The Meaning of Life

[Boydy]

Or, more specifically, your meaning.

What gets you up in the morning?

[Shindig]

An alarm clock.

[Giggles]

Because I have to or I'd be sacked.

[Spikey M]

Fucked if I know.

[Boydy]

Fucked if I know.

You've got a kid now, right? That must've changed your perspective on life quite a bit, no?

[Dark Soldier]

Python's worst.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Python's worst.

It was my first and thought it was amazing.

I watched it a second time and by christ it was shit.

[Lewis]

I don't think I'll ever derive any satisfaction out of life, but doing myself in would upset the dog, so I'm just floating along.

[Dark Soldier]

It has moments but weigh it up against the two classics and its a jumbled mess.

Edit: posting from mobile is a fuck. Meant to quote 'how

[Disco]

Habit.

Plus, whilst being homeless and addicted to crack would open up a lot more free time on balance I prefer a bed, a shower, food and stuff.

[Queenslander]

:D

My dog, my hobbies, my job all give me enough happiness and fulfillment.

I guess the old missuss makes life feel easy if shit gets a bit hard but living in Brisbane is very easy.

[Spikey M]

You've got a kid now, right? That must've changed your perspective on life quite a bit, no?

I probably should have read more than just the title

[Giggles]

I probably should have read more than just the title

The title was ok, he fucked it up by asking what gets us up in the morning.

[-james-]

I like a good time.

I fleet from obsession to obsession/addiction to addiction.

This has landed me with the world's best job but also a substance abuse problem.

[7om]

I get up in the morning to participate in life. Whether that's enjoying the food I eat, the sports I watch on tv, Football Manager, some Playstation, reading the news or looking at lol memes. I get enjoyment out of lots of things and if I didn't there'd be no point at all. Yeah we have to work x amount of hours per week but it's everything else that I live for.

[-james-]

I think I'm the archetypal "millennial" that requires constant stimulation. I've spent half my life on the internet, done a lot of "here have some pleasure" drugs, and have a job that is inherently high-low.

As long as I have something to engage with/be excited about, I'm fine. Boredom is hell.

[Spammer]

Helping people. It's what motivated me to go into teaching and it's what motivates me towards counselling. Doing what I can to help in some way is what motivates me, and there's a vast array of literature suggesting that's it's usually only committing yourself to a cause outside of yourself in which you feel you're doing something important and good in the world that makes people feel genuinely happy.

Probably best expressed by Viktor Franklin who said something along the lines of happiness not being something that you should pursue; it is something that ensues as a result of listening to your conscience and pursuing what you find meaningful.

But yeah, helping people is what I find meaningful. I don't expect to change the world in any big way but if I can look in the mirror as an old man and generally be satisfied that I've done my best in my work and jn my attitude towards people in general, then that's enough for me. While balancing it with my own needs, obviously. Thats what I'm aiming for and its what gets me up in the morning.

I got into a row this week with my flatmates because I echoed something that was said on here (I think it was you Body) about a lot of identity politics mostly being a load of narcissistic shite. They all got pissy at me about it and self righteous on their social justice bandwagon.

Thing is, personally I think they both have a fundamentally cynical and distrustful view of humanity and are quite fearful of people in general. I suspect that that's where a lot of this stuff stems from, in them at least. To campaign for social justice on the internet using words and yet to be so scared or incapable of connecting to real people in the real world on a human level, especially people who are aren't like them.

I think for them it's a substitute to mask that fear and feeling of inadequacy when it comes to building bridges with real human beings. Because in practice they're hypocrites - they're both fucking self absorbed and do shit all for social justice or anything for other people in the real world. They're both fucking miserable cunts, and I'd say it's probably their self absorption and egotism that make them that way.

But anyway, I'm rambling. Helping people, balanced appropriately with indulging myself and having fun.

[bruhnaldo]

Literally the only reason I continue living is because it would upset my mother if it didn't.

No parent should have to bury their child.

It's all I have. If something happened to her I would off myself the day after the funeral.

It is what it is, boys.

[Offshore Toon]

I seem to be stuck in a cycle of becoming bored, going on a bit of a binge, then feeling like shit for a few days. Even coming back to uni for third year in September, it only took about 3/4 weeks before I got bored of actually working. The seminars are pretty much all the same (English seminars are so shit) and I really struggle to motivate myself to do something I don't see the point in. I don't think I'll ever be totally happy whilst I don't have full control over my life. In that respect, I carry on because of my family and because I'm far too much of a coward to go through with it. I don't actually want anything from life in the long term.

Ultimately, I think there are natural urges in all of us to better those around us, so the meaning of life is simply to dominate and procreate. After going off the idea of kids, I'm starting to come around to the idea because it provides a purpose, but at the same time I'm not sure having kids for selfish reasons is a good idea. The people I know from school that have kids already most likely did so because they had fuck all else happening (not that I'm any better), and I think with children you're too busy to sit around thinking about the meaning of life, plus you tell yourself that they're your life now and that's no doubt an easy lie to believe.

[Lewis]

Ultimately, I think there are natural urges in all of us to better those around us, so the meaning of life is simply to dominate and procreate. After going off the idea of kids, I'm starting to come around to the idea because it provides a purpose, but at the same time I'm not sure having kids for selfish reasons is a good idea. The people I know from school that have kids already most likely did so because they had fuck all else happening (not that I'm any better), and I think with children you're too busy to sit around thinking about the meaning of life, plus you tell yourself that they're your life now and that's no doubt an easy lie to believe.

I came to that conclusion when I was trying to help my friend stop being miserable. Obviously it didn't help.

[Giggles]

Helping people. It's what motivated me to go into teaching and it's what motivates me towards counselling. Doing what I can to help in some way is what motivates me, and there's a vast array of literature suggesting that's it's usually only committing yourself to a cause outside of yourself in which you feel you're doing something important and good in the world that makes people feel genuinely happy.

Probably best expressed by Viktor Franklin who said something along the lines of happiness not being something that you should pursue; it is something that ensues as a result of listening to your conscience and pursuing what you find meaningful.

But yeah, helping people is what I find meaningful. I don't expect to change the world in any big way but if I can look in the mirror as an old man and generally be satisfied that I've done my best in my work and jn my attitude towards people in general, then that's enough for me. While balancing it with my own needs, obviously. Thats what I'm aiming for and its what gets me up in the morning.

I got into a row this week with my flatmates because I echoed something that was said on here (I think it was you Body) about a lot of identity politics mostly being a load of narcissistic shite. They all got pissy at me about it and self righteous on their social justice bandwagon.

Thing is, personally I think they both have a fundamentally cynical and distrustful view of humanity and are quite fearful of people in general. I suspect that that's where a lot of this stuff stems from, in them at least. To campaign for social justice on the internet using words and yet to be so scared or incapable of connecting to real people in the real world on a human level, especially people who are aren't like them.

I think for them it's a substitute to mask that fear and feeling of inadequacy when it comes to building bridges with real human beings. Because in practice they're hypocrites - they're both fucking self absorbed and do shit all for social justice or anything for other people in the real world. They're both fucking miserable cunts, and I'd say it's probably their self absorption and egotism that make them that way.

But anyway, I'm rambling. Helping people, balanced appropriately with indulging myself and having fun.


Literally the only reason I continue living is because it would upset my mother if it didn't.

No parent should have to bury their child.

It's all I have. If something happened to her I would off myself the day after the funeral.

It is what it is, boys.

Help him Hammer.

[Pepe]

I am quite happy. No good reasons for it, I just am. My studies are pretty boring but they don't really bother me. I don't get any sense of fulfillment out of it but it doesn't make me want to make me kill myself either. Felt the same of most jobs I've had, only a few were proper shit and I stopped those within weeks. I do quite enjoy my cycling (and that's what 'gets me up in the morning,' 5am every day) but I wouldn't be too bothered if I had to stop doing it for some reason. Apart from that, I enjoy doing stuff but I also enjoy doing fuck all. What can I say, I am easily pleased. Don't really see the need to try to attach 'meaning' to anything I do.

[Offshore Toon]

Literally the only reason I continue living is because it would upset my mother if it didn't.

No parent should have to bury their child.

It's all I have. If something happened to her I would off myself the day after the funeral.

It is what it is, boys.
My mate topped himself a few weeks back. It wasn't Earth-shattering for me, but we were very close for a time in first and second year. Ultimately, he'd attempted it before he came to university and it had apparently been a 9 year battle. I came to the conclusion that I respect a man's right to take his own life as long as he has no dependants (not that I was specifically against it before). Killing yourself is seen as cowardly and seen as selfish, but I don't think people that say that really understand, and I don't think I do either. It shouldn't be a decision worth taking lightly, but ultimately if you've had enough you've had enough. I'd rather carry on, because there's no undo button, but some people were dealt a duff hand and the internal torture just isn't worth enduring.

[Offshore Toon]

Also, I think Hammer's "helping people" is more of an answer to 'what stops you sinking into depression?' than looking into the meaning of life. It does feel good to help people, but it also feels like you're just distracting yourself from asking real questions about yourself.

[phonics]

42.

I like my job, the people I work with and the few times I actually don't worry about money are relatively stress-free. And I'm a monumental fuck-up, I don't see what's so hard about it really.

[Boydy]

42.


That's life, the universe and everything.

I was content with just an answer for life.

[Spoonsky]

There's no inherent reason to wake up, so you've got to give yourself reasons. Whether that's a project you're working on, school, travel, whatever. Even just the fact that you're alive and conscious, which is incredibly lucky. The best thing a person can be is alive. That said, my roll of the dice was pretty lucky, I have an easy life, all of my problems are incredibly small relative to most people even in the U.S., my future will probably be good, I get to travel a lot -- so it's easy for me to be philosophical about it without having to actually struggle for anything material.

Whenever I need to remember the reason to wake up in the morning, I read the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

[Offshore Toon]

I do wonder why homeless people still bother. I suppose when your life just gradually gets worse it doesn't feel like that big of a deal, but at the same time they clearly don't have family worth hanging about for. There are so many homeless blokes in Brighton, most of them sitting alone, and there are some huge cliffs a few hours away. I always try and say 'alright?' to them because I read some former homeless bloke saying the worst part is not feeling part of society anymore, but it doesn't half look shit.

[phonics]

That's life, the universe and everything.

I was content with just an answer for life.

That's 45. Get your canon right. Universe + Everything = 3.

edit: Is that right? I haven't read those in a decade. Or is it that the question is actually 7x5?

[Spammer]

Also, I think Hammer's "helping people" is more of an answer to 'what stops you sinking into depression?' than looking into the meaning of life. It does feel good to help people, but it also feels like you're just distracting yourself from asking real questions about yourself.

Not sure if I agree that that's necessarily the case. The bit about using it to avoid thinking about things properly, that is. It can definitely can be used for that but I dunno if it's always the case. Some people help others who would be happy anyway, they just do it because it makes them feel even better.

The whole idea that altruism isn't real if it makes you feel good seems like a misnomer to me too. If you feel good helping people then that's really cool - why the need to label it? Who gives a shit if it lives up to this abstract concept? It's a label made up by human beings, not an actual thing that exists in the world.

[Spammer]

Help him Hammer.

Happy to chat if he wants to PM me, otherwise not much I can do really is there :sorry:

[Lewis]

You sound like a busybody. Wind yourself in.

[Spammer]

You sound like a busybody. Wind yourself in.

You sound like a miserable cunt, and always have.

[Lewis]

Well, yeah. Obviously.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Life for me is getting through to the next game of cricket.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Enjoying as much of it as I can. Things like work are purely a means to an end and so I like to get as much out of it (money specifically, job satisfaction is non-existent) as possible with the least amount of effort as it's all meaningless.

[Clunge]

- The knowledge not being alive would be worse.
- A good curry.

[mugbull]

Life is dope. There's so much to learn and so many cool people to meet. I feel hella lucky i've never dealt with depression, I can't imagine not finding things fun.

[igor_balis]

The main thing I live for is socialising and having mates and stuff. I'm fucking feckless, incompetent and unmotivated in most aspects of my life, but I'm fucking boss at maintaining friendships. Possibly a terrible long-term investment that'll really sting me when everyone starts settling down and getting married, but for now I quite like it. Some element of future-proofing involved as most of my extended circle are inept oddballs that are too shit at life to outgrow me.

[Manc]

Art, good company, family, learning, travel, experiences, memories, charity, love.

Ultimately it's all horseshit, but we have to try.

I'm quite content with a Starbucks and vaping session for now.

[Spammer]

Well, yeah. Obviously.

Yeah. How's that for you?

[7om]

Well he won Best Poster 15 years in a row so I'd say it's working out quite well for him.

[phonics]

Not sure if I agree that that's necessarily the case. The bit about using it to avoid thinking about things properly, that is. It can definitely can be used for that but I dunno if it's always the case. Some people help others who would be happy anyway, they just do it because it makes them feel even better.

The whole idea that altruism isn't real if it makes you feel good seems like a misnomer to me too. If you feel good helping people then that's really cool - why the need to label it? Who gives a shit if it lives up to this abstract concept? It's a label made up by human beings, not an actual thing that exists in the world.

A few months back while I was still working the Airport job and the Internship, I was drinking a budget lager on a park bench on a day where I hadn't eaten due to lack of money (beer is 50 cents, there isn't a single piece of food in the shop that costs a third of that and it filled my stomach), some Moroccan bloke passed by and asked if he could sit next to me and I said no problem. He explained he was having some dinner before cleaning the kitchen of the restaurant round the corner. He kept asking me to have some, to the point of ripping off some of his rotisserie chicken and basically forcing it into my hand while I did my polite British person act. We chatted about our lives when my flate mate called me, asking for 20 quid that I owed him that I didn't have. Once I'd got off the line he asked if I was stressed out about something. I explained the situation and he proceeded to force me to take 20 quid then asked if I smoked. I said yeah but I don't have the money for them and he gave me his whole pack save for 3. I told him I couldn't take it and he went into a long spiel about God and that God created this earth for people to be good to each other blah blah blah so I'm duty bound to take it. This was a guy who had already told me worked 2 shitty jobs to make ends meet, giving me his dinner, his money, and his cigarettes to a random stranger and I've never been so touched or thankful. Ever since I got on my feet I've volunteered at the local shelter every couple of weeks. I really should do it more.

Offy, keep saying alright to those homeless guys and make sure it's more than 'alright' because it matters, believe me. Altruism is boss.

God is still wack.

[Lewis]

Well he won Best Poster 15 years in a row so I'd say it's working out quite well for him.

Got Club Lewis up and running and everything.

[Spammer]

Well he won Best Poster 15 years in a row so I'd say it's working out quite well for him.

Definitely something to put on the CV.

Don't mean to sound like a wanker or anything, but I just don't see the point in trying to shit on everything.

[Boydy]

- The knowledge not being alive would be worse.

Would it? It'd be like before you were born. Do you remember what that was like?

Not that I'm suicidal or anything. I'm not even really (all that) depressed at the minute. I'm still on my meds but I've had those for over a year now. I'm relatively happy. My job's boring but it's easy, the people there are generally okay and everything just generally washes over me and doesn't bother me too much these days. My thinking isn't anywhere near as negative as it used to be. There are things I enjoy but sometimes enjoyment just doesn't feel like enough, you know?

Maybe it's a lack of direction at the minute but there's a sort of nagging feeling that there should be something more. Hammer's probably right about the helping people thing. I think I'd benefit from that anyway but I don't really know where to begin with it.

Or maybe I need to find a religion or something, idk.

[phonics]

Boydy, do you remember me having a go at you when you decided to go for admin jobs? This is why. You need to realise what you want to do with your life and actually go and fucking do it.

You got into Oxford for fucks sake, you're clearly an intelligent guy and you had an opportunity most would kill for and chucked it, that's fine. Many smarter than you have done. But to chuck it for being a fucking admin assistant in Ireland? For fucks sake mate, come on. I'd be depressed.

[Shindig]

Just what else are you going to do? From the moment you're born your are destined to live and then die. This will, for most people, take many, many years. Might as well get schooled, earn money and fuck. At the very least.

I also have the opinion that destiny is a bullshit concept and that you can control so much of your life. And you have ages to get it how you want it.

[7om]

Definitely something to put on the CV.

Don't mean to sound like a wanker or anything, but I just don't see the point in trying to shit on everything.

I bet he didn't put it on his CV and that's why he's still unemployed.

[Spammer]

I guess the 'helping people' thing could mean anything really. Donating/volunteering/fundraising for a charity, making friends and buying some milk for some old person knocking around the area (there's often a charity type thing for finding out about that kind of thing), football training with kids...whatever. For me it's preferable to do something for a job where I feel like I'm helping folk and - after a few years - I'm there for my paid job and hoping to have something else with my counselling....but it doesn't have to be all about the job. Just little things really.

But balance it out, fucks sake, and do the helping thing in a way that's enjoyable if you can. No point in 'helping people' in a way that makes you resentful. Learned that one pretty quickly. Otherwise you'll just get tired of it.

[Boydy]

Boydy, do you remember me having a go at you when you decided to go for admin jobs? This is why. You need to realise what you want to do with your life and actually go and fucking do it.

You got into Oxford for fucks sake, you're clearly an intelligent guy and you had an opportunity most would kill for and chucked it, that's fine. Many smarter than you have done. But to chuck it for being a fucking admin assistant in Ireland? For fucks sake. I'd be depressed.

Chucked it? What are you on about? You make it sound like I dropped out.

I came back here to do a masters. Which I've finished. I applied for PhDs but couldn't get funding. Not that having a PhD would necessarily have led to anything, right Lewis?

But yeah, I don't know what I really want to do. I'm not sure I'll ever really know though so how do you deal with that?

[phonics]

Hammer: That airport job certainly helped for me. When you have to deal with several thousand people per day, it got me more comfortable with things that I would never have done in real life. Talking to strangers is still crippling but at least slightly less so.

[phonics]

Chucked it? What are you on about? You make it sound like I dropped out.

I came back here to do a masters. Which I've finished. I applied for PhDs but couldn't get funding. Not that having a PhD would necessarily have led to anything, right @Lewis (http://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/member.php?u=70)?

But yeah, I don't know what I really want to do. I'm not sure I'll ever really know though so how do you deal with that?

Apologies, I remembered you as having dropped out. Sorry.

History ain't the future mate. (geddit)

[Raoul Duke]

Cool story Phonics :thbup:

Personally, I like my life right now. I like my career, have settled into a new role doing work I find interesting. I'm comfortable financially and home life is alright. I live in a cool part of the city, have some good mates, some of whom are still not yet burdened by children so we can just hang out, go to gigs and drink beer. I'm old enough where that's as much as I want of an evening out.

I'd like to be fitter and am trying to up the gym frequency. It's hard because my new role is a bigger commute so I'm more tired in the evenings.

My long-term goal is to move abroad (probably to Amsterdam) and ideally work four-days-a-week. I reckon if I can keep my current salary level (relatively) and go there I can make it work. That would be an immensely satisfying thing to achieve.

BTW - this thread is proper pre-Xmas/Seasonal Affective Disorder stuff :D

[igor_balis]

But yeah, I don't know what I really want to do. I'm not sure I'll ever really know though so how do you deal with that?

Exactly.

[phonics]

But just for example Boyd, to take your History degree. Do you enjoy watching the news or current affairs programs? They're always looking for researchers which is exactly where something like a history degree where you've practiced citing sources can give you a massive leg up etc. Ireland has massive amounts of public TV/Radio. From doing something like that for RTE you could easily move on to the BBC in Manchester or Cardiff and up from there.

It's not glamorous but at least it's slightly interesting. This is literally 30 seconds of thinking that seems better than fucking admin.

[Boydy]

Apologies, I remembered you as having dropped out. Sorry.

History ain't the future mate. (geddit)

I did drop out of Queen's way back when I was 18 so maybe you're just mixing the two up.

And very good. :D

[Boydy]

BTW - this thread is proper pre-Xmas/Seasonal Affective Disorder stuff :D
It probably is. Going home from work in the dark is shit and the weather's too crap for me to get out and play golf at the weekends now so I've probably been ruminating more.


But just for example Boyd, to take your History degree. Do you enjoy watching the news or current affairs programs? They're always looking for researchers which is exactly where something like a history degree where you've practiced citing sources can give you a massive leg up etc. Ireland has massive amounts of public TV/Radio.

It's not glamorous but at least it's slightly interesting.

Where do you find these sort of jobs? I've looked and I can't find any. Isn't that the sort of thing you need to have done unpaid internships for?

[Lewis]

Definitely something to put on the CV.

Don't mean to sound like a wanker or anything, but I just don't see the point in trying to shit on everything.

Is your dad still bullying your mum?

[Lewis]

I came back here to do a masters. Which I've finished. I applied for PhDs but couldn't get funding. Not that having a PhD would necessarily have led to anything, right Lewis?

I've written a book, mate, so...

[Boydy]

I've written a book, mate, so...

I was looking to you for back up, not having a dig.

[phonics]

Boydy Find people online through Twitter (producers are best) and ask them for contact details and send them e-mails. 95% will result in them ignoring you but people are always looking for proactive people rather than those who apply through job sites.

[ItalAussie]

But just for example Boyd, to take your History degree. Do you enjoy watching the news or current affairs programs? They're always looking for researchers which is exactly where something like a history degree where you've practiced citing sources can give you a massive leg up etc. Ireland has massive amounts of public TV/Radio. From doing something like that for RTE you could easily move on to the BBC in Manchester or Cardiff and up from there.

It's not glamorous but at least it's slightly interesting. This is literally 30 seconds of thinking that seems better than fucking admin.

This is actually a really good suggestion. :nodd:

[Lewis]

I was looking to you for back up, not having a dig.

I know. I sort of veer between thinking it was pointless and not, but finding the worth in it tends to come from the personal development aspects of moving and doing it rather than the thing itself.

[phonics]

This is actually a really good suggestion. :nodd:

Yet another example of admin backslapping. #MediaConspiracy

[Raoul Duke]

My main advice for those who are a younger, a bit aimless and not sure as to what they want to do, would be to get a solid understanding of technology. You can guarantee that nearly all jobs in any capacity will rely on it to some extent.

It's a hugely diverse set of related skills and jobs: development (in many flavours: low-level, dev ops, APIs, front-end, testing automation/QA), product management, design, user experience/user research.

Loads of people come from different and unrelated areas into it, there's a low barrier to entry (you can self-teach) and a huge demand for skills and entry-level jobs about. There are some proper bonkers areas emerging (AI, VR, automation etc.). Lots of different, creative paths can open up for you.

Some resources:
https://generalassemb.ly/browse/coding-courses-and-classes
https://www.coursera.org
https://www.codecademy.com
https://www.google.co.uk/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-development.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/
https://www.raspberrypi.org
https://www.arduino.cc

[phonics]

From my friends experiences working with EA, I think if Boydy ended up in QA he'd end up topping himself.

[Raoul Duke]

A mid-level (2-4 years experience) mobile QA with some automation skills can make £300 per day in London.

[Pepe]

Look at Phonics helping people out in here while Hammer shits on others. If I ever need help (I won't) I know who to PM.

[Adamski]

My main advice for those who are a younger, a bit aimless and not sure as to what they want to do, would be to get a solid understanding of technology. You can guarantee that nearly all jobs in any capacity will rely on it to some extent.

It's a hugely diverse set of related skills and jobs: development (in many flavours: low-level, dev ops, APIs, front-end, testing automation/QA), product management, design, user experience/user research.

Loads of people come from different and unrelated areas into it, there's a low barrier to entry (you can self-teach) and a huge demand for skills and entry-level jobs about. There are some proper bonkers areas emerging (AI, VR, automation etc.). Lots of different, creative paths can open up for you.

Some resources:
https://generalassemb.ly/browse/coding-courses-and-classes
https://www.coursera.org
https://www.codecademy.com
https://www.google.co.uk/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-development.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/
https://www.raspberrypi.org
https://www.arduino.cc

100% with Raoul on this. Getting into tech is the best thing ive ever done.

I had worked finance admin jobs for 12 years with the last two being slightly more interesting doing project management. I took a plunge in 2014 to move to a digital agency with no digital experience or qualifications and it was a tough slog for 2 years. 12 hour days and very hectic deadlines.

I came out the other side of that and managed to get a Scrum Master/PO role at a relatively big company working in their digital delivery platform on a number of their products.

Unless you're actually going to be a developer then you don't even need a huge amount of knowledge, you just need to be able to interpret requirements or technical information and relay them to teams/stakeholders in language they can understand.

Raoul will back me up that there's also an immense job satisfaction in tech as you are creating something tangible that everyone can see. You can show people a website you managed the project for, an app you launched or a hotel booking tool you helped with. Adds a lot more satisfaction to it for me.

[igor_balis]

Alright then, seems like the TTH careers department is open for business. What should I do with my Politics degree? My main interests are 80s pop music, cricket and reading weird stuff on the internet.

[Giggles]

Technology stops you being depressed :D

That's a new one. Maybe if it's what's giving you the shock therapy or something...

[Boydy]

Alright then, seems like the TTH careers department is open for business. What should I do with my Politics degree? My main interests are 80s pop music, cricket and reading weird stuff on the internet.
Make internet memes.

[Mazuuurk]

There's not "meaning" to things. We're tiny specs without purpose in the universe, that's it. We've developed intellect that far outmatches our biological urges or programming, if such a thing indeed even still exists in us, which means we can pertain abstract ideas and values to our existence and vividly do so.

That said, while I personally don't like the idea of growing very old, frail and eventually dying (at least not right now) - I'm resigned to the fact that that's how it works, and all you can do is make the best of it. I'm generally quite happy. I enjoy my Job, I've reached a level of maturity about choices to make in your life and how to value and maintain the relationships that are important, and I have an idea of how I want my life to have been when it's time for it to be over. The only "meaning" I can find is to try to enjoy it as much as possible while it lasts, and to try to make sure it lasts as long as possible by staying fairly healthy. During the past two or so years I've increasingly developed a certain worry that the way the world is heading, I likely won't make it all the way until about 80 or 90 or so. Since I have a kid and would like to have more, this is quite depressing. But I'm figuring all I can do is stick to the general plan I have and hope for the best.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm going to peak in my 40s or 50s. I was never meant to be young, it's just an opportunity to gather the knowledge required for middle age.

[Spikey M]

I'll peak in my 70's and let all my latent bigotry offend all comers.

[Adamski]

Technology stops you being depressed :D

That's a new one. Maybe if it's what's giving you the shock therapy or something...

I don't think Raouls post mentioned anyone being depressed?

[Spoonsky]

One thing I've noticed is that the times I'm happiest (and when my life has most meaning) are also the times that those questions are furthest from my mind.

[Magic]

Definitely Norman Bates mk2.

[Bartholomert]

Raise a loving family and fuck mad bitches on the side until you settle down.

[Queenslander]

Mert can you please start a vlog?

[bruhnaldo]

I just don't understand how people can be enthusiastic about the world in 2016.

We all have internet, we all have a pretty good idea the world is inherently fucked.

I was thinking about this on the way to work today... the government basically has treated us like their small children.

You know how small kids, you know, Santa is real, everything is awesome, you don't really want to tell them about the world cause they still have all this wonder in their eyes.

Well that's the 1st tier. Most people then just stay on tier 2, where they realize life is kinda shit but there's still some good things going on to distract myself with.

Then there's this new tier that we're on now, where we don't have to rely on the mainstream media or the government to tell us what's happening. We can easily open up twitter or whatver platform and see it for ourselves first hand.

How people can reach that 3rd tier and completely distract themselves from it every day must be fucking exhausting.

Most things are inherently shit. The stuff we enjoy is literally just a distraction from this. Very very very few people live real, meaningful lives.

Sure, it's great to have a family, raise children, blah blah blah. But what does that really even mean to the world? I don't know. Anyways.

[Pepe]

Then there's this new tier that we're on now, where we don't have to rely on the mainstream media or the government to tell us what's happening. We can easily open up twitter or whatver platform and see it for ourselves first hand.

:harold:

Yes mate, Twitter is the path to THE TRUTH.

[Pepe]

Being ENRAGED at THE GOVERNMENT is also nothing more than a distraction btw.

[Offshore Toon]

Pepe is right. We need to focus our anger on the RAPISTS and CRIMINALS that are too dim to read the clear message written IN ENGLISH on the white cliffs of Dover.

[mugbull]

Bruh you voted for Trump.

[bruhnaldo]

:harold:

Yes mate, Twitter is the path to THE TRUTH.

What are you fucking stupid? The point isn't specifically twitter, it's that we have access to platforms that can more or less give us real time information without someone else taking it, digesting it, and then shitting out whatever they think is relevant to our interests.

Fuck off.


Bruh you voted for Trump.

So what's that mean?

--

I like how my post turned into "I'm so enraged at the government!". There's no point to be enraged. There's nothing we can do about it at this point.

[Pepe]

That seethe. :drool:

[Pepe]

You should read a bit about 'social media' and its current role as a news supplier. It is much worse that you seem to realize.

Can start here (better stuff out there but this one is recent so it was easy to find):

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2016/11/the_problem_with_facebook_runs_much_deeper_than_fa ke_news.html

[bruhnaldo]

Imagine not seeing the forest for the fucking trees like this.

Holy shit.

[bruhnaldo]

The misinformation and fake news epidemic is an entirely different discussion, so feel free to understand my point within it's context and then maybe. if you were so inclined, we can branch off into that completely other ball of wax.

[Pepe]

Rather keep lolling at you, but thanks for the offer.

[bruhnaldo]

Yea I didn't fucking think so.

[Spammer]

It's all a matter of perspective though, isn't it. Maybe it's that you think things are shit, rather than them being shit. Whether or not something is good or shit is a matter perspective. People are much better off than they were 500 years ago. It's all relative.

[Offshore Toon]

Just avoid boredom and you'll be alright. Unless something dreadful happens, of course.

[Pepe]

It's all a matter of perspective though, isn't it. Maybe it's that you think things are shit, rather than them being shit. Whether or not something is good or shit is a matter perspective. People are much better off than they were 500 years ago. It's all relative.

Most definitely. Considering some neighborhoods in Mexico City still don't have running water, the kind of stuff we worry about over here is completely trivial (and even that is trivial to...and on and on.) As I said above, even caring about politics is nothing but a distraction, if someone really cared about such stuff they would do something about it as opposed to simply moan.

[Pepe]

Just avoid boredom and you'll be alright. Unless something dreadful happens, of course.

That's basically it. Of course, some people seem to be way more propense to being bored.

[Spammer]

Most definitely. Considering some neighborhoods in Mexico City still don't have running water, the kind of stuff we worry about over here is completely trivial (and even that is trivial to...and on and on.) As I said above, even caring about politics is nothing but a distraction, if someone really cared about such stuff they would do something about it as opposed to simply moan.

Yeah exactly. Working in the Philippines and seeing how a lot of people in the slums out there live really put everything in the UK into perspective. People moaning about shit in their comfortable homes with clean running water. Fucking hell. I'm not saying there aren't issues, but a sense of perspective is pretty important because we're really fucking privileged over here, in the grand scheme of things.

Those that actually go out and do shit are the last ones to sit around and moan in the abstract though, in my experience. They're too busy doing things to philosophise about it. That's the point I was making to my housemate that I'm still getting the silent treatments for (:D). He can bitch and moan and deconstruct everything intellectually as much as he wants, but he's a hypocrite. He's so vocal about social community and blah blah blah...and yet in reality he's scared of talking to anyone differently from him. It's garbage.

[Offshore Toon]

Looking back, I think when I pretty much stopped playing games for working/drinking quite a large gap was left which hasn't really been filled since. I get bored at uni because the only thing I allow myself to get distracted with is exercise or a night out every couple of weeks, which normally turns into days, quite possibly because I'm desperately clinging onto fun.

Living with four Chinese is pretty shit, though. They're so fucking annoying.

[7om]

My neighbour over here has a pretty good conspiracy theory and he's gone into detail about it a few times with me. He reckons tv / social media / the news is being deliberately dumbed down to basically euthanise the population and turn us all into cabbages. People get hooked on this car crash, instant gratification style of consuming information and it ends up warping everyone's reality to whatever degree. I was lolling on the inside at first but when you look at the cesspits like Facebook and Twitter it's not difficult to see he may not be too far away from having a point.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not a conspiracy, it's just what happens when you let accountants and marketers run society.

'I'm fed up with this instant gratification society', said traditionalists in the 15th century when they started printing the Bible in German, instead of having to have a so-called 'expert' translate it from Latin and read it aloud in church once a week.

[Raoul Duke]

99% of people are thick as pigshit, it's just there's a direct window into their tiny minds now, just a share button away.

[bruhnaldo]

Apparently I'm just pessimistic.