“We’re animals, and we’re on this hunk of Earth hurdling through space. There’s no meaning to life. There’s no purpose. It’s completely absurd and pointless, and we’re just creatures crawling around trying to have sex, and eat, and have shelter. And the only thing that’s for sure is that we’re going to decay and die, just as our ancestors did, and just as our progeny are going to, and that’s it. Does that sound good? That doesn’t sound too good.” – Jeff Greenberg (Flight From Death – Documentary)
share your suicide story
Report Post
Please log in to report posts
47 comments
I personally believe that we are not just animals. People’s deviant parents may have not wanted them and told them that they will never amount to anything — but it is my firm belief that human-beings are in a class by themselves (separate and apart from animals).
Whatever delusion makes you sleep better at night.
Delusion keeps animals like us alive. I see no reason to hate delusion. And if the weight of reality threatens your life, I see no reason to not retreat into delusion.
Then again, I also see no reason to choose life over death. So I suppose it’s a matter of whether or not there’s an obligation.
You’re right, delusion is exactly what fuels humans, without it death anxiety would plaugue every human’s mind consciously. Culture, religion, morals, love, are all delusions.
And if you want me to see you as an animal…
And for some reason, this very valid perception of reality is viewed as a marker of depression. There’s society and its refusal to see truth for ya. (Which is not to say that there can’t be purpose for anyone, but it seems ludicrous to assume that every person should find purpose in their life when it is so random and inconsequential.)
Agreed. Humans need delusion. Not everyone who comes to this conclusion has a hard time accepting it, but I, as others suffer from existential depression and issues like this continually are on my mind.
@october
i’ll bite. now what precisely sets humanity apart in it’s own class? aside from it’s ability to cause destruction on a massive scale.
Some will arge volition apart from simple INSTINCTS. Do you HAVE to choose to cause destruction on a massive scale?
*argue
there are individual animals who are natural enemies who overcome their instincts and become friendly with each other. do i have documented proof that those instances happen entirely outside of human influence? no, but there’s no proof all of them are, either.
our very existence feeds a cycle of destruction. our food toys and transportation are all a result of something being destroyed. minerals oil.. yeah there are some fantastic things made but there’s always a cost. a great majority of the food supply is grown using chemicals that aren’t good for the earth, literally tons of trash are stockpiled that do nothing but accumulate and will be there ‘forever’. livestock often live terrible lives before being slaughtered. locally grown cattle and such have better chances of a ‘quality’ life than big corporations but we still murder them in the end. but meat tastes good. waste has in most cases developed into a way of life for humanity. i’m no exception, i like stuff food and shelter and the pretty distractions we come up with. though i think on the whole the remaining hunting gathering societies are the least destructive.
but we make tools to kill and maim and destroy. most beneficial intentions get twisted around in the end to cause harm.. by our existence and even our apathy and indifference we destroy. in many cases aid efforts are an attempt to rectify a mistake we made.
if you dwell on it you’re gloomy. if you talk about it you’re a pessimist.
i probably shouldn’t have opened my mouth in this mindframe. sigh.
OP, your post is right but it’s only one overview, there’s more to it than that, even accounting for a subjective nature of ‘positive’ and ‘good’. I think it’s better to find some purpose if you’re going to live a long time, and purpose is an individual.. decision, realization, whatever. i believe in a brightside and that people can be happy here regardless but that’s just me.
Destruction is awesome. Why condemn it? This planet and all life on it was a mistake long before man showed up.
We are products of evolution, we evolved from lower primates, and go back further in history to our other ‘lower’ animal ancestors. This is no longer a debate, the evidence from all disciplines of science validate the fact of evolution, and we are highly intelligent animals.
I sometimes cause destruction on a massive scale, but not because I want to, I just can’t hold it anymore, dont have a choice, something inside me, this demons wants to break out! but I do the best as I can to denay them the pleasure. but in times I just can’t hold it anymore.. It gets really awful.. I’m not gonna lie, sometimes it brings smiles, but mostly massive destruction of the scale, and so on the bus I fart.
(i’m f up today, please forgive me)
We’re not animals, we’re part alien.
J/k (but who knows, eh).
TheHandle, Yes but nobody likes to hear it, we serve to real purpose far as the big picture in concerned, were legions in our own mind.
Exactly, and that is what is known as death denial.
This may spark controversy but I find the struggle to find delicious Korean BBQ a good reason to live.
Well that and sweet potato fries, which I am not supposed to eat, but there is a southern cooking restaurant near my house that serve the best sweet potato fries.
Oh and the perfect painting. I won’t be able to die until I paint the perfect painting. Which I am going to come damn close to because the sky was the most amazing blue today…
Yup. Korean BBQ, sweet potato fries and painting. The struggle is real!!!!
@HDS; Have you ever tried Mongolian BBQ? Wow.
It is beyond awesome.
(I’m afraid that I might be a Texas red-neck deep down inside, even though I’m a left-coast liberal when the conversation isn’t about guns or food).
@morris I am a New England liberal stuck in Texas. I am fluent in all things Asian, men, food, Culture, food (I said food right). Mongolian BBQ? Wow. I even have been known to pickle my own kimchee.
There is this raw crab kimchee that I make with live crabs….well. Lets just say I feel no guilt about the little live crabs.
I’m going to Texas hell for saying this but I really don’t like Texas BBQ all that much. I’m more of a Chicago BBQ gal.
Is everything bigger in Texas hell?
@cordless: No everything is average and small in Texas hell…which is what makes it hell for Texans. Plus they aren’t allowed any guns, or amo. Or meat. They dine on lean ostrich steaks and organic “heirloom” tomato salad.
Anyone here had a pit beef sandwich? That stuff’s heaven. I may live in VA, but I was born in Maryland, and that’s where about half my family comes from. They have good food in Maryland. Better than the food here.
Huh. The plot thickens.
You said you were from Texas, so I figured you collected dinner by shooting animals with your shotgun while barreling down the highway in your Ford F-150 at 105 mph.
Perhaps I was mistaken. An NE type is a little too refined for them shenanigans. (Nothing wrong with shooting dinner from a moving vehicle though. It improves your hunting skills).
I don’t even own a gun.
I have been known to drive 105 though.
I even gradumacated from one of those faaaaaancy northern type schools….
I once tried Korean BBQ flavored Pringles.
They were better than I thought they would be.
At least you have found your own delusion and purpose to live for.
Talking about animals, I find it funny about how people eat more cows, pigs, chickens, etc. everyday than the total number of people who died in the two world wars yet take the Chinese eating dog meat an international “crime”.
Well except the Hindi. They aren’t eating any cows pigs or chickens…or dogs.
I lived from a country named Nepal where the majority are Hindu and I am pretty sure that people eat almost anything but cows.
OK
*Please don’t mind my grammar. I meant “I am from…” -_-
If it looks like it might taste good, kill it and barbeque it. Then eat it. (That’s how things work here, yo).
I did read that they sell beer in vending machines in Japan. That’s pretty progressive. How does the machine ID you? I really like Japan. I hear good things about them and Australia but I’ve never visited either place.
Someday.
Maybe when I’m dead I’ll visit all these places.
Sadly, I don’t think I can post a picture or something. But no, all you need is money. You put it in, press the button of your choice and it comes through the bottom. I have seen drinks, snacks, even coffee and ice cream.
Morris, I had a neighbor growing up who was in the navy. When he came back from being stationed in japan he brought a bag of assorted vending machine snacks, and i remember one of them being a giant squid eye. It was dried and seasoned but it was about the size of my hand and tasted like salted paper. I went to kyrgyzstan last year and had horse meat. Its like drinking an energy drink, and should be on any meat lover’s list of food tourism. they have “fast food” burgers there too, but hilariously they were better than any fine dining meal Ive eaten in the states.
Wow. Buying squid from a vending machine isn’t a common selection in vending machines around here.
I’m glad you’re not dead, fro-not-so-zen.
My favorite story you ever shared was about going down on the PA turnpike on a motorcycle. (I have a weird memory).
They have a bizarre red-light district in Japanese cities too. Locals are welcome, but foreigners are not. (I’ve talked to numerous US Marines who were stationed there so I believe it).
But you do have in-n-outs out west. I dont think I can kill myself until I know what thats all about. Have you ever had ground bison? Its not bad. With all this talk about food I think Im going to make beerbrat tomorrow. I cant imagine what a japanese brothel would look like after hearing about their young mens recent interest in virtual reality sex. Got another story for you. When i was in central asia, one night we went to a banya somewhere near the outskirts of the city and the guys I were with (natives) hired women. They brought in a line of women and said choose. Some of them were gorgeous but I tried to politely decline. Picture me there, chaste and with all sorts of ideas about whats right and wrong in this world. They took two of them and sent the rest out of the building. So here we are, its me and two other guys and these two women. Between bouts of sauna, beer, tea, conversation, and them fukking loudly in the next room over, we are all sitting down and one of the girls looks over at me, drawing on her cigarette after saying my name, and says in broken english: “You don’t drink, you don’t smoke, and you don’t fukk. What do you do?” I was so stunned I just stood there like the boy on the burning deck unable to answer her. Keep in mind I was very afraid they might think I was homosexual, because that sort of thing is not tolerated there. I got real defensive and pissed off and just mumbled something about being tired, but what could I say? I think it was then that I realized there is no hope for me haha. Anyway, youre not a bad guy I think, Morris. I enjoy reading your quality posts.
@Fro; The “I’m tired” excuse rarely works. (They like you because you seemed inhuman).
In-N-Out really is all that. It’s awesome. Super tasty.
I’m in New Jersey right now. I snuck through a fence, walked along some rail-road tracks to a bar, then walked back through fog and dark. The outside surroundings look like the back-drop to a horror film. Haha. I love this god-forsaken place.
No point to this comment. Have a wonderful evening.
Hah I’m aware (dont take the story seriously). One of the tradeoffs of living in a place that sometimes makes me miserable is the license to criticize. I pay my taxes
What one society may call “wrong” may be acceptable to another. These are nothing but more delusions as culture is a collective fabrication, as are morals.
I don’t consume meat myself, only fish and seafood occasionally, so yeah, as a side argument I often mention to those who question my dining choices about how Asian countries breed dogs to serve as some kind of delicacy. It seems that people in Western or European culture attribute more human traits to dogs than they do for barnyard critters, so the idea of eating an animal considered as a ‘furry best friend’ is horrifying.
Do the Hindu also think of cows as possessing anthropomorphic qualities? I know they consider them to be “sacred.”
I don’t know how to reply to that. Hindu mythology has an extensive number of gods (33) and their “vehicles”. Like Ganesha having head of an elephant would be somewhat anthropomorphic. A cow is more like adored or respected than worshipped.
It seems like aliens (from outer space) are predisposed to mutilating cows every time they visit Earth. Why is that? Do the Hindus have an official response as to why cows are used as guinea pigs by extra-terrestrials?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Sorry for the late reply. I don’t think Hindus have an official spokesperson, someone like the Pope in Christianity. But I will try and explain it to some extent…. Nah, I give up. There must be some illuminati thing going on so commoners (Hindu) don’t have information about that.
the OP seems to have bowed out of his own argument after telling October_rain to stuff it, dropping the mike and exiting stage left.
LOL! Nah, I didn’t get any notifications about all these replies.