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bluewhiteandred on scored.co
6 days ago2 points(+0/-0/+2Score on mirror)2 children
Her Tiktok Cry For Help
So, her tiktok was linked on that page, she did a 6 min reflection of where she was at in life and it sounds like she was going through a somewhat common existential crisis: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatslightlyunhingedgirl/video/7579412541479177485
What's the Point of Life?
her main gripe seems like this question: life feels like a loop of a bunch of pointless work tasks, and even if you were to become "super successful", like what is it all really for - what is the point of life? Attaining success in the world doesn't achieve some kind of clear "goal" in a religious / philosophical / metaphysical way.
It's an experience that's very new to teenagers to ask that question, and as an adult I think I still struggle with trying to figure this out.
Too Much Choice, Too Little Freedom
I think it's something of the disorientation of choice, especially in America: you can in theory try to become so many different people, so which one should you try to become and why?
Edit: At the same time, it sounds like zoomers are overscheduled due to boomers destroying freedom and prosperity in the country, forcing zoomers to pick from smaller sets of options and to go on more strongly pre-defined paths that may not be of their choosing.
"Final" Goals: Ends of Life
But I think there's also a lack of a feeling of "final" goals being achieved: she as the student studies in school, to get married (traditionally), to have kids... who just then repeat the process. It feels like a mismatch for people like... there is no "top" of the mountain of goals. People climb a mountain and get to the "top" and then feel like, "what do I do now? Just go climb another mountain"? This feels psychologically unsettling but again is something that I'm not sure anyone has otherwise figured out.
"Nausea" of Freedom?
(Classical) Liberalism exacerbates this politically I think, with the illusion of "endless choice". That really feels like an endless amount of goals with no "substantial" purpose! This is where "authoritarianism" for me felt like a solution to this problem: obedience to a religious authority, who is suppose to be acting in obedience to God, gives your life more of an "absolute" sense of "this is what I am supposed to be doing because it is what God wants me to do".
Mysteries of God's Will
This maybe only rolls the question back another step to: "why does God want me to do this?" But it at least avoids the quagmire of "self-will" of you having to decide everything for yourself as if you were God (!).
Conclusion
Is this the philosophical study of ends of things, teleology? It's a shame this young girl who had the intelligence to question "pointless loops of consumption" was not able to find alternative satisfying paths in life. In truth, I was at risk for taking my own life myself due to similar kind of experiences of being sent on a lot of paths that seemed pointless in the short-term and long-term, and I still struggle to try to get a sense of "traction" in life (but I don't feel as much a struggle with despair so much as a feeling of urgency to try to make use of the limited time I have on this earth).
edit: Unabomber on "Goals"
Ted K comes to mind as well, he mentioned a lot of development of technology can contribute to causing more psychological distress like this. In more primitive / harsher times, people died more regularly so just being alive had plenty to keep you busy with and grateful. He goes into greater detail about how society creates a bunch of pointless goals due to technology giving us more leisure ("surrogate activities") rather than focusing on tangible goals that are more tied to survival like eating and preparing food, bearing children, and building primitive shelter, and so on. He argues that although primitive people do not achieve "surrogate goals" (maybe they don't develop more and more specialized and complicated patterns of mathematics that only a few people know about), they are more psychologically at ease, as they feel they have achieved "essential" goals freely. So I think maybe technology is at play here of creating conditions that have alienated people from more "essential" pursuits. This woman in question in the OP had abandoned a desire for having children, was probably being taught to specialize in jobs that felt increasingly pointless, and maybe had other "pointless" modern conditions around her that amplified a sense of pointlessness.
edit 2: The Myth of Sisyphus
Sisyphus in mythology "offended the gods" in some way I believe, so was condemned to roll a rock up a hill for eternity, only for the rock to roll back down the hill every time Sisyphus got close to getting the rock on top of the hill. I think that's how life psychologically felt for this woman... I think we are yearning for some kind of goals that feel "definite": we roll the rock up the hill and the goal "ends" in some "real way". It may be very personal and a kind of struggle to find or figure out what goals seem more like this (definite) rather than like the punishment Sisyphus had (unending / pointless).
6 days ago4 points(+0/-0/+4Score on mirror)1 child
She was seeking “long term happiness”. Many women are, and the problem is that doesn’t exist. That’s an illusion created in movies, and social media. Once you realize, and accept that life is more 🐂💩, heartache, and pain then it is puppies, and rainbows, it’s a lot more enjoyable, or at least acceptable, and it helps you to enjoy, and accept the uneventful, and joyous times much much more. It also helps greatly to believe in something bigger than yourself, and I’m not just talking about God, but also community, and brotherhood. Of course, both those things are demonized, especially for whites now.
I'm still thinking about this, may probably create a separate post at some point but I can continue what I was researching in this comment
Given the scientific materialistic movement, previously Christian or non-Christian philosophers and theologians might have mused about life having a "teleology" or purpose. There is the famous "watchmaker's argument for God's existence" where if you found a random watch on the ground, you might suppose there was a being (a human) who built the machine with a purpose (to tell time). Hence they also argue when we observe humans and the created world, it looks like it has a purpose (to love God) created by a Being (God) with intent.
With the advent of a belief that the world "simply exists", there is not thought to be any designer (God) with intention or a purpose behind the Creation. Hence life has no inherent purpose (nihilism). We come in to existence and try to create a purpose ("existence precedes essence" - existentialism). The modern dominant philosophies therefore literally believe there is no purpose to life (which emotionally can create depression in people, as a feeling of pointlessness, or frustration, as there is no "goal" to achieve as the world is ultimately "goalless"). With no purpose, people frequently adopt the "purposes" of "evolution": achieve more, make more money, "grow" (yet these often do not satisfy, like the woman's complaint - they are "means" to a more ultimate purpose or "end")
In contrast, traditional Catholic teaching for example in the Baltimore catechism asserts that life has a "fixed" purpose: man was created to "know God, love God, and serve God".
Some of the things with religion suggest a transcendence of the material purposes which seem to have no "ultimate" grounding. For example, the sacrament of baptism is supposed to remove the stain of original sin "for eternity". It is not the achievement of winning some competition, which is forgotten tomorrow, but is a state that exists "forever". I think something of these "infinite" actions are desired.
Humans are also finite and incapable of "achieving" these "infinite" things of God. Jesus on the Cross redeems mankind in a kind of "infinite" way; the debt of sin that man cannot ever repay is repaid. So humans are "satisfied" with participation in some of these "infinite" acts of God, while as humans we can only try to otherwise "achieve" things that are temporary and unsatisfying. A human may "participate" by baptizing a person, using the "limited" rules of following the proper matter, form, and intent of the sacrament. Yet God brings about an "infinite" effect upon the person that transcends the materials used to confer the sacrament.
Hence there is this desire for a "transcendence" of the finite material existence with an experience of the "infinite mystery of God's actions" which are "beyond" these unsatisfying material struggles that many people are undergoing. The person with emotional upsets in this direction may not have any "participation" in these "transcendent realities". (They may also simply be undergoing psychological distress, which could be a separately treated issue with some practical remedies that are less involved with religion and philosophy)
Bigger question is where were her parents? If my son made some Tiktok or somesuch similar to this, he'd be getting a quick visit from good ole Dad so that I could check in with him and make sure he's on the right track. Everyone gets bummed out sometimes, but parents ignoring this is on them just as much.
So, her tiktok was linked on that page, she did a 6 min reflection of where she was at in life and it sounds like she was going through a somewhat common existential crisis: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatslightlyunhingedgirl/video/7579412541479177485
What's the Point of Life?
her main gripe seems like this question: life feels like a loop of a bunch of pointless work tasks, and even if you were to become "super successful", like what is it all really for - what is the point of life? Attaining success in the world doesn't achieve some kind of clear "goal" in a religious / philosophical / metaphysical way.
It's an experience that's very new to teenagers to ask that question, and as an adult I think I still struggle with trying to figure this out.
Too Much Choice, Too Little Freedom
I think it's something of the disorientation of choice, especially in America: you can in theory try to become so many different people, so which one should you try to become and why?
Edit: At the same time, it sounds like zoomers are overscheduled due to boomers destroying freedom and prosperity in the country, forcing zoomers to pick from smaller sets of options and to go on more strongly pre-defined paths that may not be of their choosing.
"Final" Goals: Ends of Life
But I think there's also a lack of a feeling of "final" goals being achieved: she as the student studies in school, to get married (traditionally), to have kids... who just then repeat the process. It feels like a mismatch for people like... there is no "top" of the mountain of goals. People climb a mountain and get to the "top" and then feel like, "what do I do now? Just go climb another mountain"? This feels psychologically unsettling but again is something that I'm not sure anyone has otherwise figured out.
"Nausea" of Freedom?
(Classical) Liberalism exacerbates this politically I think, with the illusion of "endless choice". That really feels like an endless amount of goals with no "substantial" purpose! This is where "authoritarianism" for me felt like a solution to this problem: obedience to a religious authority, who is suppose to be acting in obedience to God, gives your life more of an "absolute" sense of "this is what I am supposed to be doing because it is what God wants me to do".
Mysteries of God's Will
This maybe only rolls the question back another step to: "why does God want me to do this?" But it at least avoids the quagmire of "self-will" of you having to decide everything for yourself as if you were God (!).
Conclusion
Is this the philosophical study of ends of things, teleology? It's a shame this young girl who had the intelligence to question "pointless loops of consumption" was not able to find alternative satisfying paths in life. In truth, I was at risk for taking my own life myself due to similar kind of experiences of being sent on a lot of paths that seemed pointless in the short-term and long-term, and I still struggle to try to get a sense of "traction" in life (but I don't feel as much a struggle with despair so much as a feeling of urgency to try to make use of the limited time I have on this earth).
edit: Unabomber on "Goals"
Ted K comes to mind as well, he mentioned a lot of development of technology can contribute to causing more psychological distress like this. In more primitive / harsher times, people died more regularly so just being alive had plenty to keep you busy with and grateful. He goes into greater detail about how society creates a bunch of pointless goals due to technology giving us more leisure ("surrogate activities") rather than focusing on tangible goals that are more tied to survival like eating and preparing food, bearing children, and building primitive shelter, and so on. He argues that although primitive people do not achieve "surrogate goals" (maybe they don't develop more and more specialized and complicated patterns of mathematics that only a few people know about), they are more psychologically at ease, as they feel they have achieved "essential" goals freely. So I think maybe technology is at play here of creating conditions that have alienated people from more "essential" pursuits. This woman in question in the OP had abandoned a desire for having children, was probably being taught to specialize in jobs that felt increasingly pointless, and maybe had other "pointless" modern conditions around her that amplified a sense of pointlessness.
edit 2: The Myth of Sisyphus
Sisyphus in mythology "offended the gods" in some way I believe, so was condemned to roll a rock up a hill for eternity, only for the rock to roll back down the hill every time Sisyphus got close to getting the rock on top of the hill. I think that's how life psychologically felt for this woman... I think we are yearning for some kind of goals that feel "definite": we roll the rock up the hill and the goal "ends" in some "real way". It may be very personal and a kind of struggle to find or figure out what goals seem more like this (definite) rather than like the punishment Sisyphus had (unending / pointless).
Given the scientific materialistic movement, previously Christian or non-Christian philosophers and theologians might have mused about life having a "teleology" or purpose. There is the famous "watchmaker's argument for God's existence" where if you found a random watch on the ground, you might suppose there was a being (a human) who built the machine with a purpose (to tell time). Hence they also argue when we observe humans and the created world, it looks like it has a purpose (to love God) created by a Being (God) with intent.
With the advent of a belief that the world "simply exists", there is not thought to be any designer (God) with intention or a purpose behind the Creation. Hence life has no inherent purpose (nihilism). We come in to existence and try to create a purpose ("existence precedes essence" - existentialism). The modern dominant philosophies therefore literally believe there is no purpose to life (which emotionally can create depression in people, as a feeling of pointlessness, or frustration, as there is no "goal" to achieve as the world is ultimately "goalless"). With no purpose, people frequently adopt the "purposes" of "evolution": achieve more, make more money, "grow" (yet these often do not satisfy, like the woman's complaint - they are "means" to a more ultimate purpose or "end")
In contrast, traditional Catholic teaching for example in the Baltimore catechism asserts that life has a "fixed" purpose: man was created to "know God, love God, and serve God".
Some of the things with religion suggest a transcendence of the material purposes which seem to have no "ultimate" grounding. For example, the sacrament of baptism is supposed to remove the stain of original sin "for eternity". It is not the achievement of winning some competition, which is forgotten tomorrow, but is a state that exists "forever". I think something of these "infinite" actions are desired.
Humans are also finite and incapable of "achieving" these "infinite" things of God. Jesus on the Cross redeems mankind in a kind of "infinite" way; the debt of sin that man cannot ever repay is repaid. So humans are "satisfied" with participation in some of these "infinite" acts of God, while as humans we can only try to otherwise "achieve" things that are temporary and unsatisfying. A human may "participate" by baptizing a person, using the "limited" rules of following the proper matter, form, and intent of the sacrament. Yet God brings about an "infinite" effect upon the person that transcends the materials used to confer the sacrament.
Hence there is this desire for a "transcendence" of the finite material existence with an experience of the "infinite mystery of God's actions" which are "beyond" these unsatisfying material struggles that many people are undergoing. The person with emotional upsets in this direction may not have any "participation" in these "transcendent realities". (They may also simply be undergoing psychological distress, which could be a separately treated issue with some practical remedies that are less involved with religion and philosophy)