The rituals we perform and the games we play | Hacker News Reader

The rituals we perform and the games we play

anargumentfordeliberation.wordpress.com

44 pointsBafS90 comments

I always wonder with these "nothing we do has meaning" pieces... what WOULD give life 'real' meaning? As in, what alternate reality would provide meaning?

I can't imagine a universe where things would have 'meaning' in the manner the author of this post seems to desire. Even if you believe in a God that gives our lives meaning, doesn't that just push up the search for 'meaning' one level? How is God choosing an arbitrary meaning for our lives any different than some other human choosing a meaning for your life?

I can understand being frustrated by the drive for status and recognition, but that doesn't have to be the source for meaning in your life. We can find meaning in all sorts of things in our lives. We can find it in our relationships with our loved ones, in our enjoyment of our favorite activities, in our striving to advance human discovery and understanding of our world. These are things that can have intrinsic meaning, not things that only have meaning in the way they increase our status or grant us some secondary benefit.

I would really suggest reading "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl

Much of the constructed meanings that we create are as artificial and illusory as the masks we put upon ourselves, and the rituals we run through.

Things, events, forms arises for no reason other than for it's own sake. That's not a cause for depression and nihilism. In fact, if you were able to clearly see that, this dance of things arising and passing, created, sustained, and dissolved back into the ground of being -- then you'd see the most beautiful thing you could see.

I assume we are so used to living without meaning, that to simulate a world where there was inherent meaning seems a hyperbole. Yet if I could attempt to name it, perhaps it would be a reality with defined endpoints, and where we were not unwilling, clueless participants.

I rather like Camus' treatise of the subject. The wikipedia article serves as a well-written summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus

The summary nearly matches the essay for length. It seems the text is available:

https://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/hell/camus.html

edit: (looking more closely that is probably only 1 of the 4 chapters)

I enjoyed his points. I've often thought of the meaningless of things, but I like how he called them rituals.

“Vanity of vanities!” says the Teacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”

The above is a quote from Ecclesiastes, which, even if you're not religious, is a pretty interesting book, and it seems to sum up pretty much what he is saying.

Fitting enough, shortly after that opening statement in Ecclesiastes this is said.

"What has been—it is what will be; what has been done—it is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. There is a thing of which it is said, “Look at this! This is new!” But it already existed in ages past before us."

>his points. ... , but I like how he

I don't know the writer but there's a good chance the author (HN userid Jasamba) is a "she".

I don't know, this line seems pretty male-centric:

"It’s as if you are now in the elite of the elites of the monkeys, in the good part of the forest where the trees grow bountiful and most female monkeys would kill to be considered a worthy partner by you, so that they too can perform the successful monkey rituals with you"

Female monkeys can be conscious of the ongoing situation you know ;), plus it could be the other way round as well if not for the centuries of 'I is man, so I is provide for family' prevailing expectations.

Yeah, but the 'you' is clearly referring to a male (who the females are going to 'perform the successful monkey ritual with), so the target is a male reader.

Or Lesbains? As the author, I guess I just wanted to go for the more relatable situation.

Thanks for the suggestion, will check it out. I have been looking for a different answer than the usual 'yeah life is meaningless, which is why you make the most of it'. Hopefully something more nuanced and existential crisis relieving.

>I have been looking for a different answer than the usual 'yeah life is meaningless, which is why you make the most of it'.

That's a bit confused. Normally, you make the most of life because it's entirely real and entirely meaningful.

Is it? (real). Last time I checked, this article was right next to the "Are we living in a Computer Simulation", and it's not been written by random depressed people (like me) either.

Glad I didn’t read this on a Monday! I found this article to be a bit of a bleak outlook, or interpretation of life. At least Ecclesiastes offers a little bit more hope of finding meaning in the ritual than this article (thanks for posting).

‘This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.’

So I guess it acknowledges that we are in the pursuit of contentment / satisfaction - not money... at what ever level of ritual we are following

http://xkcd.com/220/

http://xkcd.com/167/

Yeah, sometimes you lose sight about what's beautiful in life. But its the human inside of you who determines whether life is beautiful or not.

Why does anything matter? Is it all just a meaningless "ritual"? Maybe, if you don't care. But that doesn't seem like a very healthy mindset to keep yourself into.

Life only has the meaning that you assign to it. Others will judge you for "meaningless" tasks, or you yourself may feel like things are meaningless at times. That's normal. Congratulations, you've rediscovered existentialism. Now either play the ritual of philosophy and find meaning in that discovery, or play something else.

In any case, seeing life as a serious of "meaningless rituals" ignores the beauty and discovery that life gives us. We all have that phase in our life where we lose meaning, but one day you'll come back around and discover the reason why you continue to march forward.

And at that point, you'll rediscover beauty and adventure. Life will be interesting. Today is not that day for you yet however.

You are in a desert of dunes. The day to day is between two dunes. You look up, you see sand.

There are mountains in the distance. If you never walk up to the top of the dune, you won't know that, and if you don't make it a habit, you'll quickly forget that you saw them.

Your life can be a procession of views of sand grains in between a few dunes, or it can be a deliberate migration towards the mountains.

We are not terribly far from an ascension that will completely change the human condition, make it irrelevant as to what we our ancestors were in the evolutionary past, and make it possible to choose everything about what we will be. The future is glorious, golden, and accelerating. You can work towards that, or you can choose to ignore it.

Is this the Singularity version of the rapture? The take-more-LSD version of the rapture? The cyborg version of the rapture? Or just the rapture?

You are on a planet flying through space. The day to day is somewhere in space. You look up, you probably see sky.

There are things that will happen in the future. If you always think about living for the future instead of the present, and you don't make it a habit, you'll quickly forget that you're living in a dream.

Your life can be a procession of day jobs, food, media ad infinitum ad nauseam.

We're not far from all the angels, demons, cyber raptures, and myriad of dogmatic ideologies we want to believe in, if we do, and it makes it possible to choose everything about what we choose to do each day. The future is unwritten.

This is fantastic. I'm about to turn 30 and I'm really feeling the lack of long-term goals and drives.

I was with you right up until the last line. I don't understand why most people view nihilism as bleak and depressing. Why do we crave meaning to give us direction?

Nihilism feels so liberating to me. I have thoughts like these daily, they serve to remind me that we don't have to do the rituals if we don't want to. We can do whatever we want. At any moment. And nobody can say it's "wrong" or "bad," because those concepts don't exist in the universe at large. There's no point, there's no meaning, there's no goal - it's an open sandbox. Go play, while you still have the chance!

Nihilism says play itself is meaningless. Not that I disagree that play is important, but it's your own meaning, your own value that you've either held on to or come up with. Frankly it's by rediscovering things like play that I was able to crawl back out of the abyss.

Of course play is meaningless. Killing yourself right now is an equally valid choice. It doesn't matter, do whatever. Go on a murderous rampage if you want. If you believe in material monism, then free will is essentially an illusion anyway.

It's pretty difficult, as an animal brain subject to the illusion, to fully commit to living life that way, but I like to keep it in mind...

For something to be meaningless, there has to be something else that is meaningful, the definition only makes sense in opposition to something else, just like light is only light compared to the dark. So for life to be meaningless, you have to find something else that has meaning. What in your mind has meaning?

Does everything have to be a duality like that? Can you have darkness without the concept of light?

I believe in monism - ultimately there is only one thing, or one type of thing. It is not contrasted with anything else[1]. That's why it's not meaningful or meaningless, good or bad, right or wrong - it just "is."

[1] Except, perhaps, complete nothingness, utter void. So in that sense everything that exists is meaningful, and only pure nothingness is meaningless.

"Does everything have to be a duality like that? Can you have darkness without the concept of light?"

Can you have darkness without the concept of light? Simply put, no.

If you'd like another example, how about this... If there were no objects in the Universe, only free space, would gravity exist?

> "I believe in monism - ultimately there is only one thing, or one type of thing. It is not contrasted with anything else[1]. That's why it's not meaningful or meaningless, good or bad, right or wrong - it just "is."

[1] Except, perhaps, complete nothingness, utter void. So in that sense everything that exists is meaningful, and only pure nothingness is meaningless."

Have you considered there's another explanation that is the polar opposite to nihilism? Whilst it may not be what you thought of before, your comments above would suggest you'd be open to that possibility. To start exploring this...

If there were no objects in the Universe, only free space, would gravity exist?

I don't know what to make of a hypothetical like that. It seems nonsensical, just like a universe without light, or the absence of a universe, the concept of pure emptiness or nothingness. We can't conceive of these scenarios because they preclude our own existence and ability to conceive of anything.

Anyway, I'm not sure what you're driving at...was the comment left unfinished for some sort of meta purpose?

> "Anyway, I'm not sure what you're driving at...was the comment left unfinished for some sort of meta purpose?"

Sorry about that, it wasn't my intention. Sometimes I'll leave a post half finished when I'm looking up a link because my phone's web browser has a habit of erasing partially complete comments when I change tabs, so my only reliable option is to post what I have before I'm ready. In this case I took longer than I thought I would to look up a link for you. I won't promise it won't happen again, but I'll try to make what I'm doing clearer next time.

To see the opposite to nihilism, let's first look at interconnectedness. What are your thoughts on the ideas in this video?

http://youtu.be/HM31KBLRQTg

I agree with those ideas, and they are pretty consistent with monist philosophy. I often think of life as one big unbroken chain, one system, and then that of course extends to the planet, solar system, galaxy, and so on. The fact that I "consciously" view myself as a "human" living a "lifetime" is just a very curious phenomenon, the illusion I mentioned.

I don't see it as the opposite of nihilism, it's two sides of the same coin. When you take it to such an extreme, things break down. Is there no meaning, or is everything meaningful? What's the difference?

> "I don't see it as the opposite of nihilism, it's two sides of the same coin."

Two sides of the same coin is the opposite! Using rough definitions, nihilism is that nothing matters, the opposite (which I don't have a name for) is that everything matters. Taken further, this interconnectedness means that we are all the universe, we are all God. I'd recommend checking out more Alan Watts videos to have this explained better, he looks at it in various ways. Here are a couple of short ones, though I'd recommend his longer talks (I think the music often found on the shorter ones can detract from the clarity of the message sometimes):

http://youtu.be/ssf7P-Sgcrk

http://youtu.be/mMRrCYPxD0I

It's just a matter of interpretation. Yes, heads and tails are opposites, but it's still one coin. :) The idiom implies a similarity or close relationship between the two.

Functionally, in terms of how you go about your life, what is the difference between these "opposite" philosophies? I'll check out the videos but my guess is I have already incorporated the ideas.

The article seems to have been edited, previously it ended with "It makes me want to not keep living" or something to that effect, instead of the quote from Ecclesiastes.

Yeah, I didn't expect it to blow up that much, and that line left me feeling a bit too vulnerable than I would've liked to be.

No worries, though I would be interested to hear your thoughts on my position...do you see yourself ever "embracing nihilism" as another commenter put it, and using it as a source of encouragement rather than depression?

Hum, I think I do interpret it in a positive way most of the time, though there are other times, esp when I see otherwise fine people struggling to get this badge or that validation(plus comparing it to other people's), and beating themselves over it. Its less me having difficulties embracing nihilism but more wishing that it was a more accessible and talked about idea, so that you wouldn't see these amazing people killing themselves over a failed exam and falling into depression comparing themselves to others who seemingly have 'made something of their life', good for them. It's like the race has become the existing reality that we forget it's just that. I was inspired to write the article just after this conversation with a friend, who is an insanely talented coder, who has decided that since he was already 25, it was too late for him to 'accomplish' anything, and he was thereby a 'loser'. I find my brother in a similar situation of angst for not 'accomplishing' something (he's 22). Countless otehr very close friends echoing similar sentiments (maybe it's a 20's thing?). I understand wanting to discover cool stuff, getting closer to the absolute truth, but I don't understand beating yourself up because you did not meet a randomly assigned deadline, and assuming that some-one is a loser by default unless they can prove otherwise (Remonds me of how religion works, you are a sinner now do these things and give us all this money). That's what takes me down in the end.

Fully agreed there. It's easy to get caught up in the rat race when everyone around you is doing the same, and it can make you feel crazy to be the only one saying "guys, what are we actually doing all this for?" But ultimately, you can't beat yourself up over others beating themselves up.

Another way to think of it is: I don't like Donald Trump. I think what he does is wrong and bad, and it saddens and angers me if I let it. But, if I hold true to my beliefs, then he's just another part of the universe playing itself out, which will continue inexorably regardless of how I feel about it, so there's no sense in getting mad about it.

The use of the word "ritual" seems to imply behavioral patterns done without fully understanding them. But a full explanation for human behavior requires a lot more than just understanding monkey behavior (why stop there rather than at mammal behavior, or tetrapod behavior, or RNA replicator behavior), it requires a perfect model of the universe extrapolated over 14 billion years which is forever beyond our grasp.

"Ritual" also implies behavior that is done by rote or under duress. But that leaves out behavior that is done because it is desirable or an expected end of it is desirable. The drive to pursue pleasure does not require an explanation, it is its own explanation, much like the drive to avoid pain requires no explanation either.

> It makes me wonder what would happen to us if we didn’t have any more rituals to perform or standardized games to wake up to.

You describe the absence of all drives, a very unusual state. Sounds like depression, frankly.

It makes me wonder what would happen to us if we didn’t have any more rituals to perform or standardized games to wake up to.

We'd develop them again. We didn't get the set we have by accident.

Some variation would be found, certainly, but cultures around the world converged on many similar notions reaching where we are today.

How many of those cultures evolved in isolation?

A mighty prolix way of saying "what is the meaning of life?"

Agreed, but then that's literature's way of saying anything, the more prolix the better.

Only within limits. And those limits are as defined by the audience, not by the author. (Or rather, the author, by setting the verbosity, determines the audience. If you want to reach the New Yorker audience, use lots of words. If you want to reach the average HN reader, not so much.)

A little too self-indulgent for my tastes. Any time someone refers to humans as upgraded monkeys I have the same reaction ... "yeah, I get it. Now get over yourself".

I agree and thank you for the feedback, for its defense, this was barely the first draft and really skims over the thoughts and follows them as they arrive. It is by no means a revised and generalized piece.

My two favorite books on this subject:

1) James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games, http://amzn.com/1476731713

2) Antoine de St.-Exupéry, Wisdom of the Sands (Fr. Citadelle) http://amzn.com/0226733726

Russians do it better. Gulag Archipelago, War and Peace. OK, so they use more pages...

I started reading that one once. It's been 9 years..

These are both great books, but they aren’t really the same subject per se.

I love you for this, the first book is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! - author

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2394 http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2871

But I think between these two concepts: http://www.alexwg.org/publications/PhysRevLett_110-168702.pd... https://www.quantamagazine.org/20140122-a-new-physics-theory...

there might be an implied purpose to the "universe".

I like that you linked a journal article, thanks! And SMBC is just great, I'm constantly surprised that the creator started out with a literature degree, and ended up writing such relatable jokes for the academic community.

Entropy maximization sounds about just as appealing as an answer as 42.

An oblique point, but we apparently have more in common with apes than monkeys. Admittedly, you could have just as easily compared us with wolverines. Nicely written!

Well... yes. There's more to it than that. The author pretty much stopped when he could keep going further.

A lot of our identity is attached to these meaningless rituals and games. However, the one constant in all of it is Awareness. It's here that when one starts trying to find just "who" is aware that things get interesting again. It leads to some place much deeper and goes beyond the existential dread.

That was a point I wanted to dwell upon. Awareness while committing the rituals indeed changes the game but that would be incomplete without including free will and the concept of consciousness (giving rise to awareness) in general. But then going into successively deeper arguments endangers the article ever seeing the light of day.

You ever looked into the philosophy of non-dual Shaiva Tantra? Well, actually, just about any non-dual philosophies...

Here, consciousness and awareness is not a concept, but the first principle of the universe -- from which the _concept_ of consciousness reflects upon the first principle (without actually being the first principle). It's a key insight that breaks out the nihilism.

-- By "consciousness", I am speaking of awareness, not the constructed identity that most people calls "consciousness".

Yes, we are animals. That much is obvious. Yes, we are predictable animals. What is the point of it all? I think those that have found the courage to break free of the shackles of these "games" have found it. I hope to be among them one day, but right now, I am here, seeking freedom like the rest of us.

Oh the woefulness of existential crisis...

Go for a walk in the park. Go for a bike ride. Talk to new people, hang out with them. Play some games, don't be a jerk or else people will return the favor.

Embark on an exuberant hedonistic adventure and when you burn out, swim into the ocean and begin an alternative life style.

But what's the poooiint..

What would be a satisfying point to you? Can you describe an imaginary universe/reality that DOES have meaning, by your definition?

The point is that I am an unwilling participant in an evolutionary unfolding of life that I could not even make sense of until Mr. Darwin figured it out. Isn't it absurd that you are a critical thinking being, thrown onto a random planet with a certain set of initial conditions and limited knowledge collected by a few generations before you? And being aware of this, we go around like it's no big deal, buy our starbucks coffee and go on to complain about the tax rates and suicidal muslims.

It's not absurd, I enjoy existing over not existing.

If you want to leave, you're free to go.

What makes is absurd?

The planet isn't random, it is one that can sustain life in our form. That we don't know everything about our existence, that we have to piece it together as best we can, and share our findings with the next generation, is all very exciting and amazing and awesome to me. I guess I am just the type of person who loves open world games :)

Also, it makes me get less upset when I see shitty things in the world - the fact that life that is just evolving to survive can get our shit together as well as humanity has, is frankly pretty amazing and impressive.

I agree with you and you are right, the world games are amazing and fun, but how many of us are aware that these are just games? And what happens when one ties their human worth to 'winning' these said games in succession (cause obv one is never enough). I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time, as a commentor pointed out. I guess I've just been running into too many people desperately running to 'get ahead', 'prove themselves', 'gain respect and admiration', that they become blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all.

There is nothing inherent in our existence that makes us need to do those things (tie your human worth to 'winning', 'getting ahead', or 'proving yourself', etc), and the best part is that whether you define yourself by those things or not is completely up to you. You don't need to change anyone else in order to not do those things yourself; when you say 'I wish we could just take this time for what it is, a gift of time,' you can totally do that! There is nothing stopping you - you don't need to convince anyone else of that in order to live it yourself.

You lament that you run into so many people who care about those things, and they are blind to the fragile and fleeting nature of it all, but I am unsure why that is such a horrible thing. Everyone is going to choose their own meaning for their lives, and sure, some will choose things that I don't understand and I don't think are important. But that is their life, and them choosing to care about those things doesn't change your life. You are not bound by their preferences.

In fact, I think it is great that all different people have such varied opinions on what is important. I get to observe them all, and see what life would be like under various scenarios. The human existence is so amazing because we all get to lead our own separate little 'experiments' in how we should live our lives (what we should do, what we should care about), and then we can share with each other what we have learned while trying these things. Some of the experiments will be utter failures, and some will be successes. We can learn from them all.

The point is to enjoy it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Here are a couple of my favourite songs that I think put it well:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMoRVrqx_I

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z46va

Here's one of my favourite stories about the same thing:

https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/25/margaret-mead-meani...

Sometimes it can be fun/stimulating to consider the nature of existence, but if it isn't taking you to that place, why do it? I half remember a story about a famous mathematician who drove himself mad trying to solve a problem regarding infinities, to me this is a great example of the difference between intellect and wisdom. If you're driven to understand something, I'd suggest that tells you something that's interesting in its own right, so to turn it back on you, why do you want to know?

Thanks for the links! I guess I'd like to know because without it, there's not much else I can do except wake up/eat/take s shit/go back to sleep. We are even able to have this conversation because someone somewhere wanted to go deeper and know more. About mathematicians, as a physicist, I'm no better myself and don't see why the possibility of going crazy should stop you from going after a problem you think you just need to know and are uniquely equipped to find the answer to, especially if you happen to be a famous(so probably a very talented) mathematician.

You're welcome. :-) Thank you for your answer, I think I understand your reasoning a little better.

With the example of the mathematician, you can read it a number of different ways, but one of the things I took from it was the difference between a healthy curiosity and an unhealthy curiosity. It sounds to me that you have a healthy curiosity, and enjoy the mental stimulation of exploring the big questions. As long as it remains something you enjoy and you're still open to enjoying other things then you can't really go wrong. If you'd like to find kindred spirits that also enjoy thinking about the big questions, you can find plenty in the world of philosophy. I can recommend The School of Life as an enjoyable way to explore philosophy. As some examples, here are a couple of my favourites from TSoL:

http://youtu.be/fI1OeMmwYjU

http://youtu.be/WLAtXWaz76o

Learning can be done for your own enjoyment, but what I would suggest is the mindset that many of us used to get us through school isn't likely to help with that. I think this video puts it well:

http://youtu.be/ERbvKrH-GC4

Related to this, here's a discussion about deschooling you may find interesting:

http://youtu.be/Avd1EgAHnD8

One last thing...

http://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w

Best of luck!

Thanks! Loved the songs you had linked, esp the drums. Deschooling sounds very close to what I assume will be required to cope and thrive with nihilism. We are given some very shallow arguments to 'keep going' mainly centering around, 'You need to be successful/find a succesful partner/Be the next einstein'.You only need to go a couple of steps deeper, to realise that these statements are hollow and incomplete. I'm not saying one needs to have a why to do anything at all, just that it needs to be understand that there is no answer to that why. Otherwise it is no different from religious dogma that crumbles at the slightest questioning. Thanks for the aweosme links, gonna check them out one by one!

Glad you liked the songs! Would be interested to hear what you thought of the other videos too (even if you didn't like them).

Whilst I can see that you're looking into nihilism, it's worth knowing that nihilism isn't the only alternative to conventional views and religious dogma. To start this exploration, let's look at reincarnation. My favourite way to look at this is... If you eat an apple, has that apple been reincarnated as a human?

There is no point, no "for" reason. Only a "because" reason. Because you were given time. You are here because you were given time. Don't look for a point. Look for uses for time.

I like the concept that I have been given 'time' to act as I please. But am I acting as I please, because for the most part I am reacting to an ensemble of random events.

The point of it all is it all. If you suffer from existential doubts, it just means you're existentially confused.

When you remember that we are evolved monkeys it all makes perfect sense. Not saying it's somehow gratifying or inspiring but leaves little mystery. Probably not the answer you were looking for.

Embrace nihilism! (if you want)

But definitely read Camus and Nietzsche.

Camus is particularly good if you'd like to be exposed to philosophies/ideas that result in happiness, rather than ones that demand you just have it.

Thanks, I started them at some point, but had too much at hand to really get into them. I basically wrote the article in under 15 minutes in a mildly depressive/ruminative state. Apart from the 'Gah, Get over it!', I now have all these awesome book suggestions to indulge my existential crisis in.

Haha, I know the feeling well. So much to do. Hard to really get through one thing before finding an awesome next story or idea.

I don't think I've personally ever "gotten over" existential angst. I don't think I've ever tried because it's been with me for a while and I somehow came about experiencing it without hitting a deep depression. It's just there. Could have been the sets of fantasy books I read as a child/teenager allowing me to step outside myself mentally, or maybe it's a quirk of my upbringing. I was able to, and still am able to, think about suicide, the meaning of life, and how pointless it all is, while maintaining a relatively normal life.

I often explain to friends and/or family about how my logical/conscious self defaults to existential nihilism and they either go, "Uhhh, ok..." or say, "That's impossible. You care. You can't act the way you do and not care."

They're confused that I chose to live, I guess. So many people bias themselves towards a positive answer of the question: Does life have a meaning?

Many say, "Of course it does. If you really thought otherwise you wouldn't be alive."

For them it's: "Life has meaning... so I must live" "Life has no meaning... so I must die"

I think there's a funny middle:

"Life has no meaning... I... Well, I've got no idea, but I'm sure as hell not going to make a choice with no idea... I guess I'll see how it goes."

seems to devalue the practice of ritualism, while mocking the social constructs of presumably a city. maybe try reflecting on one or the other instead of devaluing the potency of each.

Sure this kind of posts get pretty annoying. As the author keeps repeating "existential longing" I want to yell "get over it already" or "stop smoking pot".

But then I remember that I have my moments too. It's not everyday, but I definitely have times where I look at the mundanity of programming. Today, making these pages render in a few milliseconds gets me excited, but the other day I was watching a live feed from the international space station and simply switched the channel. Because what's is the damn point.

I don't find these posts meaningless. And don't be too quick to judge. Today it is him/her, tomorrow it is you!

I swear there was no pot involved whatsoever, though if there had been, I'm certain you'd have been spared of the annoyance of yet another 'Why am I here/Everything is meaningless' piece.

I'm not saying writing this kind of piece is bad. I want to read them, and they are a good reminder that sometimes we get caught up in our little rituals and take it way too seriously.

The fact that I was annoyed was exactly the point. I have my own days where I feel like all I am doing is meaningless, and in those days reading a post like this actually inspires me because I know I'm not alone in this feeling.

Maybe I didn't express myself correctly on the previous comment, but in no way telling you to shut up. Just saying that today you are the one feeling like this. Tomorrow, it will be me.

Sex!

Bacon!

was this written by an adult?

Author here, half an adult i'd say. It was meant to be a stream of consciousness unloading exercise, my first one at that. I have no idea why people are upvoting it.

You're probably getting upvoted because there's a kernel of truth in it. Many of the very intelligent people I know have followed this line of thought at one point or another. I have as well, multiple times.

It keeps coming back to "what's the point of what I'm doing?" and I've personally yet to find any sort of answer that speaks to any sort of higher truth than "I'm here, now what?"

A good read, though I think Solomon's version is more evocative.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+1-...

I upvoted it because, as another commenter said, I have had much the same thoughts before. Some weeks/months I'll have these thoughts everyday.

So basically, I upvoted because I identify with what you wrote.

Glad I could do that. I wrote it in a pretty down state, so it pretty much wrote itself albeit the imperfect language and structure.

This teenager will be singehandeldy (maybe with help from voters) responsible for several onsets of midlife crises. Words can be dangerous.

That's a bit over the top. Any mid life crisis that is one essay away from happening is pretty close to happening regardless.

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