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OK, I have been lurking here for months and I just can't take it anymore. I want someone to give it to me straight right here and right now. I am sorry if I sound like an utter crazy person but this topic is one of the few things that can cause me to go into absolute panic. I don't want to live in some post apocalyptic hellscape. Hell, even something similar to the beginning of Interstellar is terror to me. Best case scenario in some collapse situation is living in a small community. I cannot do that. I am not good with people and all my interests are dependent on technology. I have lived in a small town before and everyone there is horribly gossipy and would immediately make me an outcast. Plus there is the whole aspect of digging around in the dirt for 12 hours a day for subsistence farming. I cannot even get the energy to cook after an 8 hour work day. People around me always wonder why I am so calm in stressful situations such as layoffs, etc. This is why. In the face of stuff like this everything else looks trivial. I cannot even plan for my future anymore because it all seems condemned to turn to dust. The cliché advice in this situation is "turn to your loved ones". Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury. What is to be done then? Do I just keep a noose handy until everything inevitably falls apart? I am already doing what I can environmentally wise: I don't drive, try to save power. I am not vegetarian but I try to cut back. How exactly do you guys handle it? Is it fear of death that simply keeps you from doing anything drastic? tl;dr If things are so bad WHAT IS THE GODDAMNED POINT IN ANYTHING?
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Mar 20, 2016 01:09
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I am perfectly functioning. I just have this overwhelming sense of pointlessness and lack of aim that I have to occasionally overcome in order to keep a "career". And I am seeking therapy but I usually hold back about this subject. My therapist has a daughter and I don't want to scare her with statements like "your daughter will live a horrible life and likely die a horrible death cursing you bringing her into this world". The one time I did express my concerns about the state of the world, she gave the old "technology will solve it" speech.
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Mar 20, 2016 01:29
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Captain Scandinaiva posted:I'm thinking the lifestyle of The West in the 40's but mixed with the technology of today. That is, meat is not eaten every day (and all parts of animals are eaten) but protein is also made from insect farms and "lab-grown", dairy products are replaced by oat milk and such. Cars are scarce but people use electric bikes and velomobiles to commute and transport goods within cities. Air flight doesn't exist for most people but plenty of resources are spent on healthcare. More people work in the agricultural sector but it's not completely reliant on human hands. And of course, gays don't have to hide in closets and black people can become presidents. Would that kind of society still be unsustainable if it was global? Would we able to supply such a society with enough energy from reneweable sources (without loving up every eco system building renewable energy plants)? Would it become economically and technologically stagnant? I don't really have any good data on this, but I feel like there should be a middle ground between colonizing space and tilling the land for the rest of your meager life. I am perfectly OK with this. As long as I can take the bus or bike to work and we will still have the Internet. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 16:50
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Eating insects is not that bad. I had those insect schnitzel things twice. It's just like those veggie patties you see in the supermarket that taste like meat.
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Mar 20, 2016 19:17
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OK, so can someone please provide or point out to me a proper list of the kind of stuff that WOULD be necessary? I know answers might vary but I think it would put the minds of people like me at ease. My nightmare scenario, like I said, is one akin to Interstellar where everyone is pressured into becoming farmers and even technology and progress is a dirty word. One where everyone is forced to work 12 hours a day growing their own food until their backs give out and the rest of the community puts you down for being useless. When you say "cutting back" exactly WHAT do you mean? I can live without travel. I do not own a car. I can even live without beef. But will I have to add a significant amount of manual labor to my daily existence? Will there have to be a greater focus on "community" and what guarantees will I have that this will not lead to an increase in tribalism and shunning of anyone who is different somehow, even for details as trivial as "not liking to drink" (which already cuts off a significant form of socializing). If we are to break the deadlock between alarmism and denial we HAVE to start pushing for the truth to come out. Edit: ^ yes, thank you. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 19:50
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My first niece was born today. ...how the hell am I supposed to react to this?
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Mar 31, 2016 18:17
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How are u posted:Probably best not to think about it too much or you will get very depressed. Too late!
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Mar 31, 2016 18:38
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Removed.
AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Mar 31, 2016 |
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Mar 31, 2016 18:54
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OK, I think I am calmer now. Can you please delete all quotes of what I just said please?
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Mar 31, 2016 19:13
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As bad as this sounds, shouldn't we start heavily pushing for subsidized euthanasia (as in "non only can you do this judgment and pain free whenever you want, we will even pay an institution or next of kin of your choice to do so)? It would alleviate the ones remaining and provide a good option for those who don't want to stick around to see any of this happening.
AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Apr 10, 2016 |
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Apr 10, 2016 01:48
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Wanderer posted:You probably need to talk to a therapist. Already did. Response was the usual "We don't know what's going to happen. Please do not do anything stupid". And I will not. Just speaking in hypotheticals.
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Apr 10, 2016 02:53
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Squalid posted:If /r/collapse is a bunch of survivalists fantasizing about the road warrior style post-apocalypse this thread is a bunch of depressives dreaming about how they and everyone else will finally be able to die Do you honestly believe I WANT any of this to happen? Any thoughts and plans that I have (which again, I emphasize are purely hypothetical) have to do with minimizing my suffering in case everything falls apart. I don't want to spent 12 hours a day digging in the dirt. I don't want to have to learn self defense to protect myself against raiders. I simply don't think that my life is worth all that trouble to preserve IF things come up to that point. I fail to see exactly what is your proposal for a more "rational" outlook. I am not particularly attracted to voluntarism (and I live in a country where I don't speak the language anyway), people ITT keep saying how any potential efforts in climate activism will be useful plus any sort of activism in the world today will have potential permanent consequences for my income (for example, every single time I even say words like unions or anything involving the LGBT to my family, they immediately tell me "Don't say those things at work! You might get a reputation! Pretend that you don't have any sort of opinion!"). I am not suicidal, I am simply trying to enjoy life the best I can but I have a horrible time doing so because the notion that billions will suffer casts a dark cloud over it. On worse days it feels more like I am simply staring at a clock waiting for my life to end. Funnily enough my dad is getting a PhD in climate change. I have never asked him anything about it because I fear the results but so far he does not appear to be the least bit concerned. The closest I ever got was mentioning how climate scientists are getting PTSD and depression from their findings to my mom and she shot back with "I was at that climate conference with your father. No one looked depressed to me" (Unfortunately she does not speak English so she would not understand anything being said) and got annoyed at my "persistent pessimism". AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 10:03 on Apr 10, 2016 |
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Apr 10, 2016 10:01
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ChairMaster posted:I'm not like a marine biologist, but phytoplankton have a generation time of a couple hours to a couple days, so a hundred years seems like an alright period of time to get some adaptation to warmer temperatures. Again, how am I supposed to live my life with this knowledge? I refuse to raise a family, any and all career goals seem useless to me since society as we know it might not even survive the next 20 years, let alone 100, and most people and family treat me like an annoyance at best. Is the mere act of existing and not being dead supposed to give me some intrinsic joy? Because I don't get it and getting medicated for it doesn't seem like a good prospect because I am afraid of becoming too optimistic and then making choices like raising a family that then will be stuck in this hell and die painfully cursing my name. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Jun 24, 2016 |
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Jun 24, 2016 22:27
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Prolonged Priapism posted:Yes, lets you, not makes you. The deal you (unconsciously) made with yourself is that you'll take on the world's anxiety, worrying about this hard enough for all of us, in exchange for having an excuse for not trying to improve your life. The excuse even comes with a great out - if it [insert world ending disaster here] never happens in your lifetime, it drat sure could have and I wasn't wrong to have been so worried. Humanity got lucky, bless those happy fools in their ignorance, they don't know how bad it could have been. You get to remain superior no matter what. As cliché as this might sound, this gave me something to think about. Thank you. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Jun 25, 2016 |
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Jun 25, 2016 03:26
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Guess I don't have to "improve myself" after all! OK, seriously. Maybe I'm just having a relatively good day but honestly I think I'll just enjoy my life until everything goes to hell. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Jul 23, 2016 |
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Jul 23, 2016 00:45
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I'm glad you find it funny, because I sure don't.
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Jul 23, 2016 20:00
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Uranium Phoenix posted:I'll agree with what blowfish said and add to it. I am saving for retirement (if only since if things get really bad I can use that money for some wild and crazy fun ride or something). However, I am deliberately staying away from relationships because I don't want anyone to care for me or anyone to "have to" defend in case things go bad. Is that a bad approach?
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Sep 1, 2016 11:43
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TildeATH posted:
Who said I want "success"? I simply want the ability to leave this world while causing the least amount of suffering in case things go bad.
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Sep 1, 2016 19:11
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http://www.climatecentral.org/news/world-passes-400-ppm-threshold-permanently-20738 Just go out and enjoy life. Don't have children, and if you do, please let them know that if their life becomes too painful then it's their right to end it. As is the right of all of us. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Sep 28, 2016 |
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Sep 28, 2016 20:11
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Squalid posted:Nooo don't leave me with them... At least the suicidally depressed guy seems to have left or at least stopped posting his fantasies about self-euthanization clinics I am feeling much better, thank you. Though my point still stands. 
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Oct 17, 2016 18:28
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Forever_Peace posted:I'm glad to hear you are feeling better Following the USPOL thread of all things. This whole election business is such a hilarious trainwreck. I expect it won't last long though.
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Oct 17, 2016 18:37
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NewForumSoftware posted:Having children is so central to the human experience that without it, I honestly believe life isn't worth living. We don't know how it will be until humans go extinct. Maybe 50 years, maybe 500, maybe 5000, maybe 50000. As far as I'm concerned enjoyments of one life is relative more than anything else. Members of the Homo genus were plenty happy without anything we have today, and really the only people this is going to be horrific for are the people who were privileged enough to enjoy the brief period of human history where it wasn't the norm- So in other words for your own selfish enjoyment you are willing to create another human being who will most likely spend their short lift scrabbling a horrible hand to mouth existence and deal with likely being repeatedly raped and brutalized? I could never understand this kind of thinking. "I will protect my children". "My children will be better prepared". "My children will be the king of the castle". Thinking that you are better than everyone else is probably the most destructive mentality today. I was told I was "gifted" and better than others all my life by parents, teachers and therapists. It did nothing for me. It only made me complacent and anyone raised like this will too. Don't commit the horrible crime of creating more people who don't want to be here.
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Oct 17, 2016 21:18
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Again, with all that's being discussed, why is self euthanasia considered such a bad thing? My happiness is intrinsically bound to industrial civilization:all my interests are technological in nature and I would rather hang myself than live in some village with nothing to discuss with people other than the horrific small talk people today already do. Not to mention that to survive chaotic scenarios you need a support network, which I do not have. If I want to leave this place, people should be happy for me, not sad.
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Oct 18, 2016 13:15
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call to action posted:You're a loving idiot if you honestly believe your kids will be living in bunkers and still choose to have them. Most people's reasons to have children are selfish. They wantpeople who canove them unconditionally despite being terrible to them, or serfs to take care of them in their old age. Hell, my own mother has tried to unload her anxieties regarding other family members on me and when I suggested therapy she shot back "then what are children FOR?"
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Oct 18, 2016 14:32
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Sorry if this is old news butPotato Salad posted:No support structure, like, no family? Friends nearby? All fun or human contact on industry-supported appliances? Can I take this offer in place of that other jerk? I'm in the same situation but sad instead of hostile.
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Oct 27, 2016 21:37
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I know people don't like to hear me to talk about this, but hopefully the growing despair will finally make peaceful ways to end one's life more freely available. Until then I will just amuse myself I guess. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Nov 10, 2016 13:55
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Gareth Gobulcoque posted:I made it a year into post grad before abandoning the field. It is a rabbit hole of horrible. The daily exposure was turning me into something I didn't like, and that was back in the olden days when we still had a chance to do something. My dad (we live in Europe, BTW) is getting a PhD in Climate Change and I don't understand how he is not suicidal. The only time I asked directly about the subject was mentioning Trump pulling out of the Paris accords and giving deniers top positions and he came up with this convoluted explanation about how it wouldn't be that bad since a lot of those regulations are up to individual states and most follow California's lead, topping off with "you're just as misinformed as a Trump supporter!". He has also been to a ton of conferences abroad and my mom (who goes with him and doesn't speak Englush) says "no one there looked depressed" Makes me wonder if my dad is being scammed.
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Dec 9, 2016 16:13
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He does that sort of thing constantly. His favorite running jokes when I was a kid was asking my mom when I was in the room "when are we going to tell Ace he's adopted?" and whenever I asked what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas he would ALWAYS reply "a son with good sense"
AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Dec 9, 2016 |
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Dec 9, 2016 16:39
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Nocturtle posted:edit: VVVVVV IMO become an oil company executive just to show him. Joking aside, I don't think this would phase him in the least. My brother has tried to break into oil and gas for years and my dad never said anything about it. In fact, other than making sure we recycle, I have never seen him be very passionate about the environment, I think the PhD just grew from his work having him do a lot of environmental audits. I heavily suspect his nonchalant attitude towards climate change is because he believes that "only the third world will get screwed"
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Dec 9, 2016 17:57
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He's a civil servant. He audits other government departments. I just have no clue. I guess he finds the topic fascinating yet manages to remain detached. The fact that he's already in his 60s and thus will be dead when things go bad helps.
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Dec 9, 2016 18:11
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I dont know how anyone can just keep living knowing that this is happening. Careers look useless to me, hope is a lie, I have almost no friends,never had an SO. I am literally hoping my heart stops or something so that my family doesnt destroy itself with grief over my death.I even tried therapy but just keep getting more "things will work out!" bullshit and all the therapists I tried are mothers so I always hold back on telling them how utterly hosed their children are. What do I do?
AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 13:27 on Dec 10, 2016 |
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Dec 10, 2016 13:17
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blowfish posted:"things will work out" is always a good assumption to make even when it's not going to happen realistically, because getting depressed over something doesn't make it better I am incapable of that level of denial.
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Dec 10, 2016 13:28
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See, I never understood why that is supposed to be comforting. "Oh humans will be gone but other animals will show up!" Who cares? These animals arent sentient. They wont have the capacity for art, for love, for empathy, for creativity. Who care if a beautiful world is reborn if there is nothing intelligent left to see it?
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Dec 10, 2016 13:33
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TACD posted:Stop letting things over which you have no control dictate your happiness. You never had control over the fate of the planet or the guarantee of a safe future; this is all just making the illusion apparent. Nothing has actually changed and you are still able to live a good life by focusing on doing the best you can with the things that are actually under your control. Live a good life because it matters here and now, not because of how you imagined and hoped history would play out over the next few centuries. So I am just supposed to pretend nothing is happening? Form attachments to people who will die horribly or will have to protect? Make a career knowing that it will all turn to dust? I keep hearing about how you're supposed to love the process of what you do but I only ever manage to care about results. Why make something that will not last? Why strive for a brief moment of happiness if it comes with thousands more moments of pain?
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Dec 10, 2016 15:32
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Accretionist posted:You sound depressed. On one hand I am sure I am but on the other, isn't that the logical response to our bleak future?
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Dec 11, 2016 18:58
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Squalid posted:Imagine if your parents or grandparents had taken this position given the probability of Thermonuclear war during their life times. That would have been perfect. Means I wouldn't be here to deal with this crap.
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Dec 11, 2016 20:18
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Ravenfood posted:You should probably go see a therapist, dude. Have been for almost two years. Not doing much. Going to switch to a different one.
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Dec 11, 2016 23:50
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I'm in aerospace >.< I dont even like it that much but now I am stuck (my degree was more like a bunch of intro classes of various engineering branches strung together with a joke of a thesis at the end). What I would really like to do is software but at 29 it might be way too late.
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Dec 12, 2016 00:58
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So I ask again, how the hell can anyone do anything knowing this sort of thing and not want to immediately hang themselves? I've gotten to the point where everything sounds pointless and I can't convince my therapist to go beyond "Things will work out!"- Only resort is drugs but if civilization collapses those will go as well. I'm hoping every day that I die in a painless accident.
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Dec 18, 2016 22:33
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:23 |
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GlyphGryph posted:
I don't care about vengeance. I don't care about fighting. I don't care about doing anything with minimal impact just for the "at least I did SOMETHING" value. I don't get involved in fights I am not 100% sure I can win. I care about results. I care about is the life I was promised: That of doing what I am told in a safe environment and be compensated progressively more for it, hopefully with someone I can care for and have meaningful cultural discussions with. None of that is possible in the world that is coming. AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Dec 18, 2016 |
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Dec 18, 2016 23:01
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