• 2 Posts
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Joined 4 months ago
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Cake day: May 1st, 2024

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  • I invested in my sleep this year. Bought a white noise machine, comfy percal cotton sheets, ear plugs, eye mask, mouth tape, try to go running consistently, implemented basic sleep hygiene stuff like no phone in the room, and… I still have trouble. I went on a 50km bike ride over the weekend and still had trouble. But… the reality is that it has gotten better on average after implementing all of this and fuck it, I’ll take it.

    I drink a cup of coffee only once a day. It’s extra strong though. Maybe that has something to do with it. But I really love that one strong ass coffee in the morning.




  • Exactly. Our ability to use language, create culture, abstract ideas and concepts and step outside of them are the ingredients that allow us to transcend our evolutionary instincts and urges, and that’s exactly what we should do when building a society and culture.



  • Brazil has a lot of gun deaths. But it’s worth keeping in mind that lots of the Amazon region is essentially a lawless “Wild West” and that specialized police units are, in fact, in war with enormous trafficking gangs. “Regular people” get shot too, of course, in violent crime incidents. But besides this, many “regular people” don’t own guns and don’t advocate for guns in the same way as in the US. There’s not really a “gun culture” that regular people participate in — it’s not an identity. Certainly not as much as the US.

    I think that’s what makes the photo a valid joke and criticism of the US and that it wouldn’t work for other countries like Brazil. It’s not just looking at total gun deaths or other absolute metrics, it’s also taking into account the layers that make guns in the US a cultural symbol. The US is basically the “gun country” of the world because in the US, guns aren’t just a gang or criminal thing, they’re a “regular” thing.





  • That’s an interesting point.

    Upon further reflection, I discovered I don’t fully understand the nuances. So I tried to think it through.

    I think it goes as follows:

    • Nihilism says there is no meaning so any pursuit whatsoever is futile. (Not goal based.)
    • Existentialism says there is no universal meaning but it is the individual who creates meaning. So we project our meaning into the world and live in it and therefore live in a meaningful world. We should search for our personal meaning. (Goal based.)
    • Absurdism says there is no universal meaning and if there is, we’ll never understand it. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy transient pseudo-meanings, though. In fact, we SHOULD enjoy them. But we should be aware that they’re not eternal and not objective. (Not goal based.)

    So, on second thought, I think the meme does a great a job at capturing absurdism. Still, the difference between existentialism and absurdism is subtle.

    What do you all think? Is that kinda the idea?

    I wonder if Existentialists or Absurdists consider our biological reality and needs when developing the ideas. For instance, we need food, shelter, social acceptance, and so forth. What does this say about “meaning” and pursuits like fashion and style (as it relates to social acceptance?). How does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs fit in with these philosophies?