Achromalia wrote:
I may have heard of the Enchiridon at some point? Doesn't seem too familiar but I believe I've heard of it. I haven't really delved into philosophy, or read any books by any philosophers.
The Enchiridion was written by a really flippin' old dude named Epictetus; who was a philosopher wayyyy back when. It's basically the origin of the stoic system of philosophy, of which I'm a huge... uh... practicer? Prescriber? I'm not really sure what to call it. But yeah, I'm a stoic, the Enchiridion is amazing, and if you can stomach it you should try reading it (it's a really tough read, I won't lie. But very worth it.)
Achromalia wrote:
I don't know. I strangely don't have any sort of passion for books, although I'm really a voracious reader and would eat that shit up.
I was the same way for a long time. I'll make it analogous to newtons first law of motion. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and the same for one at rest. In much the same manner, reading never really seems appealing until you're actually doing it. But when you're not, you're like, "Nah, I don't really wanna read something..." I know the feeling well. On a slightly unrelated note, that feeling is like one of my worst enemies; it goes hand in hand with apathy. I've sort of figured out how to conquer it, though. It's a lot less thinking and more just doing. The more I think about doing something I 'don't' want to do, the less I actually do want to do it. The anxiety of it is worse than the action itself.
Achromalia wrote:
Oh dear, this is the dilemma I always face when I look at my apathy. I can't tell if it's ultimately beneficial or if it's really just a misery-inducing state of mind, crippling much of my ability to understand others and interact properly. Thankfully, I'm really comfortable talking with others online over messages. I despise calls, though.
I feel you. I feel that way about both my apathy and my analytical-ness. Both of them make me feel less than human sometimes, and sometimes, very very lucky. Sometimes I wish I could be more "normal", but that's a can of worms in itself and not really related (I mean in the sense that would I even see myself as that if I was? What is normal, anyway?). The point is, it's got its pros and cons and while I generally lean towards the philosophy that it's more pro than con, some days, it's not easy to tell.
Also, yeah. I've always had an easier time getting my thoughts out in text form, myself. I don't know what it is about talking but I kind of suck at it. Also, phonecalls can burn in hell. Except I've been working in a job where I have to take phonecalls from time to time, and it's not so bad for me anymore. I still hate talking on the phone though.
Achromalia wrote:
I'd say it'd be fair to consider the idea of objective, ultimate meaning in life, as pretty much void. "Its meaning is what you make of it", or something like that, though I'm not sure myself. It's been a while since I've contemplated it, as it was mostly during my notable period of some shitty depression a couple years ago.
Is it though? Leaving out the obvious religious aspects. If you're religious, you find inherient meaning in life with God. Honestly, I feel like that's such a cheap cop-out.
I think you're on the right track with "Meaning is what you make of it". I've always thought about it like this.
Life is ultimately meaningless.
Because life is meaningless, meaning becomes a relative term. I find it very curious that this philosophy also agrees with literal science. The theory of relativity states much the same. Reality depends moreso on where you are than any objective sense of what is happening and what isn't. Time is variable, just as space is variable. There is no "objective." That's what General and Special Relativity is all about. Anyway, that's a tangent. What I'm getting at is because there is no object baseline, things all become about what is around you. In that sense,
you control the meaning of life. You dictate it. You have ultimate freedom in deciding what is important to you and what isn't, because there's nothing that tells you what is important and what isn't. This is why 14 year olds cry like the world is ending when their boyfriend or whatever breaks up with them. Because it literally is, to them. This is why rich people can be completely depressed and commit suicide. What they have that others don't have might
seem appealing, but they have it. So it because a natural part of their life, glossed over, unimportant in some senses. This pushes other things to the forefront of their schema about what is actually important and what isn't. This is why nobodies hardship is really greater than anybody elses. To some degrees, you can find somewhat more objective measurements of things, and you can dictate depth in those measurements. But the meaning in life is contrast.
Did you know that your sense of taste is based off of contrast? Almost completely. I don't have any good examples on hand, but this is why if you say, eat chocolate, and then drink some tea, the tea tastes like crap. Because your sense of taste is based off contrast.
Art is based off of contrast. Difference defines detail.
Ever heard the saying variety is the spice of life? The reason why is because if things are the same, over and over again, there is no contrast. There is no living and no change. It becomes boring.
Looking at Relativity, time is the same thing as space. The way you experience time is actually dictated moreso by your location and speed than any actual "flow" of time. A flow of time is a made up concept, that's not what time is. What time is, is a dimension of
change.
Difference.
Contrast. It's how objects change, not any grand sense of some ever flowing stream of time.
It's all relative, it's all subjective, it's all contrast. In that sense, you define what meaning is. If you believe, or are conditioned to believe, that things are shitty, they will be. If you think stuffs great, it will be.
Do you have a discord? PM me on the site, I'll add you on it.