With the way the world's going, is there even a point to anything anymore?

@yuunikki please schedule an appointment with a therapist because you are demonstrating signs of depression in your post/comment history. The internet is not qualified to be your therapist.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Was there ever a point? lol

Make your own point fren

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.

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.

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.

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.

Went through this whole there is no future debockle a few years ago, I stopped caring about it to save myself mentally

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.

Rich people don't want to sell their stocks yet. So we all can't act like adults and admit everything is fucked or their fake assets will start to lose value before they've convinced you to become so invested in the charade that you're willing to buy them.

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.

We live, we serve cunt, we die

Jkjk. I think why I stick around is bc I can help others even in the smallest ways, and that brings me joy. Also, the art that people create and the knowledge to learn are big factors as well.

I mean... I just found Lemmy. So there's that. 🤷

Calling the rich "corrupt" is pretty redundant. We know they're corrupt - they're rich, aren't they?

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

It’s up to you to give your life meaning. Just because things suck, doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. Imagine the Bronze Age humans, who were getting killed over idols and and some random warlord’s whims. They persisted in the face of adversity so we exist today. Imagine the lives of the enslaved, raped, and oppressed native Americans and Africans in the face of Spanish rule in South America. They persisted with no clear future freedom in sight.

I could go on about humans facing horrible situations but my point is this: throughout history we have always faced a dark situation as a result of other human actions but we always found a reason to persist… or even fight back.

Climate is fucked, but regarding everything else the world wasn't a utopia back then either. Poverty, war, corrupted overlords, etc have always existed.

Life has been pointless in the grand scheme of things and unfair, and been up to each individual to try and find

There are real problems, but be wary of news/social media that use doom & gloom for engagement. Algorithms will drown you in the most extreme takes, even when on the "right side" of real issues.

Just try to do the right thing, and don't let the internet scare you into not living your life.

There was never any point. Find your own meaning and don’t give up.

There was never any point. Find your own meaning and don’t give up.

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.

I wonder about this sometimes. Things aren't great and will get worse before they get better at the very least.

I figure that even if the world is ending and there's nothing I can do about it, I can still do small kindnesses whenever possible. The question is how small to go for maximum effect. If you could be a little more ambitious and definitely succeed it follows that you're not doing enough, so the optimal amount of ambition must have some risk of failure.

You're at a moment in history where the only two real options are utopia or extinction. There are some worse things than extinction that people also worry about, but lets call it all "extinction" for now. Super-intelligence is coming. It literally can't be stopped at this point. The only question is whether it's 2, 5, or 10 years.

If we don't solve alignment, you die. It is the default. AI alignment is the hardest problem humans have ever tried to solve. Global warming will cause suffering on that timescale, but not extinction. A well-aligned super-intelligence has actual potential to reverse global warming. A misaligned one will mean it doesn't matter.

So, if you care, you should be working in AI alignment. If you don't have the skillset, find something else: https://80000hours.org/

Every single dismissal of AI "doom" is based on wishful thinking and hand-waving.

Less "world" and more private life, and everything begins to have sense.

This is a very pessimistic perspective.

Also poverty and hunger are lower than ever before (considering previous eras, and it's not yet good). More and more people are getting education. Fairness towards women and minorities used to get better.

We're having scientific advancements every day and can easily communicate with people around the globe, and it's even cheap and available to many people. Some people think we'll soon invent general artificial intelligence and maybe robots will do the unattractive labor for us. Some people (i'm not sure if i trust people like Elon Musk(?)) even say science is soon going to solve things like overpopulation and climate change. They want star trek to become true. Also medicine is getting better each day, we can cure more and more things and people need to suffer less and less. Maybe there is a cure for cancer coming up in the next decade.

Is it really on the decline? Are we having less or more wars than we used to have? Can we afford more or less stuff than our parents or grandparents did? I'm not sure... Things are a bit complicated and sometimes something gets worse while other things get better. Sometimes it's for short or longer periods. I get what you mean and it's a problem. And too many people around the world are suffering things we could have fixed by now. But this is only half of the story.

Our lives, too, have meaning beyond these issues. The relationships we form, the joy we find in our passions, the simple pleasures we get from a beautiful day or a good meal - these things matter. They give us strength to face the larger problems of our world.

And in the face of these problems, we can find a purpose. Many people find fulfillment in dedicating themselves to fighting for a better future. Whether that’s in climate change activism, social justice, or just in being a kinder, more understanding person, we can all make a difference.

Seriously I can't help it to see it in any other way. At the least I'm trying my best to not to be the part of it.

But it is really tough to live with a conscious.

What else you gonna do, lay down and die? Life is a short amount of time anyways. Just make best with what you got. YOLO

There was never any point. Find your own meaning and don’t give up.

I think it has always been like this. We have always been on the edge of progress or total destruction. You may want to watch the Oppenheimer movie as the fears we have now about end of the world, were the same then, maybe even worse.

Throughout history people have worried about the end and while they are not wrong to have concern as there are just so many vectors to take us out, some self inflicted, we have survives and thrived. Fearing the doom scenario seems normal but we have been doing for so long despite doing so well on so many key metrics overall that I think this reality needs to be the focus. Although, I did read a paper once that said worry is just mother-natures way of ensuring we avoid bad things by making them uncomfortable. Maybe we all need to lean into the uncomfortableness as it will come to us sooner than later anyways.

Try to find meaning in whatever works for you. A lot of people find this in things like relationships, family, hobbies, interests and activism. Essentially, don't let the bastards grind you down. Existential philosophy may not be everyone's cup of tea but it can be helpful in navigating these kinds of issues.

Your question makes me think of this video: The Goddess of Everything Else

https://youtu.be/Bbwp4PbWYzw

(insert astronaut meme) never has been

Jokes aside... This is my personal philosophy & probably won't align with everyone's. As someone who started science quite young, I realized quite early that beyond societal issues, literally nothing is "meaningful"... If Earth itself will be gone in a few billion years, might as well practice some optimistic nihilism and do some stuff with whatever life I have. There's still stuff to do even if society doesn't prioritize ppl like me

Check out some videos on Eternalized channel on youtube

There's nothing we can do as individuals unless you own a multinational corporation, and we're all going to die in a few decades, so just have fun now

Yes and shutup we're fixing shit.

That's literally what they want. You depressed and suicidal. The task is reducing population by like 7.5 billion.