing gets "solved", now I have to wonder if we ever get our shit together and stop destroying everything in and including the world so the house thing even matters. Idk. This is just a paragraph meant to vent. I don't have an answer for you, because any sane person almost has this gnawing constantly in their heads. Personally, I've just made goals that have been bettering myself and my surroundings as well as the people around me. As for why? I'm not religious, so at this point I figure if I do my best, I can one day die happy knowing I at least tried to do something.

The thing that humans have is resilience. We can jump off the f'd up train track if we put our efforts toward that goal.

Remember the ozone hole? It's been shrinking and almost back to normal, per scientists who watch. Pesticides put birds on the endangered list, but after that pesticide was banned, they have become abundant again. We don't remember the wins, but they are there. Humanity will change their ways, but only when they have exhausted the other ways, first. We can ban more pesticides. We've done it before, we will do it again. We are on the verge of a clean energy future. The old rich fossils can hold on to the old ways for only so long, They are dying out. They will be replaced by a new ethics, who will find new ways to screw up.

Was there ever a point? lol

Make your own point fren

The way I see it, we are fucked. With one exception, if we (the 99%) collaborate, we can help make this world a better place. If there's one thing we have against the wealthy, its numbers. Basically my whole argument boils down to hope. If all of us hope for a better world and work to make it happen (protest, voting, striking, etc.) the world can be a better place. Call it delusional, but it helps me sleep at night.

Check out this book: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think https://g.co/kgs/NrQSP4

You're not wrong - shit's fucked up. But that's not all - there is tremendous progress in the world, and significant change coming down the pike.

Why bother? Shape the change towards what's good, and be kind like the good dude above said.

Every single action you take ripples outwards to the people around you and on in to future generations. You matter just as much as every living thing on earth and in the universe. If you accept the suffering that is inherent in existence and aim towards being the most innate and true version of yourself, you will get the most meaning and consciousness out of life. We are an interconnected, trippy, murderous, loving, intelligent, massive group of apes all experiencing each other's psyche together. The world wants and needs you to love yourself.

Yes. There's always a point. The world will always be unjust. That doesn't mean we should give up and take it. Fight for what you can, enjoy what you can.

That's how I've been feeling for years now, intensified with the fact that there's not enough being done even as things escalate faster than expected. As someone with lifelong anxiety and depression, what I've learned is to not focus on my own helplessness and lack of self-worth, but instead what I can do and contribute in any little way to any person or creature. It's up to every one of us to give our own life meaning, and I'm trying to choose kindness.

Gonna die anyway, might as well see how it plays out 🤷‍♂️

You're right. I'd suggest changing your last question slightly: why bother worrying anymore? If you can acknowledge these problems, recognise you're powerless, and instead focus on your own personal happiness and wellbeing, you might find a bit more purpose and a little less doom and gloom in your life.