This post might be controversial or a little bit provoking but it is just a thesis. Feel free to disagree. Though it is more likely noone will care about it.
Most of us live in hyper-individualized capitalistic societies. Many live abandoned and lonely lifes. Especially during covid crisis we noticed this isolation due to the measures against the virus. But this is not only physical loneliness we also lack a common communion/conncection nowadays. The entertainment industry is full of self-referential cynicism. Everything has to be ironic or kind of meta. Consumerism wants to make us believe that only oneself is what matters. Self-improvement and the goal of being special is propagated from the companies. You have to be different than the others. The products we buy shall give us the feeling being better than other people. Moreover buying nice stuff shall be the meaning in life in order to distract us how shallow and superficial this kind of living is.
Many people during the pandemic turned to esoteric or conspiracy theories to find meaning. There is the search for a group to which one can belong. (I am glad I belong to this forum which helps me to deal with this existential loneliness.) In a world which becomes more and more complex it is hard to find truths or higher values. There is so much information and with that comes complicated analyses in order to understand what happens. Isn't it easier to turn to simple truths which gives you comfort? Science is one way to deal with insecurities but it often fails to appeal to the deeper meaning of life of which the individual craves for. Many people ask themselves is there a purpose in my life?
Decades and centuries before religion and traditional values were the answer for that. With the religion peer group we had common values and often also a common enemy. That means other people with other religions. Many people believed in an afterlife which gave them comfort that there is some sort of justice for the experienced torture in their lives. There was no choice who to marry or which job you can have. I don't say this individual freedom is bad that we have today. Of course I prefer it. But with this new freedom there come a lot of insecurites.
Another way to give life meaning is patrotism. You have a group you belong to. You can define yourself as part of this or that country. This can give the feeling of communion and companionship. But as my country has proved this patriotism also can evolve into nationalism. And instead of loving your own country you detest other nations instead.
In the end many turn nihilistic. I think many in this forum do. Sometimes or often also me. But if we don't believe in anything and don't see higher values which could give life meaning there is only one way to deal with this experience. Existential suffering. People can deal with horrible pain better if they see a purpose in it. Some people can sublimate the pain they experience in higher goods and create something unique. For example Chester Bennington could only write such relatable music because he also experienced mental torture.
I already hear you typing that this part is crap and kind of psyeudo bullshit. And I have to agree to a certain degree with you. This is the part of this thesis I see as problematic. Because some people are mentally or physically so fucked that they can't do anything. Sometimes the pain is just unbearable, never stopping and cannot be transformed in something productive. And I think this applies to many people on this forum. Moreover I experienced that this belief in higher values can also be very counterproductive. I have seen a very religious woman she hated her god for her suffering. When I was partly religious I felt bad and guilty for my suicidality. So it was kind of a liberation to consciously decide not to believe in him. Sometimes the suffering is just meaningless.
These people often come to the conclusion that ceasing to exist is the final answer. That this is the final liberation of the compulsion to wake every day up in pain and cry unheard for improvement. However I think also for these people metaphysical considerations can be comforting. For example the notion that after we die we return to the condtion before we were born. On the other hand some are convinced about materialsm and don't see a choice to believe in something else because they think it is rational and not a matter of choice. These people might think there is no nothingness after we die which can be very terrifying.
What do you think about it? Do we lack a purpose in life? Is this the price we have to pay for liberating us from superstition? Was it better to be deceived? Or is secularism and profanity the wrong anwer?
Most of us live in hyper-individualized capitalistic societies. Many live abandoned and lonely lifes. Especially during covid crisis we noticed this isolation due to the measures against the virus. But this is not only physical loneliness we also lack a common communion/conncection nowadays. The entertainment industry is full of self-referential cynicism. Everything has to be ironic or kind of meta. Consumerism wants to make us believe that only oneself is what matters. Self-improvement and the goal of being special is propagated from the companies. You have to be different than the others. The products we buy shall give us the feeling being better than other people. Moreover buying nice stuff shall be the meaning in life in order to distract us how shallow and superficial this kind of living is.
Many people during the pandemic turned to esoteric or conspiracy theories to find meaning. There is the search for a group to which one can belong. (I am glad I belong to this forum which helps me to deal with this existential loneliness.) In a world which becomes more and more complex it is hard to find truths or higher values. There is so much information and with that comes complicated analyses in order to understand what happens. Isn't it easier to turn to simple truths which gives you comfort? Science is one way to deal with insecurities but it often fails to appeal to the deeper meaning of life of which the individual craves for. Many people ask themselves is there a purpose in my life?
Decades and centuries before religion and traditional values were the answer for that. With the religion peer group we had common values and often also a common enemy. That means other people with other religions. Many people believed in an afterlife which gave them comfort that there is some sort of justice for the experienced torture in their lives. There was no choice who to marry or which job you can have. I don't say this individual freedom is bad that we have today. Of course I prefer it. But with this new freedom there come a lot of insecurites.
Another way to give life meaning is patrotism. You have a group you belong to. You can define yourself as part of this or that country. This can give the feeling of communion and companionship. But as my country has proved this patriotism also can evolve into nationalism. And instead of loving your own country you detest other nations instead.
In the end many turn nihilistic. I think many in this forum do. Sometimes or often also me. But if we don't believe in anything and don't see higher values which could give life meaning there is only one way to deal with this experience. Existential suffering. People can deal with horrible pain better if they see a purpose in it. Some people can sublimate the pain they experience in higher goods and create something unique. For example Chester Bennington could only write such relatable music because he also experienced mental torture.
I already hear you typing that this part is crap and kind of psyeudo bullshit. And I have to agree to a certain degree with you. This is the part of this thesis I see as problematic. Because some people are mentally or physically so fucked that they can't do anything. Sometimes the pain is just unbearable, never stopping and cannot be transformed in something productive. And I think this applies to many people on this forum. Moreover I experienced that this belief in higher values can also be very counterproductive. I have seen a very religious woman she hated her god for her suffering. When I was partly religious I felt bad and guilty for my suicidality. So it was kind of a liberation to consciously decide not to believe in him. Sometimes the suffering is just meaningless.
These people often come to the conclusion that ceasing to exist is the final answer. That this is the final liberation of the compulsion to wake every day up in pain and cry unheard for improvement. However I think also for these people metaphysical considerations can be comforting. For example the notion that after we die we return to the condtion before we were born. On the other hand some are convinced about materialsm and don't see a choice to believe in something else because they think it is rational and not a matter of choice. These people might think there is no nothingness after we die which can be very terrifying.
What do you think about it? Do we lack a purpose in life? Is this the price we have to pay for liberating us from superstition? Was it better to be deceived? Or is secularism and profanity the wrong anwer?
Last edited:
