Post: #26

(06-22-2016 02:46 PM)LINUX Wrote:  How do I keep on keeping on?

You know what man. I fucking love my life.

And most war veterans will never say that. I wake up excited everyday.

If you want to know why, I'll try to sit down and write why, but it's going to go against most of things that you read here.

I'd appreciate the opportunity to read this if you write it up.

Post: #27

So you're friend found out that fucking attractive women has diminishing returns. Material goods are discard just like the effort we expanded to procure the funds to buy them. Land is of no use for a man that can live comfortably in a 1 BR apartment.

Rush87, are you and your friend in your mid to late 20s? Strange time in life.

The question begs an answer that none of us can properly supply.

Reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson's Letter to a friend in 1953. https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/05...ume-logan/

How you feel about Thompson is irrelevant as there is wisdom in the note.

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing we aren't to solve his problem but IMHO the meaning of life is simplicity and doing. I'm happier listening to music than not. I'm happier dancing than just listening to music. I'm happier dancing with someone that by myself.

Less think, more do. Have fun.

Post: #28

The only purpose in life is procreation.

You were born because of a specific chain of evolutionary events. The goal of your existence is ensuring the survival of your species. That is all. Just like animals and plants take part in their cycle of survival, so do we. We just happened to gain consciousness to such a degree as to start questioning these very systems.

So yes, as others have already stated, have kids. Search for a fitting mother and become a good father. Spread your genes, knowledge and values. This will shape the world for long after you're gone. You will have a legacy.

Now, if you know you're going to fulfil your purpose, the way you fill in the rest of your life is up to you. I'd suggest you enjoy it. Every part of it. Practice a fulfilling profession, educate yourself, travel, socialise etc. Enjoy the highs as well as the lows. Friction is what makes lifes interesting.

Post: #29

Fucking is the meaning of life.

Post: #30

I've been struggling with this for a while, as I agree with most goals listed here and share many of them, yet something was seriously missing for me nonetheless.

That missing piece is: deeply caring about, and for someone.

It needs to blend with your other goals (it can't be your only goal), but it's essential.

That someone can be your child, your partner, your dog, or someone else depending on your circumstances.

Even the mere understanding that it's a key to your happiness but you don't have that in your life at the moment, helps.

That's how I resolved my own struggle, hope it helps anyone.

Post: #31

Regarding the OP, I've written various things on the topic; I will summarize some of my thoughts here with hope that it will help you out. I've put effort into reading and comparing philosophies and religions around the world to see what universal ideas exists within them, as well as observed others' life stories, and these are some of the things I've discovered.

1. Living just to have material things, whether lots of money, women (or even just a single woman) leads to misery. (The word misery comes from "miser", one who is stingy and hordes money or things).

Having stuff isn't "bad or wrong" but if it becomes and end unto itself then it leads to sadness. Many great philosophers and religious teachings seem to understand this universal truth. Likewise the Bible pointed out that "the love of money is the root of all evil", evil not just referring to "wicked behavior" but also to poor quality of life in general.

Epicurus and Arthur Schopenhauer for example were very "red pill" for their day and age, and observed that most people who invested their whole lives in marriage, money, or the typical affairs of the world winded up miserable.

They essentially concluded that it was better to have less and appreciate what one has than to be constantly longing for more (e.x. Epicurus' video of 'hedonism' was comfortable, simple living with a group of quality friends, and actually inspired Christian monastic communities).

Likewise St. Paul in the Bible mentioned that ideally it was better for a man to be without a woman, so it does seem to have been an age-old understanding that making "women" one's purpose in life (whether having a lot of women or just one woman) was a poor decision.

Unfortunately in America today many messages on the media promote crass materialism and little actual value, I believe because this serves the interests of companies which want people to spend money on junk that they don't really need, much as cigarette companies once tried to promote cigarettes as a health or "weight loss product" - the media today promotes "working, making money, and being able to impress women" as ends unto themselves simply because they benefit the economy, but not the individuals themselves.

2. Individualism needs to be balanced with community - neither extreme is healthy, as people are social animals and not meant to be islands unto themselves, but at the same time have individual rights and ambitions, and shouldn't be expected to conform blindly to what "the herd does".

Problem is in this day and age individualism is often too over-emphasized; likely as a result of men today being so isolated from one another and the over-diversity of society in which people feel they have little in common with others.

Much of the "self-help" advice today is therefore flawed or absent, since it focuses simply on improving oneself "in a vat", versus actual social contexts and relationships. Most great and accomplished leaders though (with rare exceptions such as Adolf Hitler who was able persuade others by his charisma alone) didn't succeed in work and life simply by thinking "of themselves" or "what they want", they had a "team" and a "mission", and a genuine respect for their teammates.

In the book "Leaders Eat Last", the author explained the team dynamics of the Marine Corps and why they are so successful at what they do, and much of it relates to the leaders having genuine respect for those under them, and them all identifying as a "team" or a "tribe", as opposed to a bunch of isolated "atoms" operating in complete independence from one another, as many men do today, viewing their coworkers or even friends are simple competitors or rivals rather than as part of a team.

Likewise, most highly successful people had a greater purpose or passion behind what they did other than just "get rich", "get lots of women". While again there are exceptions, and some people have been able to become wealthy or successful through pure tenacity or talent, those genuinely satisfied with their lives and doing what they love had a deeper purpose behind why they did it than just "to survive" or "to have more stuff".

Plenty of examples exist, such as entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie and Warren Buffet; they became wealthy because they spend time investing themselves in learning to love and appreciate honest, simple labor, rather than simply "wanting more stuff" or fancying themselves "too good" for low-paying drudge work such as fast food; as many spoiled millennials do today. Likewise successful actors like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise

3. As far as a single, overarching purpose - I won't get into all of the specifics, but I think there is one which transcends all good philosophies and religions. It's essentially to create 'harmony' in the world around you. Essentially one should respect others' rights, honor their obligations, have an active interest in making a difference in the world around them, primarily by pursuing wisdom, not just "stuff".

People who step on others' rights frequently (e.x. essentially violating the Golden Rule) or do not honor their own obligations to others, end up becoming "spiritually" (and often financially) endebated.

Or in other words, people subconsciously and unavoidably expect to be treated the same as they treat others; so if one makes a habit of living only for the self and violating others rights, they will expect the same to come to them, and the end result is having to live in a constant state of anxiety and depression, losing one's trust in the rest of the world. Hence you will see some people who are poor but satisfied, because they repay their debts and expect no more than they deserve, and miserable but wealthy people, who thought "money alone" would give them happiness but found out that without any greater reason to live, it's pretty "lonely at the top".

(As an example of the "debt analogy" the top of my head, Nazi physician Josef Mengele escaped the Nuremberg trails after his killings, and spent the rest of his life living comfortably in Argentina. However people who knew him when he was still alive testified that he lived in a constant state of paranoia, always on alert out of fear that eventually someone would come to "collect the social debt" he had incurred.)

Happiness therefore seems to come less directly from physical comfort and convenience and more of being in a state of balanced "social debt", much as a man living in a small home paid of in cash is likely actually more comfortable than a man living in a mansion, having to spend all of his income each month just paying of the mortgage.

So while your friend "having a lot of money and women" isn't a problem in itself (as some jealous people might claim), if he is stepping over others in his life just to have more things which he thinks will make him happy, he is probably creating his own depression.

Post: #32

Check out this book:

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Watchmaker

Post: #33

(06-24-2016 10:03 PM)Four_Strong_Winds Wrote:  Check out this book:

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Watchmaker

Honestly I wouldn't trust Dawkins, he's basically a charlatan who hocks an evangelical form of atheism which is as dishonest and ignorant as Christian fundamentalism.

His target audience is primarily just geeky, liberal hipsters who think that they're smarter than everyone else just because they know "the earth isn't 6,000 years old" or that "talking snakes don't really exist".

He's also falsely presenting his nihilistic philosophy as "science"; evolution and science can't "prove" or "disprove" purpose because the latter is a philosophical or theological question, not something one can prove using the scientific method.

Plus that view has been around long before the modern theory of evolution anyway; it's basically just generic Nietzsche existentialism intermingled with "sciencey" terms to give it an appearance of credibility.

There were also more extreme nihilists like Marquis de Sade who believed the same thing these modern atheists do despite living before Darwin's time - Sade believed that life is meaningless, man is just another animal, and that everything, even rape, murder, and pedophilia should be allowed.

Today "evolution" just serves as an atheist replacement for a creation myth; Now they can just say "evolutiondunit" instead of "goddunit" even when it makes no more logical sense. The whole "life is meaningless, be whoever you want to be" shtick is central to a lot of postmodern leftism and progressivism; basically it just serves as a catalyst for destroying traditional values, advocating the "gay and transgendered lifestyle" as normal, etc

Or shorter version, I think that trying to convince someone who wants meaning in their life that there is none is the worst thing you could do.

Post: #34

(06-24-2016 10:39 PM)EDantes Wrote:  Or shorter version, I think that trying to convince someone who wants meaning in their life that there is none is the worst thing you could do.

Or it could be the best thing - if the guy comes to think that there is no inherent meaning in life, then he may press forth to create his own, which was my point

appreciate your response

Post: #35

If you're looking to temper depression, why not Stoicism?

One of our Forum Members has repeatedly-written on the subject, and has even translated a key Stoic Work from the original Latin.

Stoic Paradoxes - A New Translation by Quintus Curtius

If you've been through enough serious crap in your life you'll probably end up here without knowing you did anyway.

Bonus: remaining unmoved by the emotional storms of women is a huge game advantage.

Disclosure: I dunno, QC will probably buy me a beer sometime.

Post: #36

Depression is a 21st century luxury.
you can be depressed only if you have a roof over your head and the belly nice and stuffed.
I mean it's hard to imagine a depressed caveman, or a depressed hunter... these people were constantly facing death and ruling the tribe, they had no time to "ponder on the meaning of life". So I'm not a psychologist and I don't know your friend's situation, but if he is depressed I would advise him to read books about evolutionary psychology or biology. Many things that we have today, we don't really need, like money, career, materialistic things, monogamy... while there are many other things that we are missing that are VITAL for happines.. like being part of a community, being useful and having status among that community, hunting, building, socializing 24/7 etc etc.
Considering this you should stop caring about the meaning of life, because if you ask that it means you are unhappy. focus instead on creating a life inspired by the pre-historic alpha-male-badass-scarred-hunter and you will want to live forever

Post: #37

My goal is to have a lot of people at my funeral. If there are hundreds of people to give farewell to you, then your life had a purpose.

I think that man´s purpose is creating something. Family at the first. Or commit his life to some noble idea, his nation.

It´s difficult to be happy nowadays, because there are too many ways to become happy and in the end, none of them will actually make you happy.
I love going to nature for few days, because you don´t have to deal with needless thoughts. All you have to deal with and focus on is only keeping yourself warm, dry, hydrated and fed. And all of these things are much more difficult then in modern life and the most of the time you spend by filling those basic needs... and it easilly makes you happy.

Post: #38

(06-26-2016 05:50 AM)tomzestatlu Wrote:  My goal is to have a lot of people at my funeral. If there are hundreds of people to give farewell to you, then your life had a purpose.

My goal is to not have a funeral. I've seen how many Americans die, surrounded by machines and hooked up to lots of tubes and wires. I'm planning on going sailing and when my body gives out, I hope to be in the middle of an ocean. It will be months or years before anyone notices I have disappeared.

Post: #39

Due to people's complex nature, the biological purpose of procreation is not enough to be completely satisfied with life. You can write endless philosophical narratives on what the meaning of life is, but I think it's much simpler:

1. Be happy
2. Be healthy
   

Happiness:

• Be happy with yourself
• Surround yourself with people who make you happy
• Buy what you want
• Partake in activities that make you happy
• Ultimately do what you want, other people's guidelines for happiness are not yours
• Find happiness in situations where conventional happiness isn't found
  

Obviously life is not so black and white that everything makes you either happy or unhappy, and happiness in moderation can be a powerful tool, but in general, you should surround yourself with happiness.

Health:

• Eat good food
• Sleep well
• Healthy social life
• Healthy sex life
• Mental health
• Exercise
• Unhealthy items in moderation(alcohol, drugs, partying, toxic relationships, fast food etc) - different for everyone
  

Post: #40

(06-25-2016 02:18 AM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  If you're looking to temper depression, why not Stoicism?

One of our Forum Members has repeatedly-written on the subject, and has even translated a key Stoic Work from the original Latin.

Stoic Paradoxes - A New Translation by Quintus Curtius

If you've been through enough serious crap in your life you'll probably end up here without knowing you did anyway.

Bonus: remaining unmoved by the emotional storms of women is a huge game advantage.

Disclosure: I dunno, QC will probably buy me a beer sometime.

Heheh...AB, it will be a lot more than just one beer!

Post: #41

(06-22-2016 02:46 PM)LINUX Wrote:  How do I keep on keeping on?

You know what man. I fucking love my life.

And most war veterans will never say that. I wake up excited everyday.

If you want to know why, I'll try to sit down and write why, but it's going to go against most of things that you read here.

I'd also be interested in hearing your story.

Post: #42

(06-27-2016 10:15 AM)yeppels Wrote:  Due to people's complex nature, the biological purpose of procreation is not enough to be completely satisfied with life. You can write endless philosophical narratives on what the meaning of life is, but I think it's much simpler:

1. Be happy
2. Be healthy
   

Happiness:

• Be happy with yourself
• Surround yourself with people who make you happy
• Buy what you want
• Partake in activities that make you happy
• Ultimately do what you want, other people's guidelines for happiness are not yours
• Find happiness in situations where conventional happiness isn't found
  

Obviously life is not so black and white that everything makes you either happy or unhappy, and happiness in moderation can be a powerful tool, but in general, you should surround yourself with happiness.

Health:

• Eat good food
• Sleep well
• Healthy social life
• Healthy sex life
• Mental health
• Exercise
• Unhealthy items in moderation(alcohol, drugs, partying, toxic relationships, fast food etc) - different for everyone
  

Alot of what you touched on is covered in this book


http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13829...connection

Post: #43

I'm an agnostic. I have not been presented with incontrovertible evidence either for the existence of God nor for his absence. It's perfectly easy for me to believe that God doesn't exist and neither the universe nor any creature within it has any real meaning behind it, aside from simply being there.

Does that depress me or make me question the worth of being alive? Not in the slightest. I have been through very difficult times and through very good times. The gulf between the two is vast. If you've ever wanted something so badly and for so long, and then you finally managed to win it, then you know the meaning of life. The meaning of life is to have desires and to fulfill those desires. To desire nothing is the true death even in life, because it saps all hope. If there is nothing you want, then you have no hope, because there is nothing to hope for.

I've had some shit times in my life but I never came close to being depressed. Why? Because there were always things I intensely wanted, and I never felt there was any reason to believe I wouldn't eventually acquire them. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what those things are. So long as there is something out there in this meaningless world that you want, then for you the world is not meaningless.

And we are lucky to be just a smarter animal. We are biologically driven by our animal brains to want things. Only through obsessive thought are these animal wants and desires submerged by depression and melancholy. Therefore ultimately, the meaning of life is to not think about the meaning of life, but to luxuriate in the compulsion to achieve those things your brain is telling you you want to achieve, whatever they happen to be.

Post: #44

   

Post: #45

In my experience, the question itself is the cause of depression, not the lack of proper answer.

It believe it to be a rather wrong approach to comprehending the nature of our existence and being

Instead of wondering what is the meaning of life, act in a way as if you were a god banished to this earth, and are now eagerly waiting in anticipation for whatever next challenge world will put in front of you, never abstaining from poking forwards and exploring.

It is an attitude that makes you overcome any kind of existential discomfort, uneasiness, agitation, and instead you retain a calm demeanor, which in order to make unshakable, you have to practice.

Always remember that what was isn't anymore, and what is to be hasn't yet happened. Instead of being choked with anxiety of becoming, just be.

Post: #46

I think the purpose in life is different for all of us, and I also think even our own purpose in life is constantly changing. My purpose in life when I was 18 is much different than it was when I was 25 which is much different than it is today.

I think the purpose in life is finding what makes you happy and doing it. Today it may being single, sailing, tomorrow it may be being a high performance person achieving things career wise and a few years down the road it may be a focus on family.

One thing I hear alot of people say is that having a purpose or a goal is critical to happiness. Even if you won the lottery or struck it rich and could live a life of leisure many who have been there say it gets old quick. I think many of us focus on the destination and not the journey, I think learning to appreciate the journey is very important. You have a goal, your set to achieve it but the point of achieving it only lasts a fleeting moment and then you've accomplished the goal and have nothing to do again.

I think though its not something concrete the purpose in life is finding your purpose in life and continuing to have one.

Post: #47

Post: #48

I don't know what is the purpose of life, all I can say is that certainly isn't the way humans have been living since the dawn of time. Certainly it isn't the BS we have been told, to "perpetuate our genes" or "associate" with others for a common goal. There is nothing more despicable to me than losing one's self, one's identity, due to an allegiance to human manipulations that are bigger and only exist to control us.

I certainly don't think there could be any meaningful life whenever women and their clique (manginas, "Matrix agents") are involved, and I don't mean in a physical sense only, there is a need to identify their mindset and what they both hold in high regard, and crush it (from your "enslaved and conditioned since birth" mind) once you identify how wicked it is.

The decisive moment for me was when I read Sue Hindmarsh writings and "The Manipulated Man" from Esther Vilar, these sources are not quintessential when compared to other books or teachings, however they raised so profound fundamental questions that it was impossible for me to go back.

I always had strong reservations about women and this gynocentric reality, meaning that I was never deceived, and once I read these (and a lot of similar material), everything changed for the better in my life, I can say for sure that if the chances of becoming just another "pawn" in the game were very unlikely, they changed into nonexistent over time. If you haven't been there, then you are still feeling unrest.

I reached a level of detachment so great that I don't even miss sex or jerking off anymore.

Life is meaningful in my opinion because I am a thinking being that not only can change my environment, unlike all other creatures that only act based on their unconscious, primitive instincts - I am also endowed with the ability to challenge myself and everything that exists, so the "quest" for the truth, the answers about the nature of Universe is reason enough to continue living. Or at least to not die of boredom...

Oh, and I heard that depression is not simply a state of mind that will vanish once you set some priorities straight. Sometimes it can only be cured with medicine prescribed by a psychiatrist. I know some people are going to say most of the time this isn't the case, there's side effects, bad doctors, etc., but each case is not the same.

Post: #49

delete

Post: #50

Make money, fuck bitches, have kids, start legacy. Hopefully in that order.