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Is life worth living?

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Gonzukes

Gonzukes

Diviner of Sound
With all the suffering (balanced by all the thriving) in the world, is life worth living?

It is inevitable one will go through immense sadness, but one will also go through immense happiness.

What is it that makes one persist through the journey of life, other than the biological programming to live and reproduce?

Parallel to that rather nihilistic question, is death worth dying? It is inevitable do die, but it is inevitable to live. So that leaves us here, with seemingly little control over the nature of ourselves. Especially in this rather difficult rat-race society, it seems to be a great struggle to achieve success in a psychonautical mind. The success our society strives for is material wealth, but I have achieve mental/spiritual/etc. wealth. I'm a happy person with a pretty laidback life, with that being said, it's not going to necessarily be laidback and easy forever.

I'm 19, so I'm obviously going to end up growing up and joining that wonderful adult life of paying bills and working. I absolutely love making music and engineering sounds and whatnot, but it seems like any sort of artistic field is very uncomfortable to live in with our modern society. It seems like the only real way for me to "make a living" (other than learning survivalism and fleeing into the wonderful wilderness) is to succumb to the rather mindless manner of working a job that provides little-to-no meaning in my life.

Thoughts?
 
It may be difficult or even impossible to change your circumstances, but it is fully within your control to decide how to respond to your circumstances.

People will often claim a negative utility as a reason for not wanting to remain alive, as in "there are more bad things in my life than good things so I might as well not be alive." But "good" and "bad" are totally subjective, and if you are not happy with the course of things, it is always within your power to undertake radical change. No one is an objective result of their circumstances; you always have at least some agency to determine what you want to do and how you want to feel.

Is life worth living, for me? Yes, I am very happy as of now. Even though there were times when I was not as happy, I would not be here now if I stopped being alive then. Things can always get better, worse, or remain the same, but one thing you will always have on your side as long as you are alive is the ability to be mindful and exist in the present moment. If you do not concern yourself with your past or worrying about your future, I am sure that you will find the majority of your present moments to be extremely beautiful and very worth being alive for. :)
 
Is life worth living? Well, if you like asking those sorts of questions, then the answer is "Yes". Nonliving things don't get to choose. We can only ask such questions because we are alive. Revel in this.
 
Have you read 'The Myth of Sisphyus' by Albert Camus? If not I think you might find that particulary relevant and interesting reading.
 
obliguhl said:
Is not living worth not living?
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Gonzukes said:
I'm 19, so I'm obviously going to end up growing up and joining that wonderful adult life of paying bills and working. I absolutely love making music and engineering sounds and whatnot, but it seems like any sort of artistic field is very uncomfortable to live in with our modern society.

Thoughts?
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Hey, I was 19, too and I know what you mean.

Make music out of love, not money, and see money as a necessary evil. It corrupts your music anyway if you do it for money, so don't do it as a job. Find a job that pays off well, doesn't involve much time or effort and leaves enough room for your love. You might need to bite the bullet for some time. Maybe even 10 years or more.

Another good idea is to stay away from depressing ppl bitching too much about "how corrupt the system is" and "how evil capitalism is" - they spread unnecessary negative vibration.

Everybody knows it and it won't likely change. Treat the situation like the weather, take your necessary precautions, don't bitch about it and spread love - in your case making wonderful music. That's the most likely game changer imo.

They say that helping each other is the road to redemption, so take your focus away from your ego and see how you can help others. Good luck.
 
Life is worth living if only for the experience of living it. Be grateful for the chance, who cares if your job is meaningless, I cut grass for a living and then it just grows back. It's all the little things like seeing your kids smile and the play of light through the branches of the trees that make life what it is.

Gain knowledge, seek out adventure, live life so that when the time comes to say goodbye you have no regrets and can go out with a smile and not a what if.
 
In a strict cost/benefit sense? I'd say it varies by individual. Most people do not often ever wish they'd never been born/had the chance to live so I'd have to say most most it probably is.

I am very depressed and I cannot remember the last time I didn't wake up wishing I didn't have to exist. My life is absolutely not worth living and feels like a punishment.
 
zknarc said:
I am very depressed and I cannot remember the last time I didn't wake up wishing I didn't have to exist. My life is absolutely not worth living and feels like a punishment.
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When was the last time you walked out your home and did something for somebody else? Without profiting? You can do it (maybe with the help of substances). Donate to the homeless, help a refugee, advance science for the betterment of humanity etc. Complaining won't work. The same with lying in bed bemoaning yourself. Depression = massive ego. Get rid of it.
 
zknarc said:
In a strict cost/benefit sense? I'd say it varies by individual.
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WTF sorry but life is not a financial decision.

Investment = Lifetimes worth of effort

Return = Death

Verdict = Pointless


Does a rock ponder it's worth? Does a star worry that it is not putting out enough light.

The fact we can question life makes it worth living.

I think so many people have great expectations of being important or changing the world when young. Once out of education there comes a point where we are thrust into the world, forced to pay our way through a boring job and we realise that we are just like everyone else, fighting for our own little piece of turf in a big wide world that does not care for justice or equality. Here seems to lie the problem. As children we are conditioned into believing that we are special and the world is fair. As adults we realise that this is not true. Disappointment ensues.

Just live life, look around you and not inwards, don't worry about money or success neither of these things are anything other than simple greed. Seek knowledge, enjoy the moment, take in the sights, smells, taste of the world around you.

Anything can be fun if you make it so. I have dug graves in the snow and rain and could still have a joke a bit of banter and go home happy to be alive (although smelling like I was not).

In short don't waste your time analysing life and get on and experience what it has to offer.
 
Ufostrahlen said:
zknarc said:
I am very depressed and I cannot remember the last time I didn't wake up wishing I didn't have to exist. My life is absolutely not worth living and feels like a punishment.
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depression = massive ego. Get rid of it.
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Your post and unsolicited judgement is ignorant, unhelpful and rude.

Randomness said:
zknarc said:
In a strict cost/benefit sense? I'd say it varies by individual.
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WTF sorry but life is not a financial decision.

Investment = Lifetimes worth of effort

Return = Death

Verdict = Pointless
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I never said it was financial, reward can be anything. The return is not death, the reward is the enjoyment (or not) of experiences in life.
 
zknarc said:
Your post and unsolicited judgement is ignorant, unhelpful and rude.
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Oh, I'm sorry I've hurt your ego. Of course you are a pitiable person.^^
 
depression = massive ego. Get rid of it.
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That's a bit too simplistic.
Without ego there wouldn't be depresion, but there also would not be language, art and what we'd call "humaness". I tend to believe that depression is some kind of adaptation strategy just that you can't adapt to some situations...or you once failed to adapt and then being depressed became a habbit engrained in your psyche AND brain.

Self-pitty is never a habit to indulge in as it makes all worse.
 
Is life worth living?
If this wasnt life it isnt living.
What i mean to say is that, what we are going through is just that EXACTLY and nothing else.
Life is not a singular point of good or bad. Rather a mixture of events and you yourself are allowed to judge and say this is good for MY LIFE and this is bad for MY life. Whether the fact is true or not is for you to find out.

Imagine we were conciouse plants. If you then conciously choose to absorb Acid water instead of rain water. Then maybe you wouldnt grow to your full potential.

So the first question would need to be.
What are you? And what do YOU need.

Im sure there is a plant somewhere on another planet which thrives in acid conditions. But plants on earth thrive on clear rain water.
 
obliguhl said:
That's a bit too simplistic.
Without ego there wouldn't be depresion, but there also would not be language, art and what we'd call "humaness".
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Does language & humaness require an I? I think zknarc proved my point by feeling personally attacked instead of answering my question. That's the problem with depressed persons imo. It's always about themselves, not about others.

I tend to believe that depression is some kind of adaptation strategy just that you can't adapt to some situations...or you once failed to adapt and then being depressed became a habbit engrained in your psyche AND brain.
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Sure, but there's always somebody worse off than you. I mean 99% of depressed people aren't concentration camp survivors, but even some of them came out without a depression. So I actually find it rude to self pity yourself because of your minor Western problems.

Once you've been born into Western society you belong to the 10% of the world. But I hope zknarc proves me wrong with his/her horrible story how he/her grew up in the slums as an orphan starving most of the time.
 
Ufostrahlen said:
obliguhl said:
That's a bit too simplistic.
Without ego there wouldn't be depresion, but there also would not be language, art and what we'd call "humaness".
Click to expand...
Does language & humaness require an I? I think zknarc proved my point by feeling personally attacked instead of answering my question. That's the problem with depressed persons imo. It's always about themselves, not about others.

I tend to believe that depression is some kind of adaptation strategy just that you can't adapt to some situations...or you once failed to adapt and then being depressed became a habbit engrained in your psyche AND brain.
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Sure, but there's always somebody worse off than you. I mean 99% of depressed people aren't concentration camp survivors, but even some of them came out without a depression. So I actually find it rude to self pity yourself because of your minor Western problems.

Once you've been born into Western society you belong to the 10% of the world. But I hope zknarc proves me wrong with his/her horrible story how he/her grew up in the slums as an orphan starving most of the time.
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Please, inform yourself about the pathology of depression before telling someone how to solve it. It's not simply "get over it". Depression is as much pathological as cancer or diabetes.

When your endocrine system is pumping out stress hormones, NON STOP, and there is no way of shutting it down, that's pathological. Depression is just that. Depression is the body undergoing a massive internal battle, both in mind and body.


zknarc, Ufostrahlen seems to have the right intention, but is very blunt about it. He is right when he says this "When was the last time you walked out your home and did something for somebody else? Without profiting? You can do it (maybe with the help of substances). Donate to the homeless, help a refugee, advance science for the betterment of humanity etc.". Try and do something for someone else. It might take a lot of energy out of you to even attempt to do it. But even doing something minor will help you feel better. Sure, life is futile. But isn't the world beautiful? That's something worth living for.
 
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