Tams
Member
Secularism makes me exceedingly happy.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
We live like Kings, but why are so many people depressed?
- Thread starter West Texas CEO
- Start date
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Monsters from the Id.
We have evolved past our primitive needs and instincts, but yet they remain hidden inside our brains.
Watch an episode of 'Hoarders', you will be completely perplexed that the person can't see what everyone else can see, but at the same time you will remember that box of cables you have in the loft 'just in case'.
We have evolved past our primitive needs and instincts, but yet they remain hidden inside our brains.
Watch an episode of 'Hoarders', you will be completely perplexed that the person can't see what everyone else can see, but at the same time you will remember that box of cables you have in the loft 'just in case'.
TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
I agree with a lot of this thread, and I'll add that I think the (tin foil hat warning) fact that we've become so insular and volatile as a species eggs these feelings along. Big tech gas social media platforms that, by admission, generate revenue by way of user interactivity. The best way to keep an audience engaged is by outrage, and the algorithms at play have been fine tuned for that purpose. You're more likely to see things on your news feed relating to tragedy, depression, murder, suicide, or some opposing political opinion just so the system can dictate with a miniscule margin of error actually what will press your buttons enough to engage. Twitter has a character limit on tweets because the attention span of the modern plugged in asshole won't read fourteen paragraphs of an elaborated upon idea, but will read double that equivalent in 350 character replies, forced by the system to be as shorthanded and incendiary as possible.
Everything is a culture war, where people used to just have different tastes and interests, it's now a crime and human atrocity if you aren't on our/my side, whatever that side may entail. Don't support all the liberal ideas? You're a Nazi. Don't support all of the right ideas? You're a socialist. Don't like this movie? You're a sexist. You do like that movie? You're a SJW. Everything has been painstakingly curated into an echo chamber, and the majority of us are clamoring to get our turn to suckle the teet. With so much black vs. White, left vs. Right, up vs. Down, it's no wonder so many people are absolutely miserable.
Everything is a culture war, where people used to just have different tastes and interests, it's now a crime and human atrocity if you aren't on our/my side, whatever that side may entail. Don't support all the liberal ideas? You're a Nazi. Don't support all of the right ideas? You're a socialist. Don't like this movie? You're a sexist. You do like that movie? You're a SJW. Everything has been painstakingly curated into an echo chamber, and the majority of us are clamoring to get our turn to suckle the teet. With so much black vs. White, left vs. Right, up vs. Down, it's no wonder so many people are absolutely miserable.
///PATRIOT
Banned
good for you. not so much for the majority.
I find it funny secular people going full circle looking for spirituality in Buddhism and trying to secularize it.
InfiniteCombo
Banned
A lot of people in this thread have touched on great points, so nothing to add at a general level but will add some anecdotal observations.
I'm generally very happy and my "default" mood is to be happy and optimistic about things. It helps that I've managed to make (and keep) a very small, but very close and loyal group of friends, and I'm also close with my family, so all of that is awesome. But beyond that, I have still grown colder as a person as I've aged, partially because of the things I list below. Anyway, I've noticed that:
(1) Some people I get to know complain that it's difficult making friends, yet they themselves don't put in that much effort at making friends.
(2) Somewhat related to #1, quite often people try to come across as being "oh my god so busy". But when you look at the situation closer, you can't help but think, "what the fuck are you so BUSY with? You don't have kids, you don't have a back-breaking job, you don't even have many hobbies." So people are busy with... Looking at their phones, I guess?
(3) This is especially true in American suburbs, but there doesn't seem to be any sense of community. You get a lot of nice looking single family homes, but whenever I've seen people, neighbors almost never interact with each other. It's bizarre. So you get a lot of isolation, and parents lose themselves in either booze or other nonsense, and kids bury themselves in video games or TikTok.
(4) In the cities, it's slightly different but ultimately, the same. In the cities, there are TOO MANY people, so any given person may see the rest of the people as dispensable and unnecessary. There's no sense of community; these days the only thing that binds people together is politics (which in the city is overwhelming liberal/progressive; most definitely not my jam). There's so little sense of community, that sometimes people will witness an event of somebody getting beat up or something. No one intervenes to help, but you can be assured that at least 3-4 people are recording the event on their cell phones.
I'm not a religious guy (mostly agnostic on that front) but... love it or hate it, religion HAS, in my anecdotal observational experience, been the one thing to guarantee a sense of community. Everywhere I have ever been, religion is the one thing that makes people to go into the same physical space and (gasp!) talk to each other.
That was a long ramble but that's my two cents for now. Cheers!
I'm generally very happy and my "default" mood is to be happy and optimistic about things. It helps that I've managed to make (and keep) a very small, but very close and loyal group of friends, and I'm also close with my family, so all of that is awesome. But beyond that, I have still grown colder as a person as I've aged, partially because of the things I list below. Anyway, I've noticed that:
(1) Some people I get to know complain that it's difficult making friends, yet they themselves don't put in that much effort at making friends.
(2) Somewhat related to #1, quite often people try to come across as being "oh my god so busy". But when you look at the situation closer, you can't help but think, "what the fuck are you so BUSY with? You don't have kids, you don't have a back-breaking job, you don't even have many hobbies." So people are busy with... Looking at their phones, I guess?
(3) This is especially true in American suburbs, but there doesn't seem to be any sense of community. You get a lot of nice looking single family homes, but whenever I've seen people, neighbors almost never interact with each other. It's bizarre. So you get a lot of isolation, and parents lose themselves in either booze or other nonsense, and kids bury themselves in video games or TikTok.
(4) In the cities, it's slightly different but ultimately, the same. In the cities, there are TOO MANY people, so any given person may see the rest of the people as dispensable and unnecessary. There's no sense of community; these days the only thing that binds people together is politics (which in the city is overwhelming liberal/progressive; most definitely not my jam). There's so little sense of community, that sometimes people will witness an event of somebody getting beat up or something. No one intervenes to help, but you can be assured that at least 3-4 people are recording the event on their cell phones.
I'm not a religious guy (mostly agnostic on that front) but... love it or hate it, religion HAS, in my anecdotal observational experience, been the one thing to guarantee a sense of community. Everywhere I have ever been, religion is the one thing that makes people to go into the same physical space and (gasp!) talk to each other.
That was a long ramble but that's my two cents for now. Cheers!
PrimetimeKnight
Member
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
My son was diagnosed with Pitt Hopkins and since then we have gone to the ends of the earth getting him treatment. Social media has made my spouse depressed because there’s so much to compare herself and our family to online. It’s not always this healthy support system. It makes you far too depressed rather than lift you up and help you to cope.
I think people build up their walls around social media because it’s a trigger for anything to happen (good or bad). I have it in my current household. Everything will be good until a post is read or someone comments on a topic of interests.
On the grand scale, what is this doing to other people? My wife will scroll and scroll for hours. I love getting on the forums, but I always have an eye and ear out for what’s around me. If someone doesn’t limit their exposure or know how to not halve it change their views then all you’re doing is dwelling on that.
What’s the point in laughing at a TikTok video for a minute and then sobbing once you exit the app? I think that’s all some people do. They don’t address their issues in a way that solves them. They come out a lot more lonely than when they first started.
I think people build up their walls around social media because it’s a trigger for anything to happen (good or bad). I have it in my current household. Everything will be good until a post is read or someone comments on a topic of interests.
On the grand scale, what is this doing to other people? My wife will scroll and scroll for hours. I love getting on the forums, but I always have an eye and ear out for what’s around me. If someone doesn’t limit their exposure or know how to not halve it change their views then all you’re doing is dwelling on that.
What’s the point in laughing at a TikTok video for a minute and then sobbing once you exit the app? I think that’s all some people do. They don’t address their issues in a way that solves them. They come out a lot more lonely than when they first started.
Tams
Member
I tried Buddhism (largely because of family links - my grandfather became a lay monk). The exuberance and extravagance ended up disgusting me. All for stories too.
But, I didn't try to change it. I just stopped bothering with it.
GeekyDad
Gold Member
TheDreadBaron
Member
And some people are happy to believe fairy tales. (Except they’re not really happy because they know deep in their heart they’ve never felt that connection to god their church speaks about and they feel like a big faker and a fraud, but they don’t realize that everyone else was faking too because they all just wanted to believe there’s a bigger plan and meaning to their life.)
QSD
Member
Yeah, people talk about society going to shit, Jordan Peterson resigning, draconian covid measures etc etc but really GOT S8 is where it's at... the lacklustre writing and the way they did the mother of dragons dirty
Dude rules the entire (how many pages is this now?) Covid thread and calls that nothing. Hamster man, we are atop the perch and everything the vaxx touches is your kingdom
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
My wife complains when I fix breakfast for dinner, but the kids love it.
Billbofet
Member
Breakfast, or breakfast for dinner, is the best as it is the one meal my wife can't try to include a side salad in.
BigBooper
Member
People have a hard time learning to be content and satisfied.
I think it's largely because of the dissolving of Christian influence on culture. For hundreds of years, western society had a generalized common view on what was good and right, caused largely by the influence of the church. If you have a clear answer on right and wrong, you don't have to twist yourself in knots with so many philosophical questions. Be good to God, your neighbors, and the church.
Of course, even then they had terrible wars and things like slavery and not everyone was a saint. But generally speaking, the church still had their backs, giving a sense of purpose outside of themselves.
People have been trying to fill that gap with politics, social movements, charity work, etc to various degrees of success, which probably depends on how determined and grounded you are. Someone who really likes animals can make a huge direct impact in a lot of animals' lives through shelters and charities. Someone who hops on a social outrage bandwagon, usually doesn't really accomplish anything except getting likes on their posts. It's not even limited to movements though, because some people on social are just obsessed with everyone else's lives.
Tldr, a bunch of reasons.
I think it's largely because of the dissolving of Christian influence on culture. For hundreds of years, western society had a generalized common view on what was good and right, caused largely by the influence of the church. If you have a clear answer on right and wrong, you don't have to twist yourself in knots with so many philosophical questions. Be good to God, your neighbors, and the church.
Of course, even then they had terrible wars and things like slavery and not everyone was a saint. But generally speaking, the church still had their backs, giving a sense of purpose outside of themselves.
People have been trying to fill that gap with politics, social movements, charity work, etc to various degrees of success, which probably depends on how determined and grounded you are. Someone who really likes animals can make a huge direct impact in a lot of animals' lives through shelters and charities. Someone who hops on a social outrage bandwagon, usually doesn't really accomplish anything except getting likes on their posts. It's not even limited to movements though, because some people on social are just obsessed with everyone else's lives.
Tldr, a bunch of reasons.
lukilladog
Member
Some of the most stable societies today are mostly atheistic... while others heavily christian dominated are straight up hell. The actual difference seems to me education and management/distribution of resources, double down on religion only produces extremism.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I have no proof of how combative highly or zero religious places are, but all I know being part of family whether just about everyone in my family tree isnt religious (aside from a few Sunday morning dabblers on the other side of the family), is that we have never had any battles having to do with religion as we got no skin in the game.
If Christians, Muslims, Buddhists etc.... all want to butt heads and raid each other's churches and mosques go ahead.
As a non-religious family, when we see this shit on news it's just one of those things...... "you religious people are fucking nuts".
BossLackey
Gold Member
Because a lot of "luxuries" are bad for us.
Food everywhere, but often unhealthy and processed.
Cars everywhere, reduces our need for exercise.
More "sit at a computer" jobs. Again, less exercise and other factors harbor dependency on caffeine.
Entertainment at the tip of our fingertips. Our brains weren't meant to be hit with dopamine constantly.
This is the perfect cocktail for poor physical and mental health.
Food everywhere, but often unhealthy and processed.
Cars everywhere, reduces our need for exercise.
More "sit at a computer" jobs. Again, less exercise and other factors harbor dependency on caffeine.
Entertainment at the tip of our fingertips. Our brains weren't meant to be hit with dopamine constantly.
This is the perfect cocktail for poor physical and mental health.
jadedm17
Member
"Happiness" is a modern construct.
For instance people used to marry for children or stability, not love or "happiness".
Personally I blame the modern complexities of living, mainly the growing gap between what we earn and what we need to spend to live (housing, schooling, medical, etc).
At the end of the day its on you; Society may be going down but you have unlimited resources (like Youtube) to live how you want, whatever that means to you.
www.cracked.com
For instance people used to marry for children or stability, not love or "happiness".
Personally I blame the modern complexities of living, mainly the growing gap between what we earn and what we need to spend to live (housing, schooling, medical, etc).
At the end of the day its on you; Society may be going down but you have unlimited resources (like Youtube) to live how you want, whatever that means to you.
5 Scientific Reasons Your Idea of Happiness Is Wrong
Our two favorite subjects at Cracked are the elusive concept of human happiness and Batman. This article is about the first one.
www.cracked.com
Last edited:
Similar threads
- Poll