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Comment by sillysaurusx | Hacker News Reader

Thank you. The problem – or at least, my problem – is that "There isn't any point" leads to a feeling of "This is pointless." Wandering around life feeling "This is pointless" when you do anything seems... suboptimal.

But it's true, right? If there's no point, then the conclusion is "This is pointless" for every experience. And it ends up feeling so hollow sometimes.

Relaxing and enjoying it is of course the antidote. But I'm starting to wonder if everyone is relaxing and enjoying life without purpose, and therefore our collective purpose is de facto "Netflix and chill."

There's nothing wrong with that, but it ends up feeling like "Well, I may as well sit around and play Dota; it's just as good as doing anything else, since it's all pointless." And that can't possibly be the proper mindset for life... Can it?

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I recommend reading Myth of Sisyphus by Camus (the full version, maybe skipping the stuff about other philosophers and where they went wrong). It describes the notion of Absurd, something that arises from the irreconcilability of the consciousness and the universe... and also talks a lot on what is to be done about that.

A crude synopsis is that you can create your own meaning while keeping the pointlessness of it always in view... you can live life, create art, etc. as a meaningless revolt against meaninglessness :)

I also wonder anyway, how would life with a point feel? It goes back to absurdity of human condition; you think you need a point but how does that work? Let's say you achieve the point of life when you are 53, what do you do then? :) Life with an absolute point is not actually a condition I can imagine :)

Well, you seem to be uninspired by DOTA and Netflix so I think you already know the answer to your question.

To be nerdy about it; this is a problem with many variables and one of your responsibilities is to figure out what they are. So if you're feeling overwhelmed with a sense of futility then it might be that you're experiencing some level of depression. You could be out of 'happy juice' and be wildly over stimulated. You need to name, and isolate those variables for yourself, so you can hear what some people call your 'authentic voice' which will give you some level of inspiration.

I realize this might sound hand-wavy. I can't give you any practical personal advice for obvious reasons, but I would really encourage you to change things up; change your surroundings. Try new things. Meet new people. Move your body around. None of it will feel good to start.

You may also be interested in reading or listening to work by Andrew Huberman who provides excellent lectures on various topics around brain chemistry and motivation.

You create your own reality. If your current reality is pointless, make a new one.

Find your own meaning since it is different for everyone was their point I think.

Just because life is pointless, it doesn't mean you can't do things for a purpose.

Think questions like: "Why bother developing a skill if I'm not going to use it professionally?"

Well, learning this can just make you happy, and that's enough of a purpose if you want it to be. You don't have to make money out of it, it doesn't need to take you anywhere in your career, if you feel good doing something as hobby, why would that be bad?

"Ah, but there are people consider that procrastination"

Do you care what others think? How much to be in the way of you enjoying yourself?

Of course you need to make the decision if something is worth your time and is making you truly happy or just helping you escape reality.

Addictive things can give you short burst of happiness, but fill the rest of your life with misery. But anything can be an addiction. Just because it is to another person, it doesn't mean it is to you and vice-versa.

If you accepted unproven ideas such as that one you would probably accept ideas without foundation in general, and this attitude would be very, very toxic.

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