# IS life a curse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040 "2016-10-29T18:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/121 "2016-11-05T02:34:56Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s not what that article made it out to be. It seems like he shut down the other methods that one could think of. The operative word being _seems_. While the article was convincing to you, it wasn’t very convincing to me. It consisted of way too may words, basically nonsensical mental masturbation and mindless blather. > [@Machinaforce](#): > > It said the only goal is to be happy, but jumping from one happy feeling to the next seems awful. It’s so empty, just living for that sensation and little else. > > There is no such thing as “worthwhile”, it’s all just actions. None of them matter. Again, the word _seems_. People are telling you that things don’t seem awful to them. But you aren’t listening. Your life view isn’t universal, and until you accept that there are no answers that will satisfy you. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/122 "2016-11-05T13:34:24Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Because why bother with anything when the actions are hollow? Did you even read the second link I posted a few posts ago. It said the only goal is to be happy, but jumping from one happy feeling to the next seems awful. It’s so empty, just living for that sensation and little else. > > There is no such thing as “worthwhile”, it’s all just actions. None of them matter. Nihilism isn’t deep. It’s just boring. But an excellent social calendar clearer. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/123 "2016-11-05T15:06:04Z")
I don’t know if the OP will appreciate this article, but perhaps others will: [People Who Think Their Lives Are Meaningless Still Enjoy Their Lives](http://www.alternet.org/story/149038/surprise_--_people_who_think_life_is_meaningless_still_enjoy_their_lives) > [@](#): > > Ironically, the [existentially] indifferent still found life satisfying (more so than those suffering a crisis of meaning), though still less than those with meaning in their lives. The indifferent experienced less anxiety and depression than those with a crisis of meaning, and those traits measured similarly to those who viewed their lives as meaningful. > > The existentially indifferent appear to live a life of complacency, with few highs and little or no introspection. As Schnell puts it, “Without commitment to sources of meaning, life remains superficial. But superficiality is not necessarily a state of suffering.” What this tells me is that life doesn’t actually have to have meaning for an individual to still have fun in it. Perhaps this is just a bullshit computer simulation and deep down we all know it. But anyone who has spent time playing video games knows that their “fakeness” doesn’t make them any less entertaining. I’m at a period of my life when I feel “existentially indifferent”, and I fit the profile mentioned in the aforementioned article pretty well. Am I superficial? I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t do well with emotions, and I do struggle with identity sometimes. And yet, I’m digging my life right now. I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. There was a time when I didn’t feel this way, though. In blacker times, life seemed utterly pointless and meaningless. But I was depressed not because my life was more meaningless than it is now. I was depressed because I couldn’t “dig” anything about it. I was stuck in a video game that was annoying and boring. But now I’m playing a video game that has the right combination of bells and whistles. They distract me from the sobering fact that I’m ultimately playing a video game, where nothing is “real”. Maybe I’m like Cypher in The Matrix. I know the steak is fake. But what do I gain by fixating on its fakeness? What do I lose by enjoying it for what it is? ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/124 "2016-11-05T17:41:39Z")
Anyone who asks questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” or “What’s my purpose in life?” is making a fundamental mistake right at the start. They are supposing that there is - or should be - a meaning or purpose in life. Well, there isn’t one. It’s not inherent in the system. You don’t get assigned one by a creator at birth. One really neat thing about life, apart from strawberries, is that if we want to set a series of goals or intentions or tasks before ourselves, we’re free to do that. So, if you like, you’re free to create a “meaning”, or not. The ancient Greeks found joy in helping one another (among other things - they were silly people). It’s not a bad hobby to have. Arlo Guthrie says, “Take care of yourself. And, if you can, take care of someone else, too.” If you want to assign a purpose to your life that will help you feel constructive and will give you an honored place in society, may I suggest that this would be a good place to start. Otherwise, don’t. The universe won’t care. In fact, it can’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/125 "2016-11-05T20:23:15Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > Anyone who asks questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” or “What’s my purpose in life?” is making a fundamental mistake right at the start. They are supposing that there is - or should be - a meaning or purpose in life. > > Well, there isn’t one. It’s not inherent in the system. You don’t get assigned one by a creator at birth. > > One really neat thing about life, apart from strawberries, is that if we want to set a series of goals or intentions or tasks before ourselves, we’re free to do that. So, if you like, you’re free to create a “meaning”, or not. > > The ancient Greeks found joy in helping one another (among other things - they were silly people). It’s not a bad hobby to have. Arlo Guthrie says, “Take care of yourself. And, if you can, take care of someone else, too.” If you want to assign a purpose to your life that will help you feel constructive and will give you an honored place in society, may I suggest that this would be a good place to start. > > Otherwise, don’t. The universe won’t care. In fact, it can’t care. But making your own meaning just seems hollow. There is nothing to base it on, because it doesn’t matter. It won’t change anything. Why should we help others? Why is it good? Because it ensures our surivival? What’s good about that? ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/126 "2016-11-05T20:24:18Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If it’s not worthwhile to you, that’s your problem. Plenty of us think our lives are worthwhile, or even if some of us are just going through the motions, at least some worthwhile moments come up from time to time. If you think life is meaningless, don’t expect a lot of agreement on that score. Instead of inviting people to your pity party, get up off your arse and try to fill your hollow spots. But that doesn’t tell me why they are worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/127 "2016-11-05T20:33:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The operative word being _seems_. While the article was convincing to you, it wasn’t very convincing to me. It consisted of way too may words, basically nonsensical mental masturbation and mindless blather. > Again, the word _seems_. People are telling you that things don’t seem awful to them. But you aren’t listening. Your life view isn’t universal, and until you accept that there are no answers that will satisfy you. Are you sure it’s the link on the second page? Because it pretty much nulled any other way of thinking. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/128 "2016-11-05T20:45:33Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > But that doesn’t tell me why they are worthwhile. Only you can answer that for yourself. As the Buddhist hot dog vendor says, “Change comes from within.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/129 "2016-11-05T20:56:06Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > But making your own meaning just seems hollow. There is nothing to base it on, because it doesn’t matter. It won’t change anything. Why should we help others? Why is it good? Because it ensures our surivival? What’s good about that? It only _seems_ as though it seems hollow. Actually, this is an illusion caused by your expectation that there should be a meaning. If you expect a rock to transform into a bird - really expect it - and it doesn’t happen, you might very well feel jaded or disappointed in much the same way. When you say that something “doesn’t matter”, you first have to identify to whom it “doesn’t matter”. Whom are we discussing? God? Yourself? Your uncle Ed? Again, this feeling as to do with expectations… expectations that are false. Why should we help others? Well, there are many, many ways of answering that question. Here are a few. There may some overlap. - 1) The reasons that I already gave… you will achieve an honored place in society, which you may use to boost your sense of self-worth. It will ease your interactions with others. 2) You, one day, might need someone’s help. Morally, it is right for others to be able to expect the same behaviour from you that you expect from them. 3) Pure bloody self-interest. 4) Pure bloody species survival. 5) Helping people (generally) aligns with moral codes & will generally keep you out of harm’s way. If you are going to live within a society, it’s generally a good idea to make a positive contribution - for both selfish and altruistic reasons (see above). Otherwise, the society is liable to remove you (prison, exile). Or, you could always decide to live an isolationist life. Or, hey, kill yourself. It’s all the same to the universe. It really all just comes down to what sort of life would make you the happiest. If you’re not capable of joy, well, I’m certainly not going to make a case for you sticking around. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/130 "2016-11-05T22:27:46Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Only you can answer that for yourself. As the Buddhist hot dog vendor says, “Change comes from within.” 😃 That’s not helping in the slightest, if I could answer that I wouldn’t be here. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/131 "2016-11-05T22:31:12Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > It only _seems_ as though it seems hollow. Actually, this is an illusion caused by your expectation that there should be a meaning. If you expect a rock to transform into a bird - really expect it - and it doesn’t happen, you might very well feel jaded or disappointed in much the same way. > > When you say that something “doesn’t matter”, you first have to identify to whom it “doesn’t matter”. Whom are we discussing? God? Yourself? Your uncle Ed? Again, this feeling as to do with expectations… expectations that are false. > > Why should we help others? Well, there are many, many ways of answering that question. Here are a few. There may some overlap. - 1) The reasons that I already gave… you will achieve an honored place in society, which you may use to boost your sense of self-worth. It will ease your interactions with others. 2) You, one day, might need someone’s help. Morally, it is right for others to be able to expect the same behaviour from you that you expect from them. 3) Pure bloody self-interest. 4) Pure bloody species survival. 5) Helping people (generally) aligns with moral codes & will generally keep you out of harm’s way. > > If you are going to live within a society, it’s generally a good idea to make a positive contribution - for both selfish and altruistic reasons (see above). Otherwise, the society is liable to remove you (prison, exile). Or, you could always decide to live an isolationist life. Or, hey, kill yourself. It’s all the same to the universe. It really all just comes down to what sort of life would make you the happiest. If you’re not capable of joy, well, I’m certainly not going to make a case for you sticking around. Obviously I am capable of joy but that’s not the point here. Also your reasons aren’t reasons why I should help them, they are just consequences that occur when I do. Nothing there says why I should do it. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/132 "2016-11-05T23:00:14Z")
It all depends upon your definition or expectation of the word “why”. If by “why” you are in expectation of meaning or purpose, you are not correct to ask the question. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/133 "2016-11-05T23:22:07Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s not helping in the slightest, if I could answer that I wouldn’t be here. But only you can answer that. Others can provide guidance, but you have to help yourself. None of us actually knows you, so without that knowledge, we can’t tell you if your life is meaningless or not. You know yourself better than we do. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/134 "2016-11-06T02:44:04Z")
This poor excuse for a thread should be put out of its misery. “Make me enjoy my life!” NO, that doesn’t work or that one, either why can’t you tell me why I should live? Look at it this way - at some point, you will die. Then you’ll be happy, right? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/135 "2016-11-06T03:07:04Z")
OP, honestly examining any of these questions requires empathy, and I see no indication you have any. AFAIK that can’t be fixed. Maybe it’s just some problem with executive functioning that renders you incapable of effectively evaluating different POVs, but these threads have gone way past reasonable introspection and have veered into pathologically obtuse territory. So, perhaps before you pick up any of those existentialist authors I recommended and which you ignored, go see a shrink. You just might find all you need to give your life meaning is some fuckin’ Prozac. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/136 "2016-11-06T03:10:27Z")
The world is a vampire. DANANA NA NA NAAAA ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/137 "2016-11-06T04:21:44Z")
I don’t think there is anything dumb or stupid about asking the questions themselves. But the OP is begging the question. He’s already decided life is meaningless and that life is not worth living (for his own precious definitions of meaning and worth) and when you’re operating from such a rigid framework you can’t learn, discover, or create. There’s no real intellectual curiosity here. There’s no courageous self - examination. I was about 18 when I first discovered existentialism and it blew my fucking mind. Better than that, I was so relieved because my previous belief structure, which involved an all loving God, had been completely dismantled before my eyes. My suffering was no longer divine retribution, it was no longer the sadistic will of some higher power, it just was. And that revelation, however unnerving, was a springboard to making my life mean whatever the hell I wanted it to mean. The existential void is terrifying only until you discover that it’s the ultimate sandbox. When you start with nothing you can build anything. That is pure joy. I don’t know that the OP will ever be able to make that leap. Just because life is meaningless doesn’t mean it can’t be made meaningful, doesn’t mean it can’t be worth living. We’re all in the same damned boat, either you sink or build another boat. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/138 "2016-11-06T17:15:26Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > …Maybe it’s just some problem with executive functioning that renders you incapable of effectively evaluating different POVs, but these threads have gone way past reasonable introspection and have veered into pathologically obtuse territory. So, perhaps before you pick up any of those existentialist authors I recommended and which you ignored, go see a shrink. You just might find all you need to give your life meaning is some fuckin’ Prozac. QFT, **Spice Weasel** … ♪♫ …said it once before but it bears repeating… ♬♪ ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/139 "2016-11-06T23:08:54Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > OP, honestly examining any of these questions requires empathy, and I see no indication you have any. AFAIK that can’t be fixed. Maybe it’s just some problem with executive functioning that renders you incapable of effectively evaluating different POVs, but these threads have gone way past reasonable introspection and have veered into pathologically obtuse territory. So, perhaps before you pick up any of those existentialist authors I recommended and which you ignored, go see a shrink. You just might find all you need to give your life meaning is some fuckin’ Prozac. > > Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk Because people don’t seem to explain it beyond making your own meaning, which I said felt rather hollow than anything else. I have also checked out this entry existential authors, by none of them really helped answer your questions. I especially found Campus to be wanting with his solution. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040/140 "2016-11-06T23:13:37Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I don’t think there is anything dumb or stupid about asking the questions themselves. But the OP is begging the question. He’s already decided life is meaningless and that life is not worth living (for his own precious definitions of meaning and worth) and when you’re operating from such a rigid framework you can’t learn, discover, or create. There’s no real intellectual curiosity here. There’s no courageous self - examination. > > I was about 18 when I first discovered existentialism and it blew my fucking mind. Better than that, I was so relieved because my previous belief structure, which involved an all loving God, had been completely dismantled before my eyes. My suffering was no longer divine retribution, it was no longer the sadistic will of some higher power, it just was. And that revelation, however unnerving, was a springboard to making my life mean whatever the hell I wanted it to mean. The existential void is terrifying only until you discover that it’s the ultimate sandbox. When you start with nothing you can build anything. That is pure joy. > > I don’t know that the OP will ever be able to make that leap. Just because life is meaningless doesn’t mean it can’t be made meaningful, doesn’t mean it can’t be worth living. We’re all in the same damned boat, either you sink or build another boat. It’s funny you say that because I was going to equate making meaning with sand. No mater what you make it’s just an illusion and all goes to dust in the end. It’s not as sandbox so much as a desert. No matter what you do it’s meaningless. Or better yet if it is a void then it truly is meaningless as you can’t make something from nothing. All it does is eat whatever you do and nothing. Making meaning seems like the ultimate exercise in futility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-life-a-curse/770040.md?page=8)