When I think of the Big Questions like The Meaning of Life and Purpose....

[Junkdrawer]

I look to the Future and Human Progress. Always have. It's why I would call myself a Humanist or Progressive.

So when things like Climate Change or Nuclear War threatens that future, I'm shaken right down to my core. Life tends to lose it's meaning for me.

I think, at some level, these ideas exist in all of us. I also think this explains a lot of the nihilism of Modern Life. For a brief moment in the early 90s, when the Cold War ended, I was filled with optimism. I married and had a son. Seems like quite a few of us Boomers did.

But now....Losing my Religion.

Don't know why I'm posting this, but it just needed to be said.

Carry on.

[MotherPetrie]

1. I know what you mean. The downward slide isn't stopping.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Time to reread some Vonnegut. His later works, especially Galapagos....

explore these themes. He started to think that our Big Brains may have been an evolutionary mistake.

Always good to read others wrestling with the same thoughts.

What usually gets me out of my funk is to remind myself how little of the Big Picture I see - how wrong I've been about dire predictions in the past. But, I'll tell you, that's getting harder and harder.

[JaneyVee]

3. My personal philosophy is anchored in optimism. It gives me a reason to fight for a better future.

ETA: But I completely understand why it's sometimes so easy to be cynical. Seems like there's 2 types of people in America, those who care, & those who don't care.

[Junkdrawer]

4. Do you bottle that?

Or is it something that has to be bought with a special coin?

[el_bryanto]

5. sometimes it's best to focus on what you can do as opposed to what you have no power over.

Pangloss sometimes said to Candide:

"There is a concatenation of events in this best of all possible worlds:
for if you had not been kicked out of a magnificent castle for love of
Miss Cunegonde: if you had not been put into the Inquisition: if you had
not walked over America: if you had not stabbed the Baron: if you had
not lost all your sheep from the fine country of El Dorado: you would
not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts."

"All that is very well," answered Candide, "but let us cultivate our
garden."

From Voltaire's Candide (I don't know what translation).

[Junkdrawer]

6. I remember an OilDrum poster called Monkeyfister during the Deepwater Horizon crisis....

Tag line: "It Starts With Planting A Garden..."

Always remembered that.....

[AverageJoe90]

7. I do sympathize with you, but I also would like to add something.

I think that while feeling some pessimism every once in a while really isn't all that bad for you, it isn't wise to let it dominate your life, either.
If I may, I would like to use the examples of the Civil Rights Movement, and those who fought for labor rights; they all knew that they had a long and tough road ahead of them and that there would be plenty of obstacles that the malcontents, crooks, and other ne'er-do-wells in the Establishment would throw plenty of obstacles their way and that it would be an enormous challenge to wake the majority of Americans up from their apathetic slumber. And yet, somehow, despite overwhelming odds, they succeeded.
The same goes for nuclear disarmament as well; Nuclear war, TBH, was something that we HAD to avoid at all costs; even a limited exchange would have done perhaps as much, even more damage in perhaps just 2 hours than 6 or 7 degrees of climate change would over 2 centuries....a full-scale nuclear war would make that look like an absolute cakewalk. And once we truly knew & understood the dangers, we really began to ramp up the action.
Right now, in terms of climate awareness and action, I would say that we are roughly about where we were in the late '60s, early '70s: we're starting to fully understand the dangers(no thanks to the scaremongers, though), but we haven't yet taken truly majorly significant action just yet, though it certainly is on the horizon.

And I've noticed, too, that some of the worst forms of nihilism seem to come right from the mouths of those who've completely given up on life.....and yes, this would include most climate doomers in particular(especially the wackos pushing New Agey theories such as "Near Term (Human) Extinction" and quantum climate shifting, etc.), as well as a few(a FEW, I should stress!) factions of the Progressive movement who've gone into full-on "freak out" mode.

Again, don't give up, no matter how bad things might seem; the people who have made the most progress in getting things done, are those who had real hope for the future.....just look at MLK, or the Wobblies.....

[Junkdrawer]

8. Thanks for the kind words. But we've had this conversation before....

You tend to see Climate Change as a Quality of Life issue and I see it as an Existential issue so I'll just leave it there.

[Jamastiene]

9. What was that saying going around recently?

Something about when terrorism happens, what one or two people did, there are many many more people who rush in to try to do the opposite, by helping those injured. Geez, I can't remember the exact quote and it was that recent.

Anyhow, that basic idea is true. For all the bad in the world, there are more than are good. The problem though, is that all of the power to control humanity's overall effects on nature/Earth, is in very few hands and those hands are bloody and dirty and corrupt to the core. If we could only find a way to peaceably get that control out of human hands and into some uncorruptable (spell check knows it is impossible to find anything that is not able to be corrupted) system that cannot be rigged or bought or controlled by the same old same old. I honestly cannot figure out a way for that to happen. I don't even know if it is possible. It probably is not possible and therein lies the frustration.

When it all comes down to it, family and close friends are all that really matter. As myopic as that sounds, it is what life leaves us with at the end of the day and it is the best that life gives us. So, enjoy that and when it comes to things beyond your control, think on it, but don't let your brain gain control and think about it to the point it depresses you. It's not worth it. I used to have that problem. Now, I refuse to let myself dwell. I do anything I can to stop my brain from going down that path.

Hope this helped any. If it did not, please disregard, but do enjoy your family anyhow. That is always worth enjoying and savoring, time spent with your loved ones.

[Junkdrawer]

10. Thanks. I've always been a family man.

Last edited Fri May 10, 2013, 06:20 AM - Edit history (1)

As for Leaders and our plight: Seems like every 4 or so years the IPCC scientists work and rework the numbers to give leaders a scenario where, if we concentrate our efforts, we escape by the skin of our teeth. The leaders then ignore the recommendations, move in the OPPOSITE direction and then ask the IPCC to sharpen their pencils and give them another way out.