Poll: a majority of American voters under 40 have little-to-no confidence in the US government, the US public, SCOTUS, Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, etc.

[unogueen]

17 hours ago, Uaarkson said:

When has this country not been in terminal decline? Lmao

A good long time? You have unrest at all times, like everywhere else, but the majority cling hopeful to the hollywood pop culture machine like all generations of Americans. That in itself a a double fold problem that both enshrines the lies of society, but soothes and coddles at the same time. Ask any number of countries what the defining culture of the 80s was and they'll probably say something other than synths and big hair.

[Brian]

19 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

 

I've considered many times leaving the board for my own mental faculties; I don't need the constant negativity in my life and am getting so tired of it.

 

Haven't done it yet because it's my favorite place to talk current events. But it's exhausting.

When Biden was implementing positive policy (student debt, climate change policy, etc) and the same bad characters were shitting on it, I pretty much stepped away from the CE board for a while. It’s exhausting.

[legend]

My mother-in-law was telling my wife the other day that when she (and my father-in-law) pass, that we should save the money they'll leave us and in general be careful with money in case we need to flee the country in the future. So apparently some of the older generation isn't very optimistic either!

 

On 11/2/2022 at 3:15 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I will freely admit that my mental state (which hasn't been exactly great for a very, very long time) has pretty much dropped off of a cliff in the last few weeks to the point where for the first time in my entire existence, I'm seriously contemplating making an appointment with a psychiatrist just to get a prescription for something.

 

It's not just the impending political situation - it's several other facets of my life that I've come to realize have left me very unfulfilled  

 

Do it. Even if you only are on something for a short time it can be a big help. A few years ago or so my anxiety was hitting really hard every day. Made me constantly feel sick. I went on some medication for a few months, and it basically reset me. I still have some anxiety problems, but no where near as bad as it was.

[Vitalsign]

On 11/2/2022 at 3:15 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I will freely admit that my mental state (which hasn't been exactly great for a very, very long time) has pretty much dropped off of a cliff in the last few weeks to the point where for the first time in my entire existence, I'm seriously contemplating making an appointment with a psychiatrist just to get a prescription for something.

 

It's not just the impending political situation - it's several other facets of my life that I've come to realize have left me very unfulfilled  

 

There is no shame in that. If it were not for a certain couple of medications, I would have no career. I have to give presentations to CEOs and elected officials. Without help, I wouldn't be able to do it physically. 

[Signifyin(g)Monkey]

On 11/2/2022 at 4:06 PM, CitizenVectron said:

What happens when we are all in our 50s/60s and posting here? Maybe we'll be in the Metaverse, instead. Imagine going back to 2002 and telling our younger selves we'd still be here talking and arguing.

Read Neal Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash.’ If we’re indeed in the metaverse, we’ll probably be some version of Hiro Protagonist.

 

Also, it came out way before Ready Player One and did everything that book does only way better.  Including not having the writing be shit.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, Signifyin(g)Monkey said:

Read Neal Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash.’ If we’re indeed in the metaverse, we’ll probably be some version of Hiro Protagonist.

 

I ADORE "Snow Crash", but that sex scene...uhhhhhh...

[Signifyin(g)Monkey]

1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

I ADORE "Snow Crash", but that sex scene...uhhhhhh...

Stephenson said he was inspired by Pynchon.

 

Compared to the stuff you’ll find in ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’, that scene is quite tame.  So there’s that.

 

 …Okay, so it’s not a great excuse.

 

But I still get angry when I hear someone say ‘Ready Player One is teh bestest’ and then tell me they’ve never read Snow Crash.  You want a sign of cultural decline?  There it is.

 

/grumpy old cyberpunk

[Massdriver]

I've been on antidepressants the vast majority of my adult life for anxiety. I'm not functional without medication (can't sleep more than 4-5 hours a night and so much else). It gives me a good baseline to then better myself from there. There's no shame in it. These medications are safe and may be helpful. Talking about these things may also help with a therapist, but cognitive behavioral therapy is a bit more evidence based and involves more active participation by the patient. So my strong recommendation is to go see someone and see if they'll prescribe you something and get treated.

 

I studied philosophy in college and I unfortunately never studied the Stoics then since I didn't focus on the Hellenistic period.  I've remedied that since, reading tons of Seneca, as well as all of Epictetus and Marcus. They had a lot of useful things to say to people going through politically volatile times, anxiety, grief, dying, and general advice that is the best self help out there, even if it is tough medicine. That ties back to CBT which is arguably based on certain stoic principles of what is and is not up to us, and how we should align our wills to fate, or in modern terms, deterministic forces of the universe and seeing distorted thought patterns for what they are.

 

A lot of the Stoic stuff online is not useful and is often misleading or counterproductive. It's become an industry. There are a lot of people that are using the philosophy of life as a life hack rather than taking the moral component of it seriously. The entire point of reaching some level of tranquility is so you are able to do the right thing according to virtue, not so you can then be a rich prick.  A couple of more modern accessible Stoic books I enjoyed were A Guide to the Good Life and How to be a Stoic. For panic like anxiety, I like Dare: The New Way To Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks, which is focused on confronting distorted thought patterns that people suffering from severe anxiety deal with.  All of this is a side bar after you have gotten professional help for which there is no substitute in my humble opinion. 

 

Anyway, hope you get to feeling better Wade. 

[Greatoneshere]

What fucks think Ready Player One is even good? To even see it mentioned in the same sentence as the excellence that is Snow Crash is disheartening. Is that what the kids are doing these days? We're fucked if so.

[Nokra]

2 hours ago, Massdriver said:

I've been on antidepressants the vast majority of my adult life for anxiety. I'm not functional without medication (can't sleep more than 4-5 hours a night and so much else). It gives me a good baseline to then better myself from there. There's no shame in it. These medications are safe and may be helpful. Talking about these things may also help with a therapist, but cognitive behavioral therapy is a bit more evidence based and involves more active participation by the patient. So my strong recommendation is to go see someone and see if they'll prescribe you something and get treated.

 

I studied philosophy in college and I unfortunately never studied the Stoics then since I didn't focus on the Hellenistic period.  I've remedied that since, reading tons of Seneca, as well as all of Epictetus and Marcus. They had a lot of useful things to say to people going through politically volatile times, anxiety, grief, dying, and general advice that is the best self help out there, even if it is tough medicine. That ties back to CBT which is arguably based on certain stoic principles of what is and is not up to us, and how we should align our wills to fate, or in modern terms, deterministic forces of the universe and seeing distorted thought patterns for what they are.

 

A lot of the Stoic stuff online is not useful and is often misleading or counterproductive. It's become an industry. There are a lot of people that are using the philosophy of life as a life hack rather than taking the moral component of it seriously. The entire point of reaching some level of tranquility is so you are able to do the right thing according to virtue, not so you can then be a rich prick.  A couple of more modern accessible Stoic books I enjoyed were A Guide to the Good Life and How to be a Stoic. For panic like anxiety, I like Dare: The New Way To Stop Anxiety and Panic Attacks, which is focused on confronting distorted thought patterns that people suffering from severe anxiety deal with.  All of this is a side bar after you have gotten professional help for which there is no substitute in my humble opinion. 

 

Anyway, hope you get to feeling better Wade. 

 

At the risk of sidetracking the thread (though not really, since this thread is at least tangentially about how to live, right? )...

 

As someone who is also interested in Stoic philosophy, I'm curious what your thoughts are on e.g. Ryan Holiday or Mark Manson. I've read a couple of their books, enjoyed them, and definitely got some good out of them, but I do wonder if they veer a little too far into the "this is an industry" territory. On the other hand, I do think they have a decent understanding of the underlying philosophy, and I wouldn't even mind them dumbing things down a bit to have mass appeal, since more people becoming interested in the topic seems like a win to me. What are your thoughts?

[Captain Pickle]

9 hours ago, Signifyin(g)Monkey said:

Stephenson said he was inspired by Pynchon.

 

Compared to the stuff you’ll find in ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’, that scene is quite tame.  So there’s that.

 

 …Okay, so it’s not a great excuse.

 

But I still get angry when I hear someone say ‘Ready Player One is teh bestest’ and then tell me they’ve never read Snow Crash.  You want a sign of cultural decline?  There it is.

 

/grumpy old cyberpunk

I saw ready player one. Watched it twice! What’s a snow crash?

[Massdriver]

1 hour ago, Nokra said:

 

At the risk of sidetracking the thread (though not really, since this thread is at least tangentially about how to live, right? )...

 

As someone who is also interested in Stoic philosophy, I'm curious what your thoughts are on e.g. Ryan Holiday or Mark Manson. I've read a couple of their books, enjoyed them, and definitely got some good out of them, but I do wonder if they veer a little too far into the "this is an industry" territory. On the other hand, I do think they have a decent understanding of the underlying philosophy, and I wouldn't even mind them dumbing things down a bit to have mass appeal, since more people becoming interested in the topic seems like a win to me. What are your thoughts?

I haven't read any of their works so I can't make a firm judgement about them. If you take the Stoic sub seriously,  it seems to indicate that Mark Manson is not a good person to read to understand stoicism correctly, but they gave Ryan Holiday good marks for his early works for a basic introduction to stoicism based on a quick google search. Take that for whatever it's worth which isn't much. If you are getting something positive from reading them, it's probably not all bad. I just have issues with authors that only talk about the psychological aspects of the philosophy as life hacks to help them get promotions or money. This is a perversion of the philosophy. The two books I mentioned to Wade are fairly good introductions to the subject after reading them and then reading a lot of what we got left of the ancient stoics. 

 

My favorite of those two is How to be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigliucci. I especially enjoyed how he emphasized the ethical aspects of the ancient philosophy, including the 4 virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, something that is often missing from many other stoic texts. Supplement it afterwards with this one blog post by the author on why him giving the trichotomy of control from Living the Good Life some credit was a mistake in his book: book: https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dichotomy-of-control/

 

Everyone has their own take on which of the ancient stoics was best, but Epictetus is my favorite:  https://www.amazon.com/Discourses-Fragments-Handbook-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199595186/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

I hope this was helpful.

 

 

[Anathema-]

have u considered just not worrying about it

[TUFKAK]

9 minutes ago, Anathema- said:

have u considered just not worrying about it

Rum helps with this 

[Anathema-]

1 minute ago, TUFKAK said:

Rum helps with this 

 

I just stopped feeling bad for being better.

[TUFKAK]

1 minute ago, Anathema- said:

 

I just stopped feeling bad for being better.

The only good thing about neoliberalism is this 

[MarSolo]

On 11/4/2022 at 4:30 PM, Greatoneshere said:

What fucks think Ready Player One is even good? To even see it mentioned in the same sentence as the excellence that is Snow Crash is disheartening. Is that what the kids are doing these days? We're fucked if so.

Hot take: RPO the book sucks but I love the movie. That Shining scene 😂