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27-06-2018 Hey, Rina. I see you dissected my comment with surgical precision. That analytical / philosophical brain of yours really is a force of nature, clever girl. Trust me, I can relate. I must say, I was mildly surprised to hear you state that money has problem solving power after watching your video on "success obsession" where you launch into an anti-materialist diatribe, one with which I wholeheartedly agree by the way. I also agree that money solves problems in the physical sense, as it helps meet your most basic needs. However, on a spiritual level, I would argue it actually CAN and USUALLY DOES cause more issues. I have several millionaires in my immediate and extended family and have witnessed the kind of shenanigans exorbitant sums (and sometimes small sums) of money can bring. I would be remiss to neglect the fact many of my poorer relatives have lived happier lives than those who are wealthy. It is really an amazing thing to witness, but I have seen it up close for many years. The song "Mo Money, Mo Problems" comes to mind. All those who attain riches are afraid to lose them and , hence, greed consumes their hearts, which is a major source of suffering. Often times, as a man's material fortune grows, he slips into moral bankruptcy. Look at one of the many videos on Youtube of lottery winners whose lives literally fell apart after "striking gold". America, the wealthiest country in modern history, is currently slipping into this type of spiritual bankruptcy. It surrounds and saddens me. My fellow Americans look like a bunch of zombies moping around. So, to answer your question, yes, more money, as counterintuitive as it may sound, can lead to unhappiness. As you stated in your semi- drunk rambling video, there is just no free stuff in this life. For every high there is a subsequent low, a yin to every yang. I have never wanted for anything material in this world and have lived what most would consider a very charmed life in this regard, but once you become independently wealthy, there is a certain emptiness which accompanies it. As Marilyn Manson quoted from his favorite fortune cookie, "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed". All that being said, I WOULD NOT want to be living in poverty, because poverty does not bring happiness either. What can I say, this life is very complicated and confusing and I certainly do not have all the answers. What I can say with certainty, however, is that in your " Success Obsession" video I noticed you look absolutely ravishing in black, which, as a man with dark vision, is naturally my favorite color. Stay crazy in this crazy world! |
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07-07-2018 I had an epiphany this early morning which I just had to share. After reading a majority of the articles on this blog and watching a majority of the accompanying videos on Youtube I have come to an irrefutable conclusion. Instead of all these musings, ramblings, and lamentations we can save ourselves a lot of time by repeating a single phrase : Life sucks, the world is a terrible place, it is all lies, and nobody cares. Those few words bring this entire website into summation - no need to say anything else. End of story. Now I can get on with my miserable life! |
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08-07-2018 Oh, and how did I forget, we are all going to die. (Hopefully sooner rather than later). Goodbye. |
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09-08-2018 Brian, you can add Margot Kidder to the list of celebrity suicides. |
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09-08-2018 Irina, if you actually do not suffer from any self - esteem problems or sudden mood swings you are the first female in all of human history to possess this duo of qualities - a real unicorn in the flesh. |
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02-10-2018 Irina, I just dropped by to see what was what and so you left a voicemail. So much to say, so little to say, but since I don't know if you will even read this comment after several months have passed since your posting, I won't spend my time saying more unless you give me the OK that you know when new comments are posted on older posts.Brilliant to hear you again in your "Pillow Talk" format, and perhaps a few thoughts in an exchange would interest you, so reply if you desire, I'll check back in a bit, and hopefully we can reconnect. Not being one of the ignorant, nor even one of the searchers for Truth, but actually knowing the nitty gritty can be, is, often a mentally lonely place. Return my hello with a wave, if only to make that space just a little bit less lonely. |
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21-10-2018
Hey Kirk, sorry to be so unreliable in my posting and replying. :) Sure, I always welcome your input. It is a lonely place, I'm trying to come to grips with that and not pay attention. That most people can't relate to a significant part of my worldview, to how I see and feel the world, I think I've almost accepted this as normal by now. Still saddens me some days, and no doubt will one day again feel like a crushing weight, but I just try to make 90% of my days as 'normal' as possible. But takes me one unlucky spotting of a stray cat with some malaise to remind me that other people see this and it doesn't make them question the point of bringing children on this planet, and of course there are much worse things happening in the world, just that animals in distress usually remind me of the rest of the stuff and I probably just have a soft spot for cats )) |
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12-10-2018 Uriupina,Long time no see or no read. You make a fool of this sad world with your beauty. Greetings from Paraguay. RaГєl |
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21-10-2018
Hi Raúl, Thanks for a lovely greeting. I'm not that beautiful, in real life) And I will age eventually. Or die before that, haha, both prospects sound 'exciting'. Oh well, such is life! Hope you're well) |
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21-10-2018 Hi lady, I'm an astoundingly not-so-brazilian Brazilian. I love two quotes above all others: Even in Utopia there would be unrequited love (Freud). Life's not even meaningless (A norwegian philosopher whose name I forgot). That "not even" is so damn revealing...It zeroes a zero and yet you can understand it..Which, to me, proves Feynman was spot on when he said that science is imagination in a straitjacket. Because yeah, if an individual or a whole society should go nuts and startbelieving in things not real, in the truly out-there sense of the word, Nature wouldn't complain or anything like that. It's up to us to keep things going this or that way, and the outcome matters to us alone, again. Nature did not have either the Sun go on light strike or something, as a form of protest, that day in Japan when the americans went "touchГ©!" and said to the japanese "Well, so you guys are into impermanence, cherry blossom shit? What about turning people into faint shades on a wall in a split second?" I do believe we need good will to stand life because I do believe too that we can ask only one another for help. Even yesterday Irina a person I thought could help me told me she's going to "pray", to fucking "pray", if you allow me, for me, and that broke my heart, absolutely. I'd rather receive a phone call, 100%, even if it led nowhere in the end. The dying Bobby Fischer said "Nothing soothes pain like human touch". The same applies to the human voice, in my mind. But in order to notice that, the preciousness of it, of giving through it and receiving from it, you have to notice very, very clearly, the misery that's there regardless of how well the economy is doing and how neat the streets are looking. But people mistake the niceties of History and their cozy little marriages for Life, and in doing so cease to be intelligent, and their sense of duty before another human being will be everyday only as large as their mood, and not their conviction, will allow. That person literally killed me yesterday, because, unlike Beckett's heroic bodyless voice, I can't go on, and I won't. I think you would have been a fine "soci mallorum" Irina, a good friend of mine, but you're far away in Ukraine, and I'm in Brazil. Not a loner at all, but been smiling out of politeness too much, and only. Wish I could have been around clear-minded, good people like you. And Giacomo Leopardi, and Wallace Stevens. My name is/was "Guilherme". Its english equivalent is "William". Goodbye friend that I never had!!!! 10/21/18 |
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22-10-2018
Hi Guilherme, heard your name before. Didn't know it was an equivalent of 'William'. "It zeroes a zero" - nicely put. Your whole message seems like you have a way with words. I too hate that people of similar minds are so hard to find in the vicinity of our physical locations. Can't guarantee I'm such 'good people' though. Is it that I know myself deeper or is it that my 'soul' is really darker than other peoples? Not sure... I struggle to find the right way to reply to 'is/was' in your comment... sorry for your pain.(( |
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22-10-2018 Irina I wrote that message to you lying on my parents' bed in the Morning. I live in a state called Santa Catarina, in the city of BalneГЎrio CamboriГє. My parents right now are in another city called Joinville. They've been there since Friday, will return later Tonight. That means I'll have to return to my awful mattress and quit sleeping on their wonderful onde hehe There's a Bolsonaro crowd honking and shouting outside the window right now. I bet they can't read cyrilic, but I can't either. You're lucky to able to handle two alphabets. How close is your mother language to russian? Can you read Tolstoy in the original? That I would love. Love too there's "toy" in his name. What I would like to say: thank you for your answer, my mind is in pain. I have been struggling with it for 10 years. Since age 18, am 28. Thank you too for your observation about my "way" with words. That brings me joy. I do write, literary texts, that's my passion. Have no intention to publish anything, as I sense there are too many books already. Publishing is like spitting into the ocean these days. I do it for myself. In my mother language of course, portuguese, my command of which is naturally absolutely superior to my command of English, which is so-so. I knew no English whatsoever until age 14. I learnt It by making translations of good literature. My dream was to be a translator, of German, but I gave it up, a major factor in my bad feelings. It's my duty to Tell you I can't find the courage to kill myself, as I said in my message. I know you wouldn't bother, but my conscience tells me to do this. By good I meant you live your life as a thinking person, a reflected life, as Socrates would have It. Thank you for the little lit candle you brought me by giving me your answer. |
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22-10-2018 Hey Irina! It is good to see you posting again, confirming you still live. I, at one point, was beginning to fear the worst. My mind ran wild with possibilities -- perhaps you had been sold into servitude as a Ukrainian mail order bride! (joking). Great to see you back. |
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21-11-2018 Hello, Irina. I was wondering, if there is any way to remove the comments I have made here, or if only you are able to do so. I would REALLY appreciate your feedback. Thanks.--- > Edited 21-11-2018 03:32:21 --- > Edited 21-11-2018 03:34:39 |
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19-02-2019 If you don't want to ramble about the same things, learn some metaphysics (Plato, Kant, Schopenhauer). Many antinatalist embrace Schopenhauer, but they don't really know what his philosophy is really about. It requires higher IQ then simplistic materialism and determinism...My problem with most antinatalist, is that they are too simplistic. And in this age, after so many smart people, it's a crime to block on the surface... Kant tried to develop a framework of thinking, built entirely on reason. This is contrary to science, which is based on experimentation and observation, which obviously has the limit of our 5 senses (limit that very few actually fully realize). Kant basically defined what is free will, and why we have it, in the only way that makes sense. Schopenhauer went into different direction, although equally important. If you combine the two, you can get the picture. Basically, it's easy to see that we have two natures - the blind will to live projected as the subjective experience of the body (which Schopenhauer described quite well) and the reason defining objective reality (which was the focus of Kant). Both these natures are deterministic. I guess you know that our body is programmed to work in a particular way, and why reason is deterministic - think math, logic, truth. This contradiction however, is the basis of the free will, and very, very few people see it. Kant understood, that this is actually the only way to have free will, since you can choose reason, regardless of your biological deterministic nature. And you can choose your biological nature, regardless of reason. I will say it even more simply. Nature creates suffering, and doesn't care. However - you have the power to care. If you remove the suffering, there is no need for you to care. I.e. in one of the natures - reason, suffering is not possible, since this is like a "divine order", like math, everything is on its perfect position, everything makes perfect sense. In our other nature - biological, nothing makes sense, just chaos, just blind will to survive on any cost. Only in the union of these two natures, the personal moral emerges, since you live in imperfect world, but your mind (and your heart for that matter) strives for perfection. Yes, the result is suffering, but also - the possibility to be a moral being. Can you agree, that you are not a "machine", and you can perform actions against your biological nature, based on your internal moral. I think, you should, since being against making children and causing suffering is exactly that. Trying to help animals, being empathic are such acts of objective reasoning, they are not in our biological nature which is irrational and egoistic and savage. But somehow, these two natures coexist in you, and you realize this, just don't understand why due your limited understanding of yourself. There is also a practical problem, following either of these natures/paths will have a price to pay. If you choose your reason and your heart (which besides the popular believe, doesn't contradict each other), you will have miserable life. And no, not only because, this is just how life here works, but because people in general rarely chose this path. Can you agree, that others are completely free to make similar choices to your own, and start caring about suffering of other beings? How many people are required for example, to end the way animals are treated currently? I don't think that much... Is it possible for humanity to become morally better? I think so, there is some progress being made, although some being lost. However, it's a choice with a price to pay. And this is how any real choice works. If it's without a personal inconvenience and sacrifice, it doesn't hold a personal value. Denying wanting children, has a cost - children create meaning in your life, reconnect you with life, even with something good and pure which you lost. Without children, you can think only about death, since the only way to transcend death is by making children.... IMO, popular antinatalism has also this internal struggle to justify the human behavior, to feel just better about itself, because everything is "doomed", there is no choice, no other way, etc. No, this is not true, and the irony is that being antinatalist by itself proves it. Understand the role of suffering, and personal responsibility. I'm not saying you can fix the world, or you can change anything at all. Just realize how things really work, and that we as people, have the capability to be moral and it's the real "gift" of having "free will". How people use it in general, and what you can really do as an individual is completely different topic. Quite complex one actually, don't simplify it, to feel better about yourself, in the same way you see others do it, on their limited level of understanding. If you choose to ignore your moral nature, and act like an animal, I'm with the Buddhist here - you will never actually get out of this planet. Buddhism, in one way or another, accepts that we have metaphysical nature, probably not that different then the vision of Schopenhauer about the will to live. This will have a "charge" that will go and go forever reincarnating into physical bodies. Buddhism/Hindiusm and most religions actually, in their core have something important, and far for superficial like most atheists believe. They have the idea to get content within your moral nature and transcend the physical. If you want to really end suffering, to really stop birth on this planet, this is actually the only way - to free your own metaphysical nature, being trapped here in the loop of rebirth. I know most antinatalist don't believe in this, but let me ask you, how would you feel, ignoring this possibility, and getting born again? Do you see a physical method how to stop life? There isn't one, except annihilating the whole planet... And what about all other planets with life? In Buddhism, there is very clear need to extinguish the will to live, since this is the most pragmatical way of thinking, with the least amount of assumption (like the assumption, that you are just your body). Schopenhauer was actually very keen on reading eastern philosophy. He was not a materialist, although not religious either. He believed in something "divine", although for him, it was actually bad, and he was thinking about this idea about our capacity to deny our will to live. Kant, on the contrary, focused on the reason, and for him life was positive, but had to be based on reason. My problem with Kant is only the overestimation about the human capability to be reasonable. Maybe another species can reach such goal in mass, but it will not be homo sapiens. The deeper truth of course is that there are two natures, and only when you get that, you can start understanding more about this existence. Hope you have enough love in your heart, to understand you are not just a machine, you are sensual being, and this means something, even though nobody cares. Don't be from the many antinatalists, that will be recycled on this planet, be born again, due adopting limited world view... Continue to care about other things beside yourself, of course, withing reason and understanding that it's not your job to fix the world, your obligation is only towards yourself and don't do things, don't adopt believes against your own moral nature. Even some things that appear as "facts" may have deeper meaning then you are capable of understand currently, which is why never suppress your internal voice. |
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