If you believe in a bleak, unavoidable future, what is the rational way to live your life?

Great Debates
1

The end of the world, or of human civilization as we know it, or at least of a long period of darkness and fear, has been a topic for pretty much all of human existence. I acknowledge that none of it started with the Ukraine War or climate change or Moore v. Harper.

However, for the past few years I’ve been struggling with a basic question involving the courage of convictions, which I’ve discussed a few times in other threads, but I thought I’d try making it a GD and seeing what further insight I could gain.

Suppose you believe in a bleak future that you think/believe/“know” is unavoidable, like, say, out of control exponential climate change, or permanent Republican rule of the country (for those of you who wouldn’t like such a thing). I’d guess a majority of the people who think that way go on with normal life as best they can. What I’ve wondered for a while is, do those people lack the courage of their convictions?

I mean, if you really did believe such a thing, why would it not be rational to live in accordance to those beliefs, by, say, quitting your job, emptying your bank account, and living it up while you can? Why would it not be rational to sit down with your eight year old, and honestly tell them that they’re screwed, and they have no future except one of suffering? To join the powerful oppressors right now for survival? Or, to the major extreme, suicide or something even worse than that? I’ve told of an acquaintance who, believing in post-election violence in 2020, dismantled his small business and moved with his wife literally to the other side of the country in order to flee to a place where his political beliefs were more of a majority. I feel that this man had the courage of his convictions, as wrong as they were. So why don’t more people see it as rational to actually “put their money where their mouth is” in such a way?

I see two parallels to already known topics: “I’m going to move to Canada if Trump wins” and anxiety in general. A lot of people with anxiety disorders (a majority?) still find it in themselves to soldier on and plan for the future somehow, even if their psyches tell them that none of it matters. Is that mechanism what’s at play here? Or maybe the pessimists live in a state of nihilistic apathy. I kind of imagine the folks who say “we’re fucked” or “at least I don’t have kids” to every discussion of the core topic as evangelizing that apathy. Maybe that is living by one’s convictions, by trying to convince others of the bleakness of the situation, I don’t know.

Like I said, I’ve been considering this topic for a long while now, and I’m frustrated at how I keep going around in circles. So I hope for some other perspectives and a good discussion (and hoping I’ve expressed some pretty complex and tangled thoughts and emotions as well).

tldr: if you really and truly thought it was all over, what would standing behind that belief mean for living life?

2

I would still know that God is in control and He would guide me through. Life on earth is temporal.

3

It’s hard to know for a fact that the bleak future is unavoidable. That’s why it’s the future.

Maybe one person fighting against the tide can make a real difference. Save the world even!

So if that’s the case, maybe the rational way to live our lives is to do our very best to be that one person.

4

I value kindness to others more than living it up, so this would guide my actions.

5

I know this isn’t what you’re asking, but I would not be able to believe in the absolutely unavoidably bleak future. One advantage of being older is perspective, not just of the years I have lived through (bad enough though they have sometimes been) but from reading and studying more about history. Humans have lived through some of the worst stuff imaginable and come out the other side, because they are both clever and ruthless, and sometimes kind and loving. We are a supremely adaptable species. Sure, there could be nuclear holocaust or we could be invaded and destroyed by space aliens, but you can’t live your life on the basis that those things will happen. So plan for your old age, because the worst thing that can happen if you assume the worst is that you’ll be wrong.

6

How will giving in to despair improve the situation?

7

I find it difficult to apply the notion of courageousness to irrational or evil acts.

Were the 9/11 hijackers courageous? Is some loner that builds up a 250 gun arsenal with ammo courageous? When the tether to a rational world is not there, there’s no measuring stick and actions no longer matter.

8

You are going to die, why bother to live?

We all face a bleak future from the moment we are born, it is what we do between now and then that matters.

9

Rationality has little to do with this because a rational evaluation requires so many emotional choices of what constitutes good outcomes.

Personally I lean towards a Kantian approach. Make choices that, if everyone did them, would make the future less bleak. But I also think at the stage we’ve reached now those choices are more extreme than I’m willing to commit to just for the sake of my principles, so I compromise to a level where I only give up slightly more comfort than the average for my region and social class.
“Hypocritical as f…” by one yardstick, “only rational” by another.

10

Once you are born, you are condemned to die. If on top of that truism you believe that humanity has bleak prospects for the future (a statement with which I agree) the only rational thing to do IMO is not to have children. Chastising yourself or running amok only increases the suffering, it is irrational, stupid and pointless. Live a good life, ignore fools as much as you can, show respect, try to minimise pain.

11

Yeah, pretty much this. Sure, “Massive disaster” is probably the option I’d place my bet on if I had only one, but every bet is a gamble, and even if I’m 99.9% sure, I might still bet wrong.

And even in a disaster, the human race will probably live on in some form. And we’re quite good at making do in rough circumstances. Hell, the Inuit have lived in some of the worst weather conditions this planet has, for probably thousands of years, but they still managed to enjoy at least some of their lives. They had families, made art, invented shit to make life better. Hell, they invented the Inuksuk just as a way of saying, “We Were Here!” to an unfriendly universe. Our descendants will carry on that tradition.

12

“I have no idea what you’re talking about; my general view is that people who meddle with politics usually meet a miserable end, and indeed they deserve to. I never bother with what is going on in Constantinople; I only worry about sending the fruits of the garden which I cultivate off to be sold there.’ Having said these words, he invited the strangers into his house; his two sons and two daughters presented them with several sorts of sherbet, which they had made themselves, with kaimak enriched with the candied-peel of citrons, with oranges, lemons, pine-apples, pistachio-nuts, and Mocha coffee… – after which the two daughters of the honest Muslim perfumed the strangers’ beards. ‘You must have a vast and magnificent estate,’ said Candide to the turk. ‘I have only twenty acres,’ replied the old man; ‘I and my children cultivate them; and our labour preserves us from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.’ Candide, on his way home, reflected deeply on what the old man had said. ‘This honest Turk,’ he said to Pangloss and Martin, ‘seems to be in a far better place than kings…. I also know,” said Candide, “that we must cultivate our garden.’”

13

I have no idea how anyone can look around and see a bleak, unavoidable future. We live at a time of great challenges, this is true. But for the first time in history, we comprehend this and have the capacity to address it.

For early humans in hunter gatherer societies, the future was unavoidable. Beyond honing their skills or storing for winter, they had no control over their future. Two bad years in a row? Dead.

As hunter gatherer societies grew more sophisticated over the eras, they became successful and prolific, spread all over the planet, and began to change the environment to suit them. Unconsciously at first, but eventually this led to the development of pastorialism and agriculture.

Even then, from 10,000 years ago until maybe a couple hundred years ago, things like famine or plague were completely outside human understanding or control. They were firmly in the realm of the gods.

Now we understand that this is not true. Plague and famine happen because of physical realities, which can - with enough effort and resources - be changed. It doesn’t mean we’ve solved plague and famine, because actually doing so is difficult at a societal level due to human greed and ignorance. But at least we comprehend that there is a ball, and it is in our court. Compared to the last 10,000 years, it’s hard not to be extremely optimistic.

14

Back in the day, when bad things happened, we thought that if we begged the right deities the right way, then they would take pity on us and come alleviate our suffering.

Now that we know that there are no gods, and the future is actually in our own hands, some see that as a more frightful concept.

15

Uh jeez, because A), there’s a chance you may be wrong, and B), even if you’re completely correct, why freak out the kid before you have to? Instead, how about prep the kid gently by maybe taking them camping, showing them how to fish, gather wild edible plants, and giving them some general survival tips in a context that makes it seem like a fun adventure instead of a grim inevitability?

I’ve done a fair amount of camping in wilderness situations, and urban / suburban post-apocalypse survival wouldn’t be that different. It’s basically living off the grid. I’m no survivalist, but I think I’d be better equipped than some if the grid went out and the grocery stores stopped being stocked.

The scariest part of the scenario, depending on how you define what a “bleak, unavoidable future” would look like, would be defending against the ruthless types who try to steal what resources you have, and maybe try to kill you or do other horrible things to you and your family. But, I think that aspect of it that you see on shows like “the Walking Dead” (where the real danger is the living) or Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” is somewhat overblown. Since people are inherently social animals, I think that new versions of societies among survivors would spring up pretty quickly and any “lawless wasteland” stage would not be permanent. Maybe just my wishful thinking, though.

16

In that case, you might want to get screened for depression or other mental health issues.

17

To me, the rational way to live one’s life is to live it to its fullest. I would feel that way even if I knew for a fact that the end was New Year’s Day, 2023.

There’s an old German Lutheran hymn that has a verse, “I am but a stranger here, heaven is my home.” It has a, “boo-hoo, woe is me for being stuck here”, kind of theme to it. When I first noticed it, my first thought was that, if anyone is that miserable, he may as well put a bullet in his head. He’d get to heaven a lot quicker. In other words, nyone living like he’s the walking dead may as well be dead.

18

You are certainly right, but others see that as the most hopeful concept possible.

19

My read is the opposite. It’s more of a reminder, a denial - It’s aspirational. As a devout Christian, in Luther’s view, you SHOULD feel that way, despite the temptation of temporal pleasures.

20

I am an immigrant from India, and will try to offer my perspective :
One of the practices in ancient India was for graduating students to live a year on begging. They were not allowed possessions and could accumulate food only for one day max.

The idea is that people care about you and that graduating student. There is a great sense of belonging, which is tribal inside us - and humanity will find a way. The truth though is that no matter what I write, or you read, you wont feel it in your bones. This is not an intellectual exercise - its like learning to ride a bicycle, you cannot do it by reading books.

I cannot tell you if the future of humanity is doomed or not, and only you can find meaning to your life. I can only say this axiomatically that you will come to find that meaning as much inside you as it is outside you. Rationality is overrated - you will come to an answer in a mix of rationality and emotion. Rationality is so overrated that even our brains form memories with emotions as a part of it - there is no memory without emotion. Visit a new place - see people who are different than you , if you have the time and money visit a new culture. Volunteer somewhere in a new setting.