Nothing lasts […] are we just amusing ourselves until death?

It seems to me like you are of the opinion that the finiteness of life robs it of meaning. If so, why not contribute to longevity research? It’s only been a couple decades since we learned how telomeres relate to senescence. If enough people work on the problem or donate to it, we very well might be able to crack immortality before you croak. At the very least, that will give you a few more centuries to figure out what the meaning of life is.

You might object that immortality would lead to great wealth inequality, and you’d rather live a finite life than an unfair life. You can only believe this if you believe that the finality of life does not ultimately make life worthless. In which case, why not contribute to the cause of socialism?

are we just amusing ourselves until death?

Yes, exactly that. There is nothing afterwards, and the fact that we’re clinging to the surface of a rock flying through an infinite universe where we could be wiped out any second and never be able to do anything about it does rather make everything seem rather pointless.

And whilst you could be depressed about that, there’s still a lot of pretty awesome things to do that amusing with. Nature is beautiful. The world and its geology is beautiful. Evolution is beautiful. Science is beautiful. Maths is beautiful (if you have the sort of mind that appreciates it). Learning about these things and experiencing them is beautiful. And so on. Even most people all over the world are pretty good most of the time, despite what some other people want you to believe.

And honestly, accepting there’s no greater purpose is remarkably freeing. When something happens, it’s just bad luck. It’s not some greater power punishing you, it’s not because you did something wrong (within reason - getting hit by a bus because you crossed the road without looking is really pushing the concept).

I read something recently that explained every moment was like a mini death (referring to how Change is the only constant) and as such everything we do is to understand and integrate death-like processes and to see them as one cohesive whole, if we extrapolate this pattern to the process of death as a human we begin to realize that our death is so much more likely to be some pattern like that where we must question if the life we had was ever so subjectively experienced to begin with, at that point we begin to realize that our death is not to be feared any more than we should fear taking off our clothes to change them when they are dirty.

In my view, we are here because the universe wants to understand itself.

I find solace in that.

I hope this helps your existential dread.

I like to recall some wise words of Christmas in these dark times:

Here’s the deal, newbie. You can stuff your stocking with shiny little toys from now until you grow some testicles, but until that stocking is filled with friendship, loyalty, love and devotion, well… it’s just plumb empty.

And no, you can’t purchase those things at Laura Ashley. And no, you can’t win them in the red book giveaway extravaganza. And, gee, I’m sure if these aren’t things that you can wind up and watch spin for eight hours.

Let me make this exceptionally clear. Christmas is about love. You can’t live without other people’s love. Not during Christmas, not ever.

So go spend this time with your friends and family. And if they laugh at you, laugh with them. And if they laugh at you again, hit them and go find some new friends. But for the love of god, jesus, Mary, and Joseph and his technicolor dreamcoat, don’t ever ever forget this, newbie. You have to give love to get love. So start giving. Now.

There’s no point and the meaning you have to make yourself.

nihil novum sub sole

You get to create your own meaning. It becomes challenging when your meaning isn’t the default societal milestones, in the western world it’s - college, promotion, marriage/kids, house, retirement, death. If that progress doesn’t resonate, then it means that you have to connect to yourself on a deeper level to figure out your purpose/your life theme.

My purpose is organizing my internal world for self alignment, I do it through self expression using art, language and diagrams. I live for self expression.

It has same meaning as summer breeze, or warm rays of sunshine. We make things to be more complicated than they really are. Enjoy experiences you are given, live thru pain, be a human. Existence is a weird, yup.

Absurdists unite!

“Ambition is overrated. Whether a janitor or surgeon, being virtuous is what matters [1]. Avoid contempt and envy because we each have our part to play [2], powerless to choose our upbringing. Often there’s more than meets the eye so hold off on passing judgement. Everything is borrowed [3], so avoid craving credit too. The meaning of life is sharing (and) laughter [4], helping each other through peaks and throughs. Bref, GLHF.

1. Dr. Michael Sugrue: Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: The Stoic Ideal.
2. Nicky Case: Fireflies.
3. The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed.
4. YouTube: The Meaning of Life.”

[Quoting my own website arscyni.cc because POSSE: “Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.”]

I work to make things less shitty for the people I care about and keep myself alive and comfortable. That’s about it. I’m not interested in having children because I have no confidence that the world will improve for the next generations.

Hedonic threadmill: it’s the hypothesis that we tend to a baseline level of happiness and on average, after some time, people who have won the lottery are as happy (or unhappy) as people who have gone bankrupt.

Look at us, we are apes, barely out of trees. We were fighting predators and cold and diseases that no longer exist. Just by being alive, we are the winners of millions of years of genetic lottery, evolution, fights, love and ingenuity.

We have access to most of human knowledge through devices that fit in our pockets, can visit other countries that were legendary to our forefathers, instead of hunting wild beasts we have satellites that guide us step by step to the nearest McDonald’s.

Imagine time-traveling a few generations back, describing our life to our grand-grandparents, seeing their eyes grow wide. Now imagine, at the end, telling them how ennui got to us and we can no longer find meaning in our life.

Procreation and survival. That’s what all living beings have as an instinct and that’s the only meaning behind it. It’s merely a mechanism to prevail and improve.

Everything is meaningless, nothing matters. Therefore whatever you decide is important is all that matters.

You can look up optimistic nihilism if you want

Point? Like most gifts, there is no point. You just got it.

Thats how I treat my life: as a gift. Because what makes me me, existed as matter for eons. Inert. And by an insane oddity it got “infused” with life, thought, wonder but only for an extremely short while. And after that short period it will go back into that inert state. So i do nice things which are within my reach. Things that makes me feel good. And modern (western) society gives us a lot of time to do that. I know it doesn’t always feel like that but if you look at it historically we have the most off time ever.

Nice things can be anything. Maybe meaningless on the Grand scale of things, but I like making my family happy. I love cuddling my stinky old dog(well, not that old), I hate gardening but love the outcome of it. And yes, I love wasting time on movies, reading, gaming, theater. Or hikes. Or travel in general. The smell of the sea. The feeling of being in a forest. That first time you played “The last of us”. that one specific movie. Or read that one fantastic book. That feeling when you finished it. Or when you went to that insanely funny comedian. Or just hanged out drinking beers (or whatever )with friends or colleagues. Its all fantastic.

And most of the times I like my job and try to forward my little society with it. (I work for a municipality) Within my own little means.

So… meaning? Of life? Experience shit. Make up your own mind.

And please: don’t use big tech socials. They’re made so you don’t feel good, get addicted to them. Get you hooked. It and it’s goals (sell ads!) are evil.

I’ve been inert for eternity. I will not waste that little time I have. Experience something. Anything.