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by at_a_remove
2170 days ago
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This is one of the more frequent responses. It's in the "if nothing matters, then it doesn't matter what you do" group. Typically travel is suggested. That would be interesting: a taxonomy of common responses to ongoing despair. |
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That is carrying an enormous amount of baggage that isn't in my suggestion.
Things do matter, and it does matter what you do. To say otherwise is both incorrect and too pessimistic about the human situation.
But, doing what you want is what makes anything matter. It's the solution to the "problem of meaning."
Most people just live their lives, getting barely enough of what they want to not become depressed and dysfunctional, but never actually figuring this out.
What you want is ultimately based in biology. A hungry person wants food; a thirsty person wants water. Of course, you are at a slightly higher level. But you have to look at your own desires to see what, specifically, you want. I would consider this to be a kind of hedonism (in the very technical sense of the term, without any other connotations, such moral looseness or depravity). I'm a long-term hedonist.
I wouldn't suggest anything specific for you (e.g. travel), because I don't know what you want to do. Travel definitely wouldn't suffice, for me. Like I said, for me, it is and was video games. I expect to move beyond that and want to achieve something more complex, eventually. I can feel that coming.
Also, yes, a taxonomy of common responses to despair would be interesting. Probably not helpful, but interesting.