Does anyone want to ruin their ‘life’?…?
Did we develop our “life’s” plan before being born?
Do we have “free will”?
Are we ‘actors’ on a stage?
Is it really better to stay and face our sh*t?
Is Suicide a “sin”?
Is this the ‘Matrix’?
Is being mentally tormented part of the plan?
Can we “choose” anything?
Are we puppets being played?
Are we playing “The Game of Life”?
Why is “escape” a coward?
Why does nothing seem to work for some?
How do we overcome?
What is the point of suffering?
Is suffering created by the sufferer?
What stops the torment?
Is ‘blame’ an option?
Can we take full responsibility for the life we create?
When can we stop playing in this “Game of Life”?
Is “awakened” or “sleeper” state of awareness better?
is it better to empty the cup…?
If nothing is truly in our control…why keep trying?
Does anything matter?
Where are the rules???
17 comments
“Is suffering created by the sufferer?”
I think so. After years of intense suffering one thing I’ve noticed is that our fundamental beliefs and assumptions are at the base of many of our sufferings. Once you change that belief, once you lose that assumption, the suffering disappears automatically. But it’s difficult to pinpoint them, we are too much trapped in our feelings and try to work on feelings as such. “Know thyself” is a good mantra.
Is it better to suicide or keep living? I don’t know. Depends. Living at least has possibilities.
You know what I think? I think we create the world. Each one of us. We have a history before birth that we don’t remember that goes way back to origin of universe. We forget a lot of things. I don’t remember what I ate two days ago. Similarly we forget our history before birth. It’s about remembrance.
In another way also I think the source of our actions is our desires. I can’t lift a finger without desire. And when our desire meets obstacles it causes suffering. I would say the cause of suffering is not obstacle but desire. I say this because obstacles are many times out of my sphere of control but desire is in my control. If I want to feel like I have any control over my fate and over my sufferings then I would have to choose desire as the cause and not the obstacle. Here also it’s about history. I created these desires of mine way before birth, over millions/billions of years. They are in my very flesh and blood. But still I would say that they are not beyond my sphere of control. Difficult, not impossible.
[I intend to answer all the questions, because that’s just how I do, but having answered a few already I realize the length of the response would be impractical, and would be disadvantaged to the actual purpose; to discuss our existential dread. I apologize if this arrangement is unpleasant to anyone in anyway, but as I’ll discuss, sometimes life just goes that way]
Does anyone want to ruin their ‘life’?…?
Somewhat, you’ll find most of my answers are somewhat because most of these questions deal in absolutes, and life tends to be more complicated.
I’ve been refusing to submit myself to the culture surrounding me, to become like them in the name of “success.” But who is ruined? Them or I? I charge them, a being so shamed surely qualifies as “ruined”, even if they are fat, and reasonably happy. At what cost happiness eh? Your soul is the answer, submit your entire morality to materialism and it will rain down rewards on you.
or kill you, it’s actually more likely to kill you, but lacking your soul can you really die?
Did we develop our “life’s” plan before being born?
Somewhat, again. Many things are figured out between years and months before we emerge from the womb, the wealth of your parents (which may be dependent on the wealth of their parents before they were born), most genetics. Interestingly one of the two major determinants of intellect is pre birth health, which is tied to maternal health, which is of course part of privilege.
But your parents and eventually you have some choices to make. Where they live will have a lot to do with it. Hopefully you were born somewhere nice, because most people aren’t. A fair amount of parents in such situations choose to seek greener pastures for their offspring, but that isn’t always an option.
The better off your parents are materially, the more choices you get. On the far low end of the spectrum is the premodern medical era; due to disease and malnutrition more than half of children died. Read that again, more than half of children died. People lived into their 90s now and then even back then, but life expectancy stayed firmly in the mid 30s until the era of vaccination and antibiotics.
Do we have “free will”?
Moreso than some, surely. As I was just talking about, prior to the modern medical era most children died before adulthood. That’s the least free will I can imagine, not getting to adulthood because your species stinks (no offence intended to our ancestors who did the best they could). A shocking amount died before even middle childhood, and given the cognitive development at that point, free will is almost entirely removed.
But most of us are limited by our material position. You or I are unlikely to drop a quarter of a million dollars to die on a carbon fiber submarine, as one completely wild example. We don’t have the choices that the rich do, because most of us are relatively poor.
But being passive surrenders what control you have left, and thus I would conclude that it is better for a person to believe they have free will, even if they didn’t. Hold fast to whatever illusions or facts comfort you, because they are far too few.
Are we ‘actors’ on a stage?
I prefer rats in a maze, or perhaps in a sewer. Actors on a stage earn the adulation of the audience, their suffering is appreciated. Meanwhile rats in a maze are barely observed, usually by burnt out grad students. Rats in the sewer are not observed at all, but must live amongst the consequences of their “superiors” even if those humans are really not that much better off. Humans actually need rats to eat our waste, but rats never get the appreciation they deserve for eating what little else can, and providing food to many other animals.
Is it really better to stay and face our sh*t?
That would depend heavily on the nature of the sh*t, but assuming it is something you are capable of getting past, yes. The assumption here is that whatever is going on, you can redeem your life by living a better life on the other side.
On the other hand, in contrast, it’s possible for the sh*t to be so persistant and incapable of being gotten past. The goto situation is one with a terminal illness (though there is some hope that will resolve itself.) In such cases, every day can be worse than the last with no hope of turn around. In those cases it would not be better to stay, at least for the individual in question.
Other people are going to have issues with you dying, no matter how good your reasons are. If the feelings of others matter to you, then it’s probably better to endure and wait for death to come.
Which I hadn’t gotten to yet; death is coming for us all. Even a long life sentence like mine will end. (note life sentense is metaphorical, I’m not serviing time in an actual prison), people in my family live to their 90s, which means actuarially speaking (that is the science of predicting death) I have between 55 and 60 years left. I just got past the point that was two thirds of my life, math can help lessen the blow of huge gobs of time like that.
So even staying to face your sh*t is temporary. Eventually you’ll die. If it isn’t at your own hand, people might be sad, but the anger is much less as well as the blame.
Is Suicide a “sin”?
No. Next question!
I kid, I kid, I’ll blather on about it. First balance of probability is that there is no supreme being, thus no supreme will to usurp. I do consider that there may well be a god, but it’s unlikely.
Even so, we can suppose what might be true in that unlikely situation. It is my belief that a merciful god does not punish people for their physical failings. If you get a cold for example I don’t see you reaching the pearly gates and God being like; “Why where you slacking?! To hell with you!”
So if god doesn’t hold sickness against you, in most cases he wouldn’t hold suicide against you. Most suicide is because of a thing called psychache, a mental pain every bit as real and difficult to get rid of as from any other illness. Eventually, that gets to be more than you can deal with…. and I can’t see God not seeing that coming and being relatively nice about the whole thing.
If you prefer the vengeful old testement style God, then it is a sin, along with wearing mixed fabrics, eating pork, or talking to a woman while she’s having her time of the month. Those laws cover every possible angle, and not even the most fervent Jewish people adhere to ALL of it.
Is this the ‘Matrix’?
That horrible movie? It’s a movie series? FFS. You know the creators were generally terrible people, just on the surface, not getting into the plot issues I have with it. I may be alone in the species for never seeing those movies.
I know from context enough to answer the real question; is life simulated?
It might be…. but if it is the processors involved have memory and processing speed we couldn’t dream of for at least another 500 years.
Most people don’t have the technical wherewithal to realize that while very powerful computers today still have some hefty limitations. I don’t doubt that a computer could simulate the location of every living person, the issue gets into on what level. To the atom? Again, technically we aren’t even in sight of that.
A few years ago I got really into trying to figure out if we could simulate a human brain, down to the atom because chemical interactions are everything to the brain. We can’t, we’re at least a decade out from it in hardware and probably longer in software.
In a simulation you’ve got to simulate several billion brains down to the chemical level, as well as the rest of the human body, trillions of cells in each. Yeah, I don’t see someone with that level of processing power available would get much value out of our silly little world. They’d have to have abilities several tiers of magnitude larger to do it for comedy.
So no.
[today, having already written the prior bit I ran into people who actually believe that this movie from the 1990s had something deep and philosophic to say *snork*. Far be it for me to demean your absurd spiritual beliefs, and so if that makes you happy, great.
Understand it’s horribly contrived, meaning resource intensive in a way that real world things only are if they absolutely have to be. Think LA traffic; amazingly complex and difficult to design and run, BUT servicing a major city with a major port pays the engineers and workers to keep the system going.
Returning to the Matrix system, the stated purpose is either for processing power or battery storage, both of which the human body is horribly inefficient at. So to justify using this horribly inefficient system, you’d have to have some deep pockets keeping the whole thing going. Those deep pockets are going to realize sooner or later that microprocessors are cheaper per tereflop(unit of measure for processing), and potatoes are cheaper per watt hour (measure of battery storage.)
What I’m saying if there’s some spiritual reason for all of that, fine, spiritual stuff doesn’t have to make sense.
Engineering wise, cost performance, resource distribution and logically speaking it’s INTENSELY SILLY. Think hiring Ronald McDonnald to direct LA traffic. I mean… okay…. but YOU try justifying that to the taxpayer. I’m done, even with more data I really couldn’t do any more here.]
Is being mentally tormented part of the plan?
I don’t believe there’s a plan. Again reiterating how silly and absurd [though not Matrix level absurd, the absurdity I speak of here is in terms of human well being, which is also poorly served by the Matrix system] the human condition currently is. To what benefit? That’s the important question given that the making of a plan represents effort, and no one intentionally wastes effort. Anyone organized enough to make a multi billion year plan to get here should be intelligent enough to find an outcome worth making such a plan for.
I just don’t see it. Life sucks too much, and it doesn’t accomplish much.
[meanwhile engineering… accomplishes quite a bit, and with no suffering required]
Can we “choose” anything?
There’s always a choice, regardless of what circumstances you find yourself in. Even if it’s just a choice of outlook, that’s a choice always there. You’ll find, again, that your freedom of action is proportional to prosperity in most ways, excepting a pretty big one; owning expensive stuff is a liability, it limits your freedom. So a house or a car, as an example, creates additional things you can’t do, or not do easily such as sell them.
But security and liberty almost always are at odds. The safest you can be is in a psych ward, constantly being watched and tended… while the most free you could be would be just you, having decent wilderness survival skills, out surviving never knowing what the next day will bring.
To some extent you can choose where on the continuum of freedom your existence lands. If you perform certain actions it can lead to you being confined and less free. Most people want some security, some freedom. There will always be things beyond your control that you wish you could, and there will often be things within your control that you are unsure of what to do with.
There are some less well known freedoms that everyone has, but few use. One I like is you are free to exit any relationship you are in if you aren’t happy. This solves so many problems, but people get caught up in obligations and so on, not admitting they chose to care about that.
If you’ve got a lousy job, you at least have the right to quiet quit and stop pushing so hard. If you have a lousy romantic relationship, you can exit. Yes, that often comes with consequences because many decisions have consequences. You are choosing how you treat the people in your life, for good or ill.
Are we puppets being played?
Who is the puppeteer? They don’t know what they’re doing in puppeteering my life at the very least. We are closer to automotons running out of programming. All of our conditioning and experience either is already obsolete or will be soon. As such, we tend to throw the “file not found” error, which in humans looks like depression and anxiety.
Are we playing “The Game of Life”?
Heh, if we are the developer is incompetent. I’m a more than casual fan of game development, either board games or video games, take your pick. One of the key parts of design is making your game feel satisfying, that through completion of the game loop (whatever it is) the player feels stimulated and rewarded for their effort.
So a game as lousy as human life….. no one would play. It would be one of those games you’d find on the discount rack, the publisher would go out of business. The only reason most of us are still playing is that opting out is so negative. If there was another game, most of us would switch to it.
That’s where the metaphor breaks down, because you can stop playing a game if you like with little consequence. Meanwhile life is all consequences, dying is not only hard work, but treated with extreme scorn by ordinary people.
Why is “escape” a coward?
Suppoedly there is shame in not being up to the challenge, which even stating it I can’t make it sound like a coherent argument. It takes tremendous courage to throw in the towel on life, because you don’t know what comes after, no one knows. This is it, the only existence you’re liable to get.
Sometimes the decision to escape is made quickly and without putting much thought into it. That’s not cowardly, just ill advised. The particular moment you are in not working to that point is worthy of concern, just not always death. There’s capacity to change often, and the wise thing is to try for that. If that fails, I certainly see no shame in escape.
Why does nothing seem to work for some?
Some people are not allowed to try things that might work. I think if everyone was assured a safe place to live, food, and basic medical care you’d see plenty who could make that work. But apparently, and I’m no economist, the only way the economy works is if people are starving and dying for lack of shelter or medical care. That’s what the capitalists around me say, though I’m personally baffled.
Some people stop trying before they’ve tried something that might work. I get that, being discouraged, it’s a rational reaction to the world as it currently is.
Some very rare people have completely used and tried every possible adaptation or solution to their case. I’ve never met one, or even found a case in my reading or other media consumption. I propose it as a pure likely existence at some point somewhere. There only has to be one for it to be a viable option.
How do we overcome?
What are we overcoming? Identifying the challenge is the first task. Define the problem. Sometimes just that is enough, the solution follows logically.
Other times you’ve got to bring it to other people, or work on it for years yourself. To be successful be always looking for that glimmer of hope, for the potentiality that someone else might know something useful. It’s tiring, so self care is also an essential part of overcoming.
What is the point of suffering?
Pain is an essential signal that conditions are not good. Thus suffering serves to direct you towards a life without it. To struggle shows you are taking risks, going after challenges. Sometimes those are able to be defeated, other times retreat is advisable.
Is suffering created by the sufferer?
Rarely. We can make our suffering worse, and often do, but the initial suffering comes from external unexpected circumstances. The sufferer doesn’t deserve the fault, but they do often have the best chance of solving it because they’re motivated. That solution probably requires other people, and the lack of such people is also not a personal failing.
Rather suffering is complex and preventable. What we lack as a species is funding and willpower to that end. We, low level individuals are coaxed to seek an end to our own and our friends/family’s as well. Any progress possible is commendable, but greater system wide changes are required for misery and suffering to be eliminated entirely.
What stops the torment?
On a personal level; transformation can end the torment. As long as you live according to values that argue with the actual life you have, you’ll be tormented. So you must find the root, and reseed it with a purpose that is achievable. A major part of this is where is your source of validation? If it is external, you’ll always be struggling to find enough because other people are so unreliable. One must find a way to give it to oneself
Everyone has something that makes their brain go all gooey and happy, extra points if it’s also something other people like you to do. I personally was overburdened with choice, enjoying both interpersonal problems and complex logic puzzles. I thought go with the better for the species; solve interpersonal problems. However, I couldn’t make it pay enough to keep my other desires at bay. So now I’m trying the other end of the stick.
But what makes you tick may be, probably is, different. Humans like to solve problems, which I know is horribly broad and not that helpful. Solving problems is the best distraction there is, and distraction is as good as it gets with relieving torment.
Is ‘blame’ an option?
It’s an option, but not a particularly productive one. Any kind of blame carries on the other side the need to change behavior. Going back to our discussion on control, your behavior is the only place you’ll have near absolute control. Everyone else? You can influence them, but changing how they operate is hard and often futile.
So diversion from people and things too damaging is more productive than getting angry at them. I personally deal with a limited emotional and mental energy, and I can’t ever afford the rightious outrage of blame. So someone else screwed up? How is that in any way new? Can they be stopped? If they can that’s where energy must go. If not, the more likely outcome, it’s so much easier to work around them.
It’s emotionally gratifying, so if that’s your thing. I long ago abandoned chasing what “feels good” as it rarely aligns with what is actually good for me. Which is my attempt at moral high ground, feeble though it is.
Can we take full responsibility for the life we create?
Well, supposedly it’s possible to be mostly responsible. If you play games with clear rules and reliable outcomes. As I already established, the economy and society I live in is neither. So, I can only be responsible for my life relative to the materials available.
But the minute you realize a path is pointless, it’s on you to find a way out of it. You can take responsibility of those decisions, and little else.
When can we stop playing in this “Game of Life”?
Heh. You could opt out, that’s the direction I’m going. Find other things to occupy your mind with, a way to eat, have shelter and healthy relationships. You figure all of that out, you’ve got the ingredients for a happy life.
Some people are stubborn that they won’t give up the rat race, the futility of trying to please an unpleasable parent or other authority figure. I sincerely wish them well, but I have no idea how to do that, I gave that up last year.
Is “awakened” or “sleeper” state of awareness better?
Semi coherent, so with some moments of clarity/awareness of how awful things are. It isn’t productive to be aware all the time. Also, distraction is the best life has to offer, so if you insist on being clear headed about actual problems most of the time you’re missing out on the good part.
I’m also a personal fan of responsible intoxication. Good drugs make the pain easier to deal with, and they also numb you to an extent. You’ll come back up, and that’s fine too. It’s nearly impossible to completely block out all of the pain and struggle. 70-80% is what I manage.
is it better to empty the cup…?
Let go, accept that the void is waiting for you like an open tomb? Nihilism is productive, sometimes. It’s pleasant, imagining that perhaps nothing is true, nothing matters, and nothing ever has. Practically, existentialism is better. So what if perhaps everything is imaginary, it’s imaginary in a way that is capable of being manipulated, and that manipulation can produce results.
If nothing is truly in our control…why keep trying?
I discussed earlier, quite a number of things are in our control.
That’s not why I keep going, keep trying. My existence is performance art, for the pleasure of my family and no one else. That’s why I’m alive, because me being dead would upset them.
I have a tight little world around me in which I have near total control, and that’s where my focus stays.
Does anything matter?
People matter, they are capable of amazing things, and making you feel in interesting ways. You can be a net positive to the people in your life or a net negative. Choose positive, be remembered as a good egg, because memories of us is all we are certain will remain.
Where are the rules???
Gravity
the frailty of the human body
aging
societal justice
weather/climate
all the rest is constructs, supposedly hard rules but if you stop playing by them nothing happens to you.
—–
fun game, as these things go. I found myself challenged and stretched by the task, and it was interesting to get it all written out.
damn heartless, you wrote a novel :p
That’s me, if someone orders a 12 pound hamburger I’m going to make it, assuming they know what they’re doing 😉
In all seriousness, I have nothing to perform in, and haven’t for a few years. This is down from 4.0 in undergrad, club presidency and research assistant job. I was trained for a high performing lifestyle…. what ended up missing was the demand/pay, because while people are certainly glad to take that ambition, they don’t want to pay for it anymore.
aw dangit, i wound up writing a lot too -_-
“If you prefer the vengeful old testement style God, then it is a sin, along with wearing mixed fabrics, eating pork, or talking to a woman while she’s having her time of the month. ”
–And this is why I believe religion and god is just made up bullshit. The “bibles” were clearly written by sanctimonius men. Society picks and chooses which part of the bible sounds the nicest and throws out all the insane shit, and what we get is a book that sounds nice. And even then, there’s still many parts that are like WTF. But give it a few more hundred years. I’m sure the parts about talking to women on their periods will be removed from the bible. Just like A LOT of other things HAVE been omitted and deleted from the bible over the centuries.
the problem is that most so called believers never read the damn thing, never took a class in theology fundamentals, never matured past the point of children in regards to religion
I was raised new covenant Christian, which teaches that Christ came to fulfill the law, and he set up a new contract essentially between God and man based on a relationship. Christ hated legalism too, he spent more time critiquing religious legalism than critiquing Romans.
but then of course Paul had to rear his ugly head. He was the original incel, thought he knew better than anyone else. His words aren’t even considered enlightened, I still am baffled by how this fringe maniac ended up getting more pages than the gospels
all that to say; right now religion is like capitalism, the way it’s presented flat doesn’t work
it doesn’t mean that religion or capitalism couldn’t work, say with oversight and appealing more to common people than to those in power? Radical ideas I know, Christ only made the point 2000 years ago and they nailed him to a piece of wood for it
I’m not even a Christian anymore, just a hateful and vengeful agnostic…. I sort of believe in God, but I definitely don’t believe in the church.
ok, so i just read some of what you wrote after i wrote my answer.
“People lived into their 90s now and then even back then, but life expectancy stayed firmly in the mid 30s until the era of vaccination and antibiotics.”
-1- No, it wasn’t bc of vaccination or antibiotics. Life expectancy jumped due to improved sanitation. Once indoor plumbing and removal of waste got flushed out, we saw a sudden and dramatic increase in life expectancy. The initial advent of antibiotics (not vaccination) did help with LE too but nowhere as much as sanitation.
-2- Not mid 30s. That may have been the mean but not the median or mode. I’m sure you’re well aware of how “statistics” and data can be altered by using the different metrics. Yes, in the past, most infants died at birth or during early years, and when using the mean, the life expectancy was “mid 30s” or therearound. I used to believe this fallacy too, until I looked into it. Those that made it out of infancy/early childhood, lived pretty old. I forget the actual # but it was pretty high, around 60s and 70s, a little less than current but not much less- for those that did survive past childhood.
-Also, the figure we use currently is also skewed. It says the “average male is 73” and “average female is 79” in the US. That is using the median I believe, which is also flawed. Those that make it beyond 65, tend to live VERY long. But most ppl die before 65 (you ever wonder why Social Security was set at 65?) It was set at 65 bc 2/3 of ppl simply died before they could collect. That is the very reason they set it at 65.
The 1/3 that lived past 65 tend to live VERY LONG, and thus, skewing the “average” age of life. The ones that live the longest tend to be middle and upper class white women. And those #s skew the “average” that is used.
The poor and minorities die much younger than “73” or “79.”
Everything is about statistics and which metric is used- mean, median, mode. As a psych major, I’m sure you know bc I took stats too when I thought I wanted to major in psych (until I found out you make no money with a psych degree lol).
—>Anyhow, not trying to correct you, but as someone who is a purveyor of truth and facts, I figured you’d appreciate the fine details of the facts. It certainly was an eye opener for me when I saw the data and research myself bc I also believed what you did.
**ah, so they are also still using the mean for average LE, not median or mode. As you know, the mean isn’t a good indicator for “average”
to quote the only supervisor I ever respected; “You are technically correct, the best kind of correct!” (though of course he was quoting Futurama.)
I think I’m probably soft, math wise, because I never get that far into my proofs before most of my audience says “it’s okay, we’ll take your word for it.”
I probably do need more grounding and raw data about the issue, only that I found out in the last few months that what I thought of as average infant mortality in the premodern era was more like 3/10 under fives, 4/10 under 20s, but the contrasting view I was given was that as much as 5/10 infant mortality and 7/10 before twenty was more common.
Which, if true, really changes the whole picture for me. Yes our society is cruel and thoughtless, but compared to what it was it’s positively utopian. I also think that’s why people expected less back then. they got to their 30s and thought “good for me, most of my siblings are dead”….
but now we’re all spoiled with our clean water, hospitals and relatively abundant food. It could be better, it should be better. What strikes me is how modern humans are so quick to forget the past, especially the really awful stuff.
I think that’s why early 20th century people were so nice and considerate; they lived through multiple world wars, pandemics and huge societal upheaval. They knew how to appreciate what they had, and what they had in terms of human rights is more than we have now.
math and science are my fortes. it’s part of the reason i am so jaded with life. you see how everything is manipulated to push an agenda, usually an agenda by a huge multinational organization (and helped by the govt they bribe). there isn’t “science” and “statistics” anymore- it’s all an agenda.
Raw data can be manipulated to say whatever it is you want to say. And science “experiments” can be designed to give you the results you want, and is often the case IRL. I worked in science. There is a reason I decided NOT to go into research. In the end, “research” is all bullshit. Companies and government agencies all want to push an agenda, and pay researchers to design experiments that “prove” whatever it is they want.
Case in point- remember the cigarette ads of the past? Before our childhoods but those cigarette ads always had “7 out of 10 doctors recommend this brand of cigarettes.” Oh, and cocaine was actually put in Coca Cola. And drs would prescribe, yes prescribe Cocaine to infants with tooth pain. All this based on “research” paid for by industries. Drs paid by industries. Everything is a lie.
And so much of the “data” we are shoveled aren’t true. And even “good data” gets manipulated. Just like using the mean instead of median or mode for Life Expectancy. Using the mean is very misleading, and done on purpose. Mostly to screw us out of our Social Security.
Do you think most people will be happy or OK with paying SS if they knew that 2/3 of ALL Americans die before hitting age 65?
Anyhow, lies and corruption and evil people and evil corporations (which are all of them) have turned me jaded. Being very academically intelligent as well as having critical thinking and reasoning has led me to a very unhappy life indeed. When you are aware of the bullshit peddaling, it’s hard to be an ignorant happy go lucky dummy.
“I also think that’s why people expected less back then. they got to their 30s and thought “good for me, most of my siblings are dead”….”
–No, the thing is, if you take out all the children that died in infancy/childhood, the average person lived till about mid 65s. Which is not much different from today. The reason the lie is told to us that the avg LE is mid 30s is bc they used the mean. Which counted all the infant deaths. But if you survived childhood, you lived a very long life, till 60s on avg. NOT mid 30s.
“I also think that’s why people expected less back then. they got to their 30s and thought “good for me, most of my siblings are dead”….”
–No, the thing is, if you take out all the children that died in infancy/childhood, the average person lived till about mid 65s. Which is not much different from today. The reason the lie is told to us that the avg LE is mid 30s is bc they used the mean. Which counted all the infant deaths. But if you survived childhood, you lived a very long life, till 60s on avg. NOT mid 30s.
Good questions. All I can say is that pain and suffering have taught me some things.
You have a lot of questions there @ATWANNL88
Does anyone want to ruin their ‘life’?…?
-No one wants to purposely ruin their life, but due to depression or bad decisions, stupidity or lack of options or lack of willpower, ppl do things, or don’t do things that wind up hurting themselves.
Did we develop our “life’s” plan before being born?
-No, our life story isn’t predetermined BUT we are born in a country and to parents that determine our early life. And that shapes who we become. Some, are given opportunities to thrive. Others, are deprived of a condusive environment. To whom and where we are born determines much of our lives/opportunities/lack thereof.
Do we have “free will”?
-Yes, however, see above. We do not have “free will” to whom we are born to, and where, and much of that determines our “fate”
Are we ‘actors’ on a stage?
-No but ppl put up fronts for others so other ppl don’t know the real John or Jane
Is Suicide a “sin”?
-No, that’s just bs ppl say bc suicide is uncomfortable for ppl.
Is this the ‘Matrix’?
-No
Is being mentally tormented part of the plan?
-No but ppl are born into poverty, into shit lives, so is it a wonder some people are tormented. And while all we know is depression, there are most of the world where depression doesn’t exist (and no, ppl who get “sad” due to normal every day things is NOT depression)
Can we “choose” anything?
-Yes, but the higher up the social ladder, the more we can “choose.” If you’re at the poorest rung, then not so much.
Why is “escape” a coward?
-You assume it is. Just bc some people in society says so doesn’t mean it is. For the longest time, humans thought the Earth was flat, if you sneezed, that means the spirits were leaving your body (hence “bless you”), etc. Just bc SOME current people say suicide is cowardice doesn’t mean it is. It’s subjective, not a fact. It is a lie that is told to us bc people are uncomfortable with the truth and of suicide.
Where are the rules???
-Be born rich or well enough off to loving parents.
-Other than that, there are no rules. This is a dog eat dog world, and if you are a nice and caring or emotional person, then you get screwed in this world.
What stops the torment?
-Death
-Or by miracle you obtain what you desire- love, companionship, purpose, enough wealth, etc