This book describes it well, I think, around page 32.
Basically, helping others keeps you sane.
I have a very well-honed core of self hate that's tuned to provide me endless empathy for everyone else.
Helping people keeps me alive sometimes.
Bold of you to assume Im sane.
Prozac and therapy.
Which honestly, is working. If only I arrived at this method sanely, rather than nearly ending it all and winding up in a hospital.
Glad to hear you're on the mend, friend. The world is a better place for having you in it. ❤️
Despite the sheer absurdity and chaos of it all, glad we're sharing this weird spaceship called Earth during these wild times.
Rooting for you. 🤙
The fact that I see and hear my family's ethos in everything The Right does. That makes me angry beyond comprehension and motivates me to keep going out of sheer spite.
The assholes who raised me didn't manage to break me, not enough to take me out of the game. The assholes who rule us now have their work cut out for them, because I came out stronger.
Reading theory helps me contextualize and analyze the world around us, which gives hope for a successful future for Humanity. I even wrote an introductory Marxist reading list to help anyone else who wants to start reading Leftist theory.
In addition to that, I find comfort with my friends and family, reading, cooking, gaming, and otherwise engaging with my hobbies.
China installed 181 GW of solar power capacity from January to October 2024. It's installing about 200 GW of solar every year. In about 20 years we will have so much renewable energy and renewable storage mechanisms that oil will no longer be a reason for wars. In 100 years from now generative AI might exist and humans will be on Mars. Everything I do that's constructive for the world, that isn't exploitative, keeps these positive developments progressing however slowly so that future generations of humanity will not know our suffering.
In 100 years from now generative AI might exist...
I believe you mean Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) We currently use generative AI.
...keeps these positive developments progressing slowly so that future generations of humanity will not know our suffering.
Hear hear!
The responses are rough, man 😅 Some of y’all are hanging on just out of spite - which is totally valid tho. Hope you all will be able to find beauty in the world again and enjoy life!
For me it’s my family. Had a real fucking shitty day yesterday. Everything went wrong and then some. Then just got a glimpse of a picture of my son playing with his grandparents, laughing, happy. That was it, my day got 1200% better that instant.
Same, although my offspring has already left the nest, but addition to the Mrs I got my house full of plants and animals.
Maybe I'm not that sane 🤔
Ahh, yes. I can also add plants and pets to the list!
Go over bury your face in the plushy fur of your dog/cat? Day suddenly looks way less gloomy.
And fuck, it is a good feeling to see a new leaf or bloom sprouting from your favourite plant-Bro 👌
An egg?
I try to channel all these lessons I picked up in therapy like "everyone is trying their best" and "we're all just billiard balls"
My wife and dog (a little tiny Chihuahua). Regardless of what happens in the world, they'll be there for me, so I can take comfort in that at least. Married six years this year and adopted the dog four years ago.
This is basically me, we’ve been married five years but she had the two dogs (one chihuahua, one mixed chihuahua) since about 2013.
I work from home and am super attached to the dogs. We live in California in a big apartment in a small building so I’ve always got the doors open and they’re happy. I walk them on my lunches and they really do keep me sane.
The one I’m more attached to (despite trying not to play favorites) even plays with me now (even though chihuahuas are typically not playful), and when he wants something we do this weird thing where I keep jabbing my hand at his paw and he does the same to me.
I never wanted pets due to the responsibility but these little guys have totally won me over and I love them to the moon and back!
Chihuahuas are the best. My gf's is as playful as he is affectionate and the friendliest little doggo.
"That's my secret, Cap, ..."
Nothing, I just wait for unbridled rage to give me a fatal heart attack, or for a driver to run me over to get out of a parking lot or driveway a second sooner.
Love and curiousity. For the latter, my ability to find things interesting has allowed me to look past the immediate and into the past and the far future, the details of the world that add up from countless actions of people or movements of particles, creating such wonderful complexity.
But it would all be for nought had I not someone to share it all with, my friends, my lovely girlfriend, a mind alone and silent is a mind wasted. And I could never waste such a precious gift, I'm grateful to share my intelligence and stupidity alike, for they are my diversity and a symbol of complexity as a human being.
It also helps me understand why things are happening, especially in relation to economics, history and politics. When tragedies occur, I'm able to be more immediately dispassionate as I see the causes and the trends and parallels to history. Yet it has not made me lose my humanity, if anything, I have turned kneejerk emotions into an olympic fire of sorts, never out, always there, always aware. In the words of a forgotten British punk bans "I cultivate the hate to anhiliate the state"
I lost all my sanity points decades ago. I also purged my social circle back during the second intifada, and by opposing the Iraq/Afghanistan wars- categorically improved my mental health as a result- I didn't even have to cut anyone out of my life after Oct 7!
Nihilism
Constant distraction, shutting out problems until I'm able to deal with them
Not a good method but it kinda works
Curiosity
Nihilism and the fact that it's highly unlikely that humans will destroy the ability for earth to sustain life, just make our society collapse.
Humans lives aren't as important as life itself.
I would go a step further to say life isn't that important as a whole in the grand scheme of the universe
We as humans place value on it because we're part of it, we rely on it to carry on existing, and we're curious and find it interesting
Could argue that intelligence/sentience is important but it's only important from the perspective of beings with intelligence
I suppose I'm not 100% on Nihilism in that sense.
I still value life of course, but the climate change existential dread which I feel pretty constantly is alleviated when I tell myself its only complete societal collapse/mass extinction event, rather than total destruction of life on the earth.
I wouldn't say I'm a nihilist, I still care about sentient life and am also a vegetarian so can't really say I don't care about animals
Just in the grand scheme of things if the earth blew up tomorrow it's no biggie for the universe
Generally put those kind of issues out of my mind by just reminding myself it's out of my control anyway
Oh yeah, the circles of influence are definitely helpful for your mental health.
And true, I suppose even the earth blowing up doesn't matter in the scheme of the universe.
Cyber attacks and hybrid attacks have already occurred, and the risk of a full blown invasion increases. Should I be worried? Maybe I should ask Ukrainians how they’re handling these troubling times.
So, what’s on your mind these days? Talking about it might help.
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