It is a little sad for me going back to work. Losing my sovereignty. I hope to do my duty and nothing more (and nothing less). It is very difficult to get through this life with out some laboring. I will have to give up some legitimate freedoms. The ability to linger and the state of non-hurriedness will diminish. Maybe being on the clock can actually make those sort of things more valuable but I have found many times I take the laboring hours with me. It can be difficult to shut that off.
I am over trying to fill up life. Obsessing over a fulfilled life. Accelerating faster and faster trying to achieve or experience life's endless possibilities. It's impossible.
It would be erroneous to assume that todays' acceleration of life can be explained in terms of the fear of death. This argument roughly goes as follows:
It was shown that acceleration represents an intuitive solution to the problem of a limited lifetime or the divergence of the time of the world and the time of life in a secular culture. In this context, the maximal enjoyment of worldly opportunities and the optimal actualization of one's own abilities, and hence the ideal of the fulfilled life, has become the paradigm of a successful life. Whoever lives twice as fast can realize twice as many worldly possibilities and thus, as it were, live two lives in the span of one. Whoever becomes infinitely fast approaches the potentially unlimited horizon of the time of the world (and of worldly possibilities) within one lifetime to the extent that she can realize a plurality of life possibilities in a single earthly lifespan. She therefore no longer needs to fear death, the annihilator of options.
The idea is that whoever lives twice as fast can enjoy twice as many life possibilities; the acceleration of life multiplies life and thus brings a person closer to the goal of having a fulfilled life. But this is a naive calculation which rests on a confusion of fulfillment with mere plentitude. A fulfilled life cannot be explained on a quantitative basis. It does not result from a plentitude of life possibilities, just as a recounting or listing of events does not necessarily amount to a narration or account. Rather, the latter require a special synthesis to which they owe their meaning. A long list of events does not produce the tension which characterizes a story, while a very short story may nevertheless possess a powerful narrative tension. And, thus, a very short life can also achieve the ideal of a fulfilled life. The acceleration thesis does not recognize that the real problem today is the fact that life has lost the possibility of reaching a meaningful conclusion. It is this fact that leads to the hectic rush and nervousness which characterize contemporary life. One begins ever anew; one zaps through "life possibilities," precisely because of an inability to bring any single possibility to a conclusion. The individual's life is not informed by a story or meaningful totality. It is misleading to talk of an acceleration of life pursued with the aim of maximizing its possibilities. Upon closer scrutiny, this acceleration turns out to be a nervous restlessness which makes life whizz, so to speak; it hurtles from one possibility to the next. It never achieves rest – that is, completion.
A scent is slow. Thus, as a medium, it is not adapted to the age of haste. Scents cannot be presented in as fast a sequence as optical images. In contrast to the latter, they can also not be accelerated. A society dominated by scents would probably also not develop any inclinations towards change or acceleration. It would live off its recollections and its memory, off those things that are slow and long-lasting. The age of haste, by contrast, is a "cinematographic" age, one that is to a large extent shaped by the visual. Such an age accelerates the world into a "cinematograph film of ... things." Time disintegrates into a mere sequence of present moments. The age of haste is an age without scents. The scent of time is a manifestation of duration. Thus, it escapes "activity" and "immediate enjoyment." Scent is indirect, takes detours, and is mediated.
Why do we find no meaning for ourselves any more, i.e. no essential possibility of being? Is it because an indifference yawns at us out of all things, an indifference whose grounds we do not know? Yet who can speak in such a way when world trade, technology, and the economy seize hold of man and keep him moving?
On July 04 2018 03:00 RiKD wrote:
It comes back to this:
I am a speck of dust living on a speck of dust living in an impossible to understand existence except for the fact that everything is impermanent and that I am going to get sick and die. I can forget this fact, sometimes in great conversation, sometimes getting lost in an exciting football game, whatever but I am afraid of the fact that I will get sick and die. There's not a whole lot I can do for this fear except for repress it as deeply as possible and get lost in illusions.
I had the same feeling back in the day, but the alternative is to embrace it, go out there and make your life meaningful, whatever it means for you. We all have the same problem. Most people are oblivious to the tragedy of life. That is fine, perhaps it keeps them sane. People who become aware walk on thin ice. Yes, they see more but it is too overwhelming and they cannot find a solution to the problem. Nihilism has a point and is extremely powerful once it gets you, maybe impossible to escape from for most people. Then there are people who know all of this and despite all of this DECIDE to make their life meaningful for them and maybe for others. It could be that it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, sure, but there is a huge difference between having a meaningful life + it does not matter and meaningless life + it does not matter thinking. Also, there is a micro chance it might actually matter how you lived your life in the end + you live anyway, there is nothing to lose, we will all die.
I agree though, it is easier to not do anything than to do something about it, million times easier.
Most people are not authentic and desire to be authentic is far from being really authentic. We all have desires, most people don't reach the hard ones. There are very few authentic people. There is a reason why real authentic people gather millions of people around them.
On the opposite end, you have authentic people who bring no value to others at all, because to them life is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It very well could be, but it takes a hero to know this and make your life and life of million other people meaningful on earth.
On July 04 2018 19:38 RiKD wrote:
It is a little sad for me going back to work. Losing my sovereignty. I hope to do my duty and nothing more (and nothing less). It is very difficult to get through this life with out some laboring. I will have to give up some legitimate freedoms. The ability to linger and the state of non-hurriedness will diminish. Maybe being on the clock can actually make those sort of things more valuable but I have found many times I take the laboring hours with me. It can be difficult to shut that off.
I am over trying to fill up life. Obsessing over a fulfilled life. Accelerating faster and faster trying to achieve or experience life's endless possibilities. It's impossible.
Look for another job, I have got a job and feel the opposite to what you feel. Of course, it takes time to find/get a job which makes you feel the opposite, and I agree it is much easier to complain about the current state you are in.
Yes, please stop obsessing over a fulfilled life and accelerating faster and faster crap. It is how you live your life makes it fulfilled. It is not a goal.
The acceleration of life in general robs the human being of the capacity for contemplation. Thus, those things which only reveal themselves in contemplative lingering remain hidden.
On July 04 2018 20:03 RiKD wrote:
It was shown that acceleration represents an intuitive solution to the problem of a limited lifetime or the divergence of the time of the world and the time of life in a secular culture. In this context, the maximal enjoyment of worldly opportunities and the optimal actualization of one's own abilities, and hence the ideal of the fulfilled life, has become the paradigm of a successful life. Whoever lives twice as fast can realize twice as many worldly possibilities and thus, as it were, live two lives in the span of one. Whoever becomes infinitely fast approaches the potentially unlimited horizon of the time of the world (and of worldly possibilities) within one lifetime to the extent that she can realize a plurality of life possibilities in a single earthly lifespan. She therefore no longer needs to fear death, the annihilator of options.
The idea is that whoever lives twice as fast can enjoy twice as many life possibilities; the acceleration of life multiplies life and thus brings a person closer to the goal of having a fulfilled life. But this is a naive calculation which rests on a confusion of fulfillment with mere plentitude. A fulfilled life cannot be explained on a quantitative basis. It does not result from a plentitude of life possibilities, just as a recounting or listing of events does not necessarily amount to a narration or account. Rather, the latter require a special synthesis to which they owe their meaning. A long list of events does not produce the tension which characterizes a story, while a very short story may nevertheless possess a powerful narrative tension. And, thus, a very short life can also achieve the ideal of a fulfilled life. The acceleration thesis does not recognize that the real problem today is the fact that life has lost the possibility of reaching a meaningful conclusion. It is this fact that leads to the hectic rush and nervousness which characterize contemporary life. One begins ever anew; one zaps through "life possibilities," precisely because of an inability to bring any single possibility to a conclusion. The individual's life is not informed by a story or meaningful totality. It is misleading to talk of an acceleration of life pursued with the aim of maximizing its possibilities. Upon closer scrutiny, this acceleration turns out to be a nervous restlessness which makes life whizz, so to speak; it hurtles from one possibility to the next. It never achieves rest – that is, completion.
Byung-Chul Han, The Scent of Time
My turn to be a dick I guess. I cringe at how dimwitted anyone would have to be to find that passage insightful or interesting. Everything he says is completely obvious without needing to be mentioned. Assuming he has some sort of audience, they likely exist solely because his verbose writing style gives the illusion of communicating something meaningful or deep to people who have dull minds. I imagine the distillation of this author's thoughts to his audience goes something like this:
I kind of want to give props on the job (even if you feel like it's not the sort of thing that warrants props) and on (presumably) continuing the fitness regimen. But goddamn that passage is some tilt.
On July 04 2018 03:00 RiKD wrote:
It comes back to this:
I am a speck of dust living on a speck of dust living in an impossible to understand existence except for the fact that everything is impermanent and that I am going to get sick and die. I can forget this fact, sometimes in great conversation, sometimes getting lost in an exciting football game, whatever but I am afraid of the fact that I will get sick and die. There's not a whole lot I can do for this fear except for repress it as deeply as possible and get lost in illusions.
I had the same feeling back in the day, but the alternative is to embrace it, go out there and make your life meaningful, whatever it means for you. We all have the same problem. Most people are oblivious to the tragedy of life. That is fine, perhaps it keeps them sane. People who become aware walk on thin ice. Yes, they see more but it is too overwhelming and they cannot find a solution to the problem. Nihilism has a point and is extremely powerful once it gets you, maybe impossible to escape from for most people. Then there are people who know all of this and despite all of this DECIDE to make their life meaningful for them and maybe for others. It could be that it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, sure, but there is a huge difference between having a meaningful life + it does not matter and meaningless life + it does not matter thinking. Also, there is a micro chance it might actually matter how you lived your life in the end + you live anyway, there is nothing to lose, we will all die.
I agree though, it is easier to not do anything than to do something about it, million times easier.
Most people are not authentic and desire to be authentic is far from being really authentic. We all have desires, most people don't reach the hard ones. There are very few authentic people. There is a reason why real authentic people gather millions of people around them.
On the opposite end, you have authentic people who bring no value to others at all, because to them life is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It very well could be, but it takes a hero to know this and make your life and life of million other people meaningful on earth.
I don't really want to get into the semantics of meaning right now. I will say I think I have been on the defensive. How do I reduce the chances of depression, anxiety, going psychotic, suicide, taking a substance rather than going more on the offensive of doing the things that most people know work now a days: spending time with friends and family, helping others, flow states. The latter also is defense for the former. There are different types of flow states as well. Some of the more frantic, overly lively avenues may just contribute to the world of haste and accelerated living which only leads to a state of undeadness. Imagine going on a cruise where every hour of every day is scheduled out. Zapping from one thing to the next as if you were trying to compile the longest list achieved in the fastest time. It is a state of not being quite dead and not being quite alive. I realize a contemplative philosopher is going to prefer vita contempliva and contemplative lingering but for me he has strong points regarding everything I've read thus far.
I don't think I qualify as a nihilist. I believe in the Golden Rule, Immanuel Kant, and Frederich Nietzsche.
The first "authentic" person that came to mind is Conor McGregor but he was still putting on a show even though I think that is part of his persona. What about someone like Bill Clinton? He was fake authentic. He fooled the public.
Don't get started on that hero narrative bullshit. I am no hero and my life is not a narrative. Maybe start with making one other person's life meaningful? 1 million is a bit grandiose.
Oh boy, here we go with the semantics.... I more so believe in escaping death for periods of time than getting seduced by some meaning. There is no meaning of life. There can be things that people do to bring some meaning, terrestrial meaning. The universe does not give a shit about us. I was really into this about a year ago or so. I don't really care too much today. The only reason I am working and laboring is because the bills keep coming in and they don't stop. I am coerced by society to get a job. Sometimes I think about being a bum but I am too attached to food at my leisure and my bed. I am too attached to home and of course I am attached to my Health. So important it gets capitalized!
On July 04 2018 20:03 RiKD wrote:
It was shown that acceleration represents an intuitive solution to the problem of a limited lifetime or the divergence of the time of the world and the time of life in a secular culture. In this context, the maximal enjoyment of worldly opportunities and the optimal actualization of one's own abilities, and hence the ideal of the fulfilled life, has become the paradigm of a successful life. Whoever lives twice as fast can realize twice as many worldly possibilities and thus, as it were, live two lives in the span of one. Whoever becomes infinitely fast approaches the potentially unlimited horizon of the time of the world (and of worldly possibilities) within one lifetime to the extent that she can realize a plurality of life possibilities in a single earthly lifespan. She therefore no longer needs to fear death, the annihilator of options.
The idea is that whoever lives twice as fast can enjoy twice as many life possibilities; the acceleration of life multiplies life and thus brings a person closer to the goal of having a fulfilled life. But this is a naive calculation which rests on a confusion of fulfillment with mere plentitude. A fulfilled life cannot be explained on a quantitative basis. It does not result from a plentitude of life possibilities, just as a recounting or listing of events does not necessarily amount to a narration or account. Rather, the latter require a special synthesis to which they owe their meaning. A long list of events does not produce the tension which characterizes a story, while a very short story may nevertheless possess a powerful narrative tension. And, thus, a very short life can also achieve the ideal of a fulfilled life. The acceleration thesis does not recognize that the real problem today is the fact that life has lost the possibility of reaching a meaningful conclusion. It is this fact that leads to the hectic rush and nervousness which characterize contemporary life. One begins ever anew; one zaps through "life possibilities," precisely because of an inability to bring any single possibility to a conclusion. The individual's life is not informed by a story or meaningful totality. It is misleading to talk of an acceleration of life pursued with the aim of maximizing its possibilities. Upon closer scrutiny, this acceleration turns out to be a nervous restlessness which makes life whizz, so to speak; it hurtles from one possibility to the next. It never achieves rest – that is, completion.
Byung-Chul Han, The Scent of Time
My turn to be a dick I guess. I cringe at how dimwitted anyone would have to be to find that passage insightful or interesting. Everything he says is completely obvious without needing to be mentioned. Assuming he has some sort of audience, they likely exist solely because his verbose writing style gives the illusion of communicating something meaningful or deep to people who have dull minds. I imagine the distillation of this author's thoughts to his audience goes something like this:
I kind of want to give props on the job (even if you feel like it's not the sort of thing that warrants props) and on (presumably) continuing the fitness regimen. But goddamn that passage is some tilt.
On July 05 2018 21:27 RiKD wrote:
The acceleration of life in general robs the human being of the capacity for contemplation. Thus, those things which only reveal themselves in contemplative lingering remain hidden.
Byung-Chul Han, The Scent of Time
In general, people do not contemplate, even if they have all the time in the world. How you design your life is a personal choice, if you are smart. You can design it to have your cake and eat it. Nobody is forcing you to accelerate to the point where you have no time for contemplation.
Being able to contemplate while carrying on with the real life like normal people have is quite an accomplishment. In comparison, detaching yourself from the society and just contemplating is definitely way easier and pretty egoistic approach to the problem.
On July 04 2018 03:00 RiKD wrote:
It comes back to this:
I am a speck of dust living on a speck of dust living in an impossible to understand existence except for the fact that everything is impermanent and that I am going to get sick and die. I can forget this fact, sometimes in great conversation, sometimes getting lost in an exciting football game, whatever but I am afraid of the fact that I will get sick and die. There's not a whole lot I can do for this fear except for repress it as deeply as possible and get lost in illusions.
I had the same feeling back in the day, but the alternative is to embrace it, go out there and make your life meaningful, whatever it means for you. We all have the same problem. Most people are oblivious to the tragedy of life. That is fine, perhaps it keeps them sane. People who become aware walk on thin ice. Yes, they see more but it is too overwhelming and they cannot find a solution to the problem. Nihilism has a point and is extremely powerful once it gets you, maybe impossible to escape from for most people. Then there are people who know all of this and despite all of this DECIDE to make their life meaningful for them and maybe for others. It could be that it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, sure, but there is a huge difference between having a meaningful life + it does not matter and meaningless life + it does not matter thinking. Also, there is a micro chance it might actually matter how you lived your life in the end + you live anyway, there is nothing to lose, we will all die.
I agree though, it is easier to not do anything than to do something about it, million times easier.
Most people are not authentic and desire to be authentic is far from being really authentic. We all have desires, most people don't reach the hard ones. There are very few authentic people. There is a reason why real authentic people gather millions of people around them.
On the opposite end, you have authentic people who bring no value to others at all, because to them life is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It very well could be, but it takes a hero to know this and make your life and life of million other people meaningful on earth.
I don't really want to get into the semantics of meaning right now. I will say I think I have been on the defensive. How do I reduce the chances of depression, anxiety, going psychotic, suicide, taking a substance rather than going more on the offensive of doing the things that most people know work now a days: spending time with friends and family, helping others, flow states. The latter also is defense for the former. There are different types of flow states as well. Some of the more frantic, overly lively avenues may just contribute to the world of haste and accelerated living which only leads to a state of undeadness. Imagine going on a cruise where every hour of every day is scheduled out. Zapping from one thing to the next as if you were trying to compile the longest list achieved in the fastest time. It is a state of not being quite dead and not being quite alive. I realize a contemplative philosopher is going to prefer vita contempliva and contemplative lingering but for me he has strong points regarding everything I've read thus far.
I don't think I qualify as a nihilist. I believe in the Golden Rule, Immanuel Kant, and Frederich Nietzsche.
The first "authentic" person that came to mind is Conor McGregor but he was still putting on a show even though I think that is part of his persona. What about someone like Bill Clinton? He was fake authentic. He fooled the public.
Don't get started on that hero narrative bullshit. I am no hero and my life is not a narrative. Maybe start with making one other person's life meaningful? 1 million is a bit grandiose.
Oh boy, here we go with the semantics.... I more so believe in escaping death for periods of time than getting seduced by some meaning. There is no meaning of life. There can be things that people do to bring some meaning, terrestrial meaning. The universe does not give a shit about us. I was really into this about a year ago or so. I don't really care too much today. The only reason I am working and laboring is because the bills keep coming in and they don't stop. I am coerced by society to get a job. Sometimes I think about being a bum but I am too attached to food at my leisure and my bed. I am too attached to home and of course I am attached to my Health. So important it gets capitalized!
yes, it would be a perfect start with making one person's life meaningful but that has to be you, before you can help anyone else.
The universe does not give a shit about us but it definitely does not mean, that we have to care about the universe and not have meaning in our life on earth here and now.
Living is not about being offensive/defensive. These states you describe are an inherent part of life. Embrace them, not repress them, go through them and keep on living.#
I may be wrong, but it seems you have read too much stuff for your average Joe, then jumped straight into really serious dark stuff, like Nietzche. Nevertheless, even Nietzche said, as dark as he was:
"My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing
to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear
what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendacious in the face of
what is necessary—but love it."
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo
On July 05 2018 21:27 RiKD wrote:
The acceleration of life in general robs the human being of the capacity for contemplation. Thus, those things which only reveal themselves in contemplative lingering remain hidden.
Byung-Chul Han, The Scent of Time
In general, people do not contemplate, even if they have all the time in the world. How you design your life is a personal choice, if you are smart. You can design it to have your cake and eat it. Nobody is forcing you to accelerate to the point where you have no time for contemplation.
Being able to contemplate while carrying on with the real life like normal people have is quite an accomplishment. In comparison, detaching yourself from the society and just contemplating is definitely way easier and pretty egoistic approach to the problem.
At the very least I can confirm my convictions and do my best to find time for contemplative lingering. It will also be nice to not go broke and maybe meet some cool people. It will be more difficult. There is a difference between rest from work and vita contempletiva. Work engulfs us. Vita activa has the potential to take over our lives. There is a difference between a break and leisure. It's just a lot easier to recovery from work and for work the next day with some Netflix and Hulu rather than reading philosophy and contemplating what is true in life.
I should have double majored in Philosophy and English in University. Hindsight is 20/20. Then I could have actually helped people with this stuff.
On July 04 2018 03:00 RiKD wrote:
It comes back to this:
I am a speck of dust living on a speck of dust living in an impossible to understand existence except for the fact that everything is impermanent and that I am going to get sick and die. I can forget this fact, sometimes in great conversation, sometimes getting lost in an exciting football game, whatever but I am afraid of the fact that I will get sick and die. There's not a whole lot I can do for this fear except for repress it as deeply as possible and get lost in illusions.
I had the same feeling back in the day, but the alternative is to embrace it, go out there and make your life meaningful, whatever it means for you. We all have the same problem. Most people are oblivious to the tragedy of life. That is fine, perhaps it keeps them sane. People who become aware walk on thin ice. Yes, they see more but it is too overwhelming and they cannot find a solution to the problem. Nihilism has a point and is extremely powerful once it gets you, maybe impossible to escape from for most people. Then there are people who know all of this and despite all of this DECIDE to make their life meaningful for them and maybe for others. It could be that it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, sure, but there is a huge difference between having a meaningful life + it does not matter and meaningless life + it does not matter thinking. Also, there is a micro chance it might actually matter how you lived your life in the end + you live anyway, there is nothing to lose, we will all die.
I agree though, it is easier to not do anything than to do something about it, million times easier.
Most people are not authentic and desire to be authentic is far from being really authentic. We all have desires, most people don't reach the hard ones. There are very few authentic people. There is a reason why real authentic people gather millions of people around them.
On the opposite end, you have authentic people who bring no value to others at all, because to them life is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It very well could be, but it takes a hero to know this and make your life and life of million other people meaningful on earth.
I don't really want to get into the semantics of meaning right now. I will say I think I have been on the defensive. How do I reduce the chances of depression, anxiety, going psychotic, suicide, taking a substance rather than going more on the offensive of doing the things that most people know work now a days: spending time with friends and family, helping others, flow states. The latter also is defense for the former. There are different types of flow states as well. Some of the more frantic, overly lively avenues may just contribute to the world of haste and accelerated living which only leads to a state of undeadness. Imagine going on a cruise where every hour of every day is scheduled out. Zapping from one thing to the next as if you were trying to compile the longest list achieved in the fastest time. It is a state of not being quite dead and not being quite alive. I realize a contemplative philosopher is going to prefer vita contempliva and contemplative lingering but for me he has strong points regarding everything I've read thus far.
I don't think I qualify as a nihilist. I believe in the Golden Rule, Immanuel Kant, and Frederich Nietzsche.
The first "authentic" person that came to mind is Conor McGregor but he was still putting on a show even though I think that is part of his persona. What about someone like Bill Clinton? He was fake authentic. He fooled the public.
Don't get started on that hero narrative bullshit. I am no hero and my life is not a narrative. Maybe start with making one other person's life meaningful? 1 million is a bit grandiose.
Oh boy, here we go with the semantics.... I more so believe in escaping death for periods of time than getting seduced by some meaning. There is no meaning of life. There can be things that people do to bring some meaning, terrestrial meaning. The universe does not give a shit about us. I was really into this about a year ago or so. I don't really care too much today. The only reason I am working and laboring is because the bills keep coming in and they don't stop. I am coerced by society to get a job. Sometimes I think about being a bum but I am too attached to food at my leisure and my bed. I am too attached to home and of course I am attached to my Health. So important it gets capitalized!
yes, it would be a perfect start with making one person's life meaningful but that has to be you, before you can help anyone else.
The universe does not give a shit about us but it definitely does not mean, that we have to care about the universe and not have meaning in our life on earth here and now.
Living is not about being offensive/defensive. These states you describe are an inherent part of life. Embrace them, not repress them, go through them and keep on living.#
I may be wrong, but it seems you have read too much stuff for your average Joe, then jumped straight into really serious dark stuff, like Nietzche. Nevertheless, even Nietzche said, as dark as he was:
"My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing
to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear
what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendacious in the face of
what is necessary—but love it."
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo
I don't consider Fred dark. He's pretty awesome.
I don't know if I would want to live my life over and over for eternity. That sounds pretty awful. According to Fred that would mean I am living my life wrong and he could be right. Maybe I should re-re-read his work but again he is just a guy doing his best to contemplate the truth. I immediately go to one visit to the pysch ward that was hellish. Time did not exist in there and I was basically living and dreaming nightmare after nightmare and there was no recollection of what if anything was real except for the fact that it all seemed real. As real as me typing on this keyboard right now. There was a lot of good stuff too. I actually do have a certain love of my fate. Basically, broke. I think a lot of the vita activa, achievement-subject, status crowd would consider me a loser. Maybe a lot of people on here do as well. It actually wouldn't bother me. Just sitting here on a Thursday night typing away on LP after a dinner of cereal, walnuts, blueberries, banana, and almond butter. I will have read another Byung-Chul Han before I retire for the night. Life is good. I mean it isn't really but at least I am laughing and smiling about it.
I don't think I particularly love my fate. I would prefer to just have never been born. An eternal reoccurrence of nothingness. Now, that I am here I am just trying to make the best of it. Suicide is bad and there are other ways to go about living this life. I do have a certain love of my fate once I am born but I think Nietzsche's eternal reoccurrence fails for something like very painful and debilitating child cancer and other examples. I have lived quite a strange life. That might make me "authentic" or it might make me "incomparable" but I don't believe that that is true. I have met too many people in AA that have lived pretty similar lives. I used to think I was authentic for consuming Bread and Boxers Relaxed Crew Neck T-shirts and Boxer Briefs until I found an entire display of their T-shirts and Boxer Briefs in La Guardia Airport right by the gums, mints, and candies. They are comfortable and they do fit me well but authenticity through consumption is what everyone is striving for. It is what EVERYONE is striving for which does not sound very authentic to me. Authenticity is based in truth, honesty, and beauty.
The ego orients itself by the others and spins out of control when it no longer believes it can keep up. [...] The thought of what the others think of oneself and what they think that others think of them, thus becomes a source of social anxiety. It is not the objective situation that burdens and breaks the individual so much as the felling of drawing the short straw compared to significant others.
I wish to engage in a dialogue with the Other but there is no voice to be heard or gaze to be felt. It is just me in my RiKD/Byung-Chul Han echo chamber.
United States. Jul 04 2018 16:23. Posts 8535
