World / human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone (or die)
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World / human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone (or die)
Most people in this world are oblivious or ignorant to this harsh reality, that we are all basically just little speck of dust on this planet, let alone universe. I always use the illustration of ants: Some ants live, some ants die (from getting trampled, crushed by feet, etc etc etc). Nothing special. It's the same with human life.
People of course will always try to rationalize this, all in a hope to convince themselves basically that life, especially their own lives, have meaning & purpose. And that each individual matters; each person matters. But in the grand scheme of things, the harsh truth is nothing really matters (well, perhaps unless if we could somehow defy reality, whether perhaps through space travel, immortality, transhumanism/posthumanism, AI (artificial intelligence), VR (virtual reality), etc etc etc; but nothing is guaranteed for sure, in reality again). Everything we do will eventually just crumbles to the dust. So why bother?
Today there is even now a popular 'hype' philosophy like "optimistic nihilism". But to me personally, it's just the same basically with hedonism, which basically it all sounds the same, eg: "just live in the present moment, enjoy life, since we only live once!". But again, is this all there is to life? existence? It still feels pointless, in the end, in the grand scheme of things.
- JackDaydream
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Re: World / human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone (or die)
I find that the philosophy of nihilism leads to an unhelpful dead end. I have come across optimistic nihilism and, even then, it may be this is a way of people, often in comfortable situations becoming armchair miseries. At times, I get depressed about my own life and about the state of the world, and I consider such times as being my 'black hole' days.Niki wrote: ↑December 20th, 2022, 7:18 am Most people probably don't think about this. People keep living everyday, thinking that their lives mean something; that their lives have meaning or purpose. Most people are even too busy with each their own survival mode everyday, which in today's world/era, it usually means people are busy making money, whether it's work, or run a business, etc etc etc.
Most people in this world are oblivious or ignorant to this harsh reality, that we are all basically just little speck of dust on this planet, let alone universe. I always use the illustration of ants: Some ants live, some ants die (from getting trampled, crushed by feet, etc etc etc). Nothing special. It's the same with human life.
People of course will always try to rationalize this, all in a hope to convince themselves basically that life, especially their own lives, have meaning & purpose. And that each individual matters; each person matters. But in the grand scheme of things, the harsh truth is nothing really matters (well, perhaps unless if we could somehow defy reality, whether perhaps through space travel, immortality, transhumanism/posthumanism, AI (artificial intelligence), VR (virtual reality), etc etc etc; but nothing is guaranteed for sure, in reality again). Everything we do will eventually just crumbles to the dust. So why bother?
Today there is even now a popular 'hype' philosophy like "optimistic nihilism". But to me personally, it's just the same basically with hedonism, which basically it all sounds the same, eg: "just live in the present moment, enjoy life, since we only live once!". But again, is this all there is to life? existence? It still feels pointless, in the end, in the grand scheme of things.
I try not to see life as pointless, and I don't think that it is because it is possible to find the creative even amidst the darkness of despair. Of course, there are so many people in the world and it may be this which makes people be seen as mere numbers. Seeing people in this way may be a recipe for dehumanization and totalitarianism, as opposed to appreciating each unique person, finding aesthetics and ethics. Surely, it may be braver to stand up and make the best of life rather than sink into the quagmire of defeated states of negativity.
Some people become antinatalist because they believe that it is a horrible world to bring children into the world. I once worked with a woman who had taken this view until her husband wanted children desperately. Her daughter found out her mother's wish to not have children at some point and was really angry. This was because the daughter was happy and the idea that the world was a horrible place to come into seemed ridiculous to her.
In a way, antinatilism and transhumanism are opposites with the transhumanists wishing to extend life almost indefinitely. However, there may be politics involved, with the possibility of such extended life being for the privileged few. The possibilities beyond the extremes of antinatalism and transhumanism may be about humanism as creating the best possibilities for ourselves and other people and lifeforms. It may involve a sense of stewardship, with a sense of reverence for the person and nature as opposed to a sense of exploitation and trying to see ourselves and others as objects, or as toys.
- Baby Augustine
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Re: World / human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone (or die)
If we use your data we can more easily come to a truly horrible end that you don't even contemplate. Most US welfare schemes were supported by up to 5 workers at the bottom of the pyramid. It is not approaching less than 2. IT is a mathematical certainty that, without a real upswing in population, Social Security and almost all of the Great Society and New Deal programs will just collapse.
By 2050, the OECD projects, nearly 40 percent of Japan's population will be elderly.
This is very, very bad: Countries need new people to support the older ones who can't work and to generate economic growth. If Japan doesn't turn its birthrate problem around, or somehow make each of its workers a hell of a lot more productive, it's in for a disaster.
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Re: World / human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone (or die)
2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023