copypasta So in a recent thread, "Any guesses for why the suicide rate is going up?", I spent like a decent chunk of time contemplating, analyzing, and writing a relatively elaborate theory to answer this question. In that time, the thread got locked a few minutes before I finished my reply because of some serious off topic tangents and arguments, so it did not let me post the reply. I spent too much time and effort to get cockblocked like that, so I'm posting it as a new thread.
This was the post:
I'm the only person I know who is openly suicidal, so I only have my thoughts and experiences to base my answer off of, but personally for me, it just comes down to disillusionment about life.
Like others have said, the widespread use of social media, television, and just escapist entertainment in general have implanted unrealistically high expectations of what life should be in peoples' heads, especially to impressionable young minds. Combine that with commonplace access to all of humanity's knowledge, the increasing difficulty of economic improvement, the competitive and cutthroat reality of human nature, the increasing difficulty of finding love with the prevalence of hooking up and shit like Instagram models and apps like Tinder giving people unrealistic expectations.
My theory, based off my own experience, is that people grow up with expectations that their life is going to be like the movies or their favorite show, and when they are hit by reality, they feel a disappointment so deep that it oftentimes throws them into depression. They just can't handle it. People are lonelier than ever, struggling to advance their status (being stagnant and static in life is not how a human being was meant to live), more stressed than ever, etc. Then, they are able to go on the internet and easily able to see how fucked up society is, how insignificant humanity's existence is on the cosmic scale, and how insignificant their own individual existence is.
Many philosophers, statisticians, and scientists have said that we are most likely in a simulation. This very thought and concept is something that would invoke an existential crisis in many people, yet it is available for all to see. People no longer have religion to bring meaning to their lives, and people are now part of a global population rather than a more intimate, emotionally satisfying community. Back when people lived in villages in communities of say, 100 people, they felt important. Those 100 people were their whole world, and as an individual, they felt as if they actually had an impact on the world. To sum it up, I think the general trend is: unrealistic expectations of life propagated by media -> reality sets in as they are continually disappointed over and over again -> knowledge of the meaninglessness of their existence -> depression and loss of will to live -> rationalization that nothing fucking matters, and so if they don't enjoy their existence then the only sensible thing to do is to to end it.
Oh wow. That was very well written and I agree with everything you've said, to the point where I almost feel like I wrote it. It really does seem like this is one of the worst times to be alive, despite being a relatively "comfortable" time period.
Do you think it's possible to find reasonable expectations for life? Or has all the media and escapism given us such an inaccurate point of view on how things should be, that reality could never satisfy us. I feel like once you figure out that your life is shitty, won't change, and doesn't matter, it's almost impossible to get better other than a miracle.
Jack Myers
The only problem we have is that life feels meaningless
The only problem you need to occupy yourself with is how to create meaning in your life
Caleb Martinez
yes and yes. Life is just one big distraction that we are going to fucking die.
Easton Price
yes it's a bitch and idfk.
Owen Rivera
With you on everything, but don't see the tie with being in a simulation lol
Joseph Gray
just a theory and thats peeps have pondered over.
Jeremiah Rogers
I've been thinking about this a bit too. I write anonymously in the paper for my university, and I write about my desire to die, but try to get rid of the idea that dying would solve all the problems and glorify you into something you aren't right now.
I get a lot do comments back about it, and a lot of people simply attack me because they think I'm glorifying suicide, and the school has talked to me many times about having to stop me, but I always just tell them I'm going to write it until I die anyways, and some people like what I write.
Anyways, do you think there would be less of this feeling of worthlessness if we had a situation such as WW2 going on again? I opened this dialogue last semester, and many said that we should feel more worth now rather than "when the world was so bad". I disagree, and think that the some sort of real conflict, on a controllable scale (not nuclear), would bring nationalism and meaning back to many people. I think we might see an uptick in depression early on, but once the war got to full swing it would bring people together.
I admittedly am not one that likes to speak on peoples minds and how to better people. I feel I can, but I like speaking about workings between society and the individual much more.
What do you, and anyone else, think?
Jaxson Roberts
i do believe it, it's fucked tho that we need a fucking war to bring us together.
Joseph James
Conflict does bring meaning into people's lives I agree, but sadly we live in a world where conflict has become self-destruction. Our choice now is to either completely reinvent how we live in societies, while trying to downcut populations - or to bring another movement like the renaissance/chivalry and hope this time is sticks
Adrian Cooper
I agree it is kind of sad that war seems like a good option, but if you think about it, it kind of matches the cycle of life. War is the destruction of one lifestyle and the creation of another.
I really think an all out war wouldn't be necessary. Just a war that affects the society in the same way. Imagine the US breaking into 5 smaller countries and conflicts arising between them all. Improbable without major changes, but it would affect the people in a similar way to a global war. Would also help with feeling like a larger part of society.
Crazy to think about though. I question myself about it all the time. I want to die and leave all of this behind, but I don't want to die without understanding it all. I like to think I'm a long line of the same being reincarnated since the beginning of humanity to always throw away the point of life, but continues reincarnating in order to get one step closer to understanding it all.
Ow the edge and all that.
Sometimes I do wish for a war though.
Hudson Scott
(1) Wait a second. I don't want to sound mean, but isn't this obvious? I mean, it's a cliche, the whole "life is meaningless" shtick, and the fact that the entertainment industry is meant to capitalize on distracting from the despair of others. However I don't think this is why you are suicidal, or anything like that. These are of course good observations, but at the same time they don't get to the real issue, that being the problem of why some people are suicidal and depressed while others, and in fact the vast majority, aren't, and are content with their lives and existences. I think I have figured out why, though. And this is because of stagnation. Most people don't live their lives worrying about this, at least not until much much later on (e.g. midlife crisis, eccentric billionaires, etc.). They have things that preoccupy them, mostly. They have goals they hold dearly. This is in contrast to you and others like you, and I suppose me as well; if you don't have a goal, this means that your brain is constantly running, looking for something to do, while you can't consciously find anything. If you stagnate for long enough due to a lack of a goal, then instead of using your brain to solve problems related to your dreams and goals and whatever, you use it to think about your situation. You start thinking about the world and why things are the way they are. Depending on the level of maturity, this leads to a few outcomes. Less emotionally mature individuals (not to belittle them) will try to find a scapegoat and actively seek out confirmation bias, so they can sit and wax poetic about how "woe is me", because they don't know any other way to rationalize their misfortune. If you're more mature, though, then you realize that the issue isn't the world, but you. This is something that I realized, that I am the issue with myself. Anyway, I digress. (cont'd)
(2) It's not disillusionment that caused your depression, most likely. It's that you accepted entertainment media with open arms, and let it consume you, and distract you from the most important distraction of all, that being a goal in life that is akin to the drug that numbs the feeling and realization of true purposelessness. I suspect this is the case for most people on this particular board, including myself. The harsh truth is that it's no one's fault but your own. Of course, we could sit here all day discussing who did what and who is at fault and pointing fingers, you know, saying that "as a child i didn't know any better so it's my parents fault for letting me do that", which can then be escalated to "well it's not my parents fault that I was so hard to deal with, perhaps it's societies fault for x y and z", etc. etc. ad infinitum, until you can basically blame everything on whatever created this world. That's a pointless endeavor that distracts from the point. We are all the problems with ourselves. Maybe that's a bit cynical, who knows. Maybe that's enough to drive someone to pull the trigger, the sudden acknowledgement of all the regrets one's life contains. Perhaps the very reason people don't openly acknowledge this is that they know it already, but admitting it is too much to bear, so they search for a scapegoat like the emotionally immature folk i mentioned earlier. I don't know, I'm just rambling at this point. Point is, the "why" of depression and being suicidal is pointless, it's most likely because people make mistakes, but I don't know you, maybe you had a seriously SERIOUSLY fucked up upbringing. It depends on the person. The important question is, "what are you going to do about it?"
Isaiah Murphy
(3) As for purposelessness, well, to some people (me not included in those some, unfortunately), that's a very liberating sort of thing to know. To them, it means you can do whatever you want, and you're not obligated or bound by anything or anyone. I suppose that's technically true, but we all know the real world is a cruel and capricious mistress that needs to be actively resisted to do what you want. And as for me, well, I just can't really be assed to care about trying to do anything difficult or challenging anymore. I'm too tired. Only easy things are worth doing anymore, and every day that worth gets lower and lower. I suppose this concludes my one-thirty-in-the-morning pondering that your post provoked me to do. I hope someone gets something worthwhile out of this, I know it certainly helped me get my thoughts more in order, if only just by a little.
im going to bed now, my niggas. i really do hope you all find happiness or at least contentment. Life is shit but there is some good i think. i still will probably an hero before 30 (26 now) I LOVE YOU MOTHERFUCKS OF Jow Forums *BIG KISS*
Michael Butler
I can agree with a lot of what you said. Can't speak for OP, but stagnation is definitely what started me down a path. I find joy in being able to truly understand how things come to be.
"incels " are a great example of confirmation bias as you were speaking. They are faced with an inability to find partners, as I was, and we both sought out blame. They refuse to see themselves as the problem, but I looked into everything surrounding the problem. My childhood, my tastes, the experiences someone must go through to meet my desires, and how I am working against myself. Now I find it easy to understand that, and though I have had more success since coming to that realization, I still want to die prematurely.
I started looking at the world as a system of interconnected machines. Everyone develops differently, but under similar environmental conditions. I understand how someone that went through the exact sequence of events as I did could wish to live a full live and look forward to every day. I also see no fault in my wanting to die.
Your point on purpose intrigued me. I stressed greatly over purpose in my teen years, and though I have now found something I wish to do, I do not feel that I have an ultimate goal, which is what I searched for in my younger years.
I have come to the conclusion that it is normal to want to live. It is queer to wish to die. It makes no sense socially, biologically, or ethically to want to die. That doesn't make me see myself as wrong. It makes me see myself as the minority.
Thank you for your responses. You have helped me gather myself and my beliefs again, and that is always a good thing to do.
Jeremiah Nelson
Thanks for the writeup user! It was a good reminder and I think it cleared up my head enough to skip some clutter I was dealing with and get closer to my next step of progress. Now I know jack shit in general, and about you, but if I had any words it would be that little thing you do that's depreciating worth day by day, try to redirect it to something/anything that has an appreciating factor aswell.
