# Do you experience emptiness? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059 "2016-04-13T03:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/21 "2016-04-13T21:22:44Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I would need to be far more self aware to ever feel "emptiness. " Reduce your calorie intake by 50%. You’ll start to feel a distinct inner emptiness! (That’s a joke; I’m on your side.) ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/22 "2016-04-13T21:55:11Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Reduce your calorie intake by 50%. You’ll start to feel a distinct inner emptiness! > > (That’s a joke; I’m on your side.) My calorie intake is considerably more then I need – I use it to stifle my depression. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/23 "2016-04-13T22:49:32Z")
That ain’t wise. “Comfort eating” creates an unhealthy psychological linkage between stimulus (depression) and reward (snacks.) You would be better off trying to de-couple the two. At very least, if food is to be the reward, try to reward yourself for good behavior – actually getting some chores done, writing a few pages on your term paper, vacuuming the carpet – rather than for bad things – feeling bummed. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/24 "2016-04-13T22:50:34Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That ain’t wise. “Comfort eating” creates an unhealthy psychological linkage between stimulus (depression) and reward (snacks.) You would be better off trying to de-couple the two. > > At very least, if food is to be the reward, try to reward yourself for good behavior – actually getting some chores done, writing a few pages on your term paper, vacuuming the carpet – rather than for bad things – feeling bummed. Thanks – I will consider it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/25 "2016-04-13T23:10:11Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Reduce your calorie intake by 50%. You’ll start to feel a distinct inner emptiness! > > (That’s a joke; I’m on your side.) But only for three weeks. Then I can continue to obsess about something else. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/26 "2016-04-13T23:12:37Z")
Used to. In fact I once described my life as oceans of stultifying boredom punctuated by islands of shockingly unexpected danger and hate and antagonism. Hasn’t been that way for many decades now, though. I figured out how I hook up and stuff 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/27 "2016-04-13T23:40:22Z")
Śūnyatā? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/28 "2016-04-13T23:43:14Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Used to. In fact I once described my life as oceans of stultifying boredom punctuated by islands of shockingly unexpected danger and hate and antagonism. Thank you for sharing. Many people experience that. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/29 "2016-04-13T23:58:46Z")
I feel empty sometimes. Like whenever I zoom out too much. When I’ve got stuff to do to keep my body moving and my mind stimulated, I don’t feel the need to ponder over"why". It’s almost like I’m a content little robot, but I don’t feel like a robot. But when I’m tossing and turning in bed late at night, that’s when the empty feeling creeps in. I’m suddenly aware that I’m nothing but robot–one that is just carrying out a few simple programs, without which it would be lost. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/30 "2016-04-14T00:13:40Z")
I voted “frequently” but it’s not quite the same as the Wiki definition. For me more some depression mixed with a fair bit of “on the outside looking in” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/31 "2016-04-14T01:23:13Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > . . . But when I’m tossing and turning in bed late at night, that’s when the empty feeling creeps in. . . . A long, long time ago, I figured out how to draw an imaginary circle of protection around the bed, at night. It’s a “safe zone” where I engage in happy daydreaming and fantasies, in those long minutes before sleep. No worries or concerns are permitted – what possible good do they do? Say I’ve got bills due: worrying about it all night won’t get 'em paid! Daydreaming about wish-granting genies and Hawaiian dancing girls won’t do any good either, but at least it’s fun! To me, bedtime, before sleep, is “prime time” fantasyland! ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/32 "2016-04-14T14:42:45Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > I feel like I have achieved nothing in life. :mad: > > Like there is little hope for achieving. I take great comfort in knowing it is next to impossible for anything I accomplish to matter much to anyone besides myself. When I was in my 20s I started a technology company. We had a few dozen employees and had stellar reviews from places like the New York Times and Engadget. That ended years ago and nobody remembers it or thinks about it. I don’t even think about it anymore. In terms of effect on humanity, it was closer to growing carrots in my backyard than being an influential author like Franz Kafka. In other words, nobody is ever going to really care what you have achieved in life besides you. Write a novel if that’s what you want to accomplish. Or go plant some carrot seeds. Either way we’re all going to be a blip in history. I can totally see how that might make someone feel empty, but try to see it for what it really is - liberating. You’re still alive, so you can still go out and achieve whatever you’re capable of and it’s only going to be as important as you make it. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059/33 "2016-04-14T14:48:38Z")
I experience a sense of deep foreboding emptiness when the liquor cabinet is low on bourbon and vodka. Fortunately, most days, my cup runneth over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-experience-emptiness/752059.md?page=1)