It may be that our job is to change the world, "to do our best to ensure that as few as possible of the people being born every second have to endure more than they can bear". But despite the material gains of the last 500 years, I'm not persuaded that the existential tragic suffering of people overall has been reduced. The weight of living, regardless of one's material conditions, crushes many, and the circumstances the enable one person to transcend while another succumbs are beyond my understanding. But each of has the capacity to have a huge impact, for good or ill, on those we come in contact with. I don't believe that we (whoever "we" encompasses) can change the world, but we can each improve the lives of those we come into contact with in limitless ways and sometime those effects can ripple far beyond what we might've hoped or imagined. Too often, through history, those who were on a mission to make the world a better place caused as much suffering as they reduced. The imp on my shoulder is named Hubris, and he tugs on my ear and whispers whenever I'm getting above myself, "It's the person in front of you right now who deserves the best of you. Don't forget." We respond to depictions of tragedy in the arts the way we do because they ring so true. And despite all of that, time and time again, everywhere we turn, people find it within themselves to be kind and generous and loving and even noble in astonishing ways. It doesn't change the world. It's just moments of goodness. That's all we get. So cherish it.
Hopelessness is the root of inability to overcome adversities in my opinion, I never thought that I would be a sober person but here I am, 2 years sober. It was because I was fortunate enough to have people in my life that believed that I could get better even when I didn't believe that myself. I still have a bunch of flaws, knowing about them still hasn't helped me be better yet but I hope someday that changes too, I too feel like I'm more like Padraic, have no clue how to let go..
Nihilism may make sense but when you're alive, your own experience matters to you at the very least?
Very good essay! The conclusion is also something I reached recently: just like the abolitionists dealt with slavery, we need a similar movement to deal with suffering. Speaking of the abolitionists they certainly had fixed ideas: I don't know that they could have succeeded if they didn't, and I don't know that the Buddhists could have abolished slavery, which is a real flaw in Buddhism and Eastern religions generally. There are times that call for swimming with the current, and times that call for the opposite, time for chill, and time for no-chill: there is no final answer.
The Banshees of Inisherin seems to have an effect similar to The Dress picture of yore: some people sympathize more with Padraic, some more with Colm. I'm in Padraic's camp, because I don't think someone should just be allowed to walk away from a friendship like that, so this was certainly an interesting perspective.
> Neediness is inherently self-defeating because wanting something from the Other prevents you from encountering them as Other.
Very revealing, that's some good writing! But fretting about whether you are or are not encountering Others as Others seems like the road to neurosis, at least for me. Radical Honesty cult leader Brad Blanton has this exercise where you just go DUH DUH DUH, because that's basically the best attitude to take to life, according to him. I think there's wisdom in that, at least some of the time.
It may be that our job is to change the world, "to do our best to ensure that as few as possible of the people being born every second have to endure more than they can bear". But despite the material gains of the last 500 years, I'm not persuaded that the existential tragic suffering of people overall has been reduced. The weight of living, regardless of one's material conditions, crushes many, and the circumstances the enable one person to transcend while another succumbs are beyond my understanding. But each of has the capacity to have a huge impact, for good or ill, on those we come in contact with. I don't believe that we (whoever "we" encompasses) can change the world, but we can each improve the lives of those we come into contact with in limitless ways and sometime those effects can ripple far beyond what we might've hoped or imagined. Too often, through history, those who were on a mission to make the world a better place caused as much suffering as they reduced. The imp on my shoulder is named Hubris, and he tugs on my ear and whispers whenever I'm getting above myself, "It's the person in front of you right now who deserves the best of you. Don't forget." We respond to depictions of tragedy in the arts the way we do because they ring so true. And despite all of that, time and time again, everywhere we turn, people find it within themselves to be kind and generous and loving and even noble in astonishing ways. It doesn't change the world. It's just moments of goodness. That's all we get. So cherish it.
Hopelessness is the root of inability to overcome adversities in my opinion, I never thought that I would be a sober person but here I am, 2 years sober. It was because I was fortunate enough to have people in my life that believed that I could get better even when I didn't believe that myself. I still have a bunch of flaws, knowing about them still hasn't helped me be better yet but I hope someday that changes too, I too feel like I'm more like Padraic, have no clue how to let go..
Nihilism may make sense but when you're alive, your own experience matters to you at the very least?
Very good essay! The conclusion is also something I reached recently: just like the abolitionists dealt with slavery, we need a similar movement to deal with suffering. Speaking of the abolitionists they certainly had fixed ideas: I don't know that they could have succeeded if they didn't, and I don't know that the Buddhists could have abolished slavery, which is a real flaw in Buddhism and Eastern religions generally. There are times that call for swimming with the current, and times that call for the opposite, time for chill, and time for no-chill: there is no final answer.
The Banshees of Inisherin seems to have an effect similar to The Dress picture of yore: some people sympathize more with Padraic, some more with Colm. I'm in Padraic's camp, because I don't think someone should just be allowed to walk away from a friendship like that, so this was certainly an interesting perspective.
> Neediness is inherently self-defeating because wanting something from the Other prevents you from encountering them as Other.
Very revealing, that's some good writing! But fretting about whether you are or are not encountering Others as Others seems like the road to neurosis, at least for me. Radical Honesty cult leader Brad Blanton has this exercise where you just go DUH DUH DUH, because that's basically the best attitude to take to life, according to him. I think there's wisdom in that, at least some of the time.