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Existentialists often combat depression because life is so pointless in light of the fact that it doesn't matter. What we do in our lives, even if it's so great an entire city is named after us, will be forgotten in only a few generations.

In Western Civilization, all depression is considered a disease but those who understand the core of existential depression know that there's no cure for knowing that our lives are no more than blips of pointless sisyphistic failure.

Since you can't unknow something once you know it, do you think it's possible to find a partner with compatible existential depression?

Carleigh 4 Feb 4
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0

Ah perhaps I can answer this:

I am an Existentialist and I have noticed the depression part of the question. This is not quite correct, we have something called an Existential crisis and this is the realisation that there is NO higher power than ourselves-in other words no one else to blame and this weight of responsibility is too much for some. One of the ways that some people cope is that they build a spiritual framework to use as a crutch in order to justify existence.

Ithink you are confusing Existentialism with Nihilism. The former are convinced that there is no inherent meaning to existence, . HOWEVER it is up to US to give meaning to existence (there is a difference) Nihilists are of the opinion that there is no meaning to existence in any way shape or form and thus they think what is the point and therefore it can lead to self destruction.

My meaning of existence if freedom through responsibility. My existence is best described in the cartoon below.

1

I’m an existentialist and I’m not depressed.

0

I feel just the same ie pointless to a degree. I wish I was like my dogs but hey ho.yes its possible but whether you pep each other up or depress each other more I don't know.

1

Honestly friend, I think you need to go further in your philosophy to get past the depressive stage of existentialism, and I strongly recommend you do that before getting into a relationship, and definitely instead of getting into a relationship with another depressive. Two depressives getting together are likely to sink each other through the floor.

Once you reach "It doesn't matter" you need the other half of the full thought - "It doesn't matter and I don't care." You have to, in a positive way, not care that it doesn't matter before you can be free. I don't envy your position. It takes massive effort to chop off sufficient amounts of the ego (philosophical definition of ego, not psychological definition of ego) to be relieved that it doesn't matter rather than distressed by it.

And just a heads up in case you haven't really gotten there yet, realizing and accepting how deterministic reality is can be seriously demotivating (you may already be there as part of your understanding existentialism) unless you decouple the fact of will from the illusion of freedom - which can only be successfully done by eliminating as much of the philosophical ego as possible while building the healthiest psychological ego possible.

Good luck. 🙂

@Carleigh I'm sorry that you got misunderstood. I, like as I understand most people are, do not like being or feeling misunderstood, so there's a good chance you don't like it either. I do not wish for you to feel uncomfortable in the future, so I wrote the following, except for the last paragraph, in hopes that it could help you prevent a few future misunderstandings. If you don't want to read unsolicited advice, please just scroll past it down to the last paragraph where I ask your opinion on the meat of what I wrote, bypassing the personalized direction of my words.

I did read into your use of words like "we" "us" and "our" that you were a part of what you were talking about, and that was in the same paragraph where you mentioned combatting depression. Also, statements you made in the first 2 paragraphs sounded like a depressive take on It might be something to consider that at least 2 of us have interpreted your words the same way, and possibly more as most of these comments don't directly address whether or not the readers interpreted that you included yourself in words like "us."

When I want to indicate I'm talking about a group of people that I do not belong to, I use words such as "they"or "their," If I want to be vague about whether or not I'm including myself in the group I'm talking about, I may say something like "people" or "one." I don't recall being misinterpreted as talking about myself when using these terms, so perhaps they would work for you as well.

I wonder what your opinion is on the meat of what I said, even if I wrongly attributed the position to you personally. Do you think it's a good idea for 2 depressives to get into a relationship with each other before getting on a good course of beating depression? Do you agree that not caring that it doesn't matter makes the existential viewpoint more palatable? How do you regard my implication that there is a natural flow between determinism and existentialism?

Actually, after writing my reply, I checked your profile and see that I probably have actually misunderstood your reply rather than misunderstood your post. In which case, please allow me to update my apology to being sorry for contributing to a perception by readers that you may either not wish to draw attention to at this time, or may simply not want acknowledged.

@Carleigh 1. You got both @astrochuck and me to apologize to you for reaching out with compassion to you, and make conciliatory gestures. That's messed up enough.

  1. You implied both astrochuck and I misunderstood you, which is a prompt for people to feel bad about ourselves for (at least supposedly) making someone else feel bad - which later turned out to be most likely a false implication. Meaning you tried to make us feel bad for nothing.

  2. In your first reply to my reply to you, you claimed that your OP (about philosophy) was just a question to start a discussion - however you repeatedly refuse to discuss philosophy with me. Instead, you guilt-trip, insult, and randomly change the meaning and focus of your statements. I find your statements disingenuous.

  3. I find it telling that almost all of your responses have been to astrochuck and me, the two people who specifically showed you compassion,and in both cases had to fish something out of what we said to make your ego-boosting statements about us proving your point. Astrochuck was making an opposing point when you disregarded his point and claimed it as a victory for yourself. With me, you had to cobble together my statements and change your original statement for part of a claim that I'd proven your point, and had to just make a totally unfounded claim to tangentially claim legitimacy for your claim that I proved your point.

You did not originally directly claim that the western pov of depression is negative (which is a true and correct pov), you claimed "In Western Civilization, all depression is considered a disease" which is neither correct nor accurate. Your later statement "you're proving my point that the Western pov of depression is negative and disease-oriented" negates any plausibility of any future claim you might make that negative is implied under the category of disease because you just differentiated them by naming them separately.

I do believe that depression is negative. Depression causes a decrease in quality of life. Depression can also be deadly. While someone might make a theoretical argument that things that are deadly either are or can be good for us, anyone with at least nearly equal debating skills could successfully refute that to an open-minded audience.

  1. My negative inferences about your behavior (I never said anything about who you are, only what you have said and done) may be superfluous to those who can see exactly what you are doing, but dissecting your interactions could be helpful to those who just have a general or intermittent feeling that something isn't right here. They will then have a review of what you are doing, which could then be helpful to them when they encounter other situations that just seem a bit off.

  2. It doesn't matter to me either if my psycho-social analysis (not grammatical analysis - your grammar is fine, as is your spelling) of your interactions that I can see on this board seems self-serving to you or not, and actually I don't care if it is self-serving to me in any way because it is at least also other-serving. Even if it is self-serving to me at all, it is also self-detrimental. Somebody is bound to regard me as being a meanie for outing you, somebody will probably count this as me feeding a troll and look down on me for it, and some people probably don't appreciate my contribution to the negative energy in this post (which I will cease by not responding to you further after this post - no matter what you might come up with to try to provoke me into responding). And no, I had no intention of offering an armchair diagnosis. Just pointing out the specific behaviors is more useful.

  3. You are projecting about unsolicited condescension. That is what you have been doing to me. And I forewarned you that I was about to type unsolicited advice (true advice is never condescension, though those used to seeing claims of advice as means to obfuscate condescension may be confused about the difference), and also suggested you just scroll past it if you didn't want it, if you read my advice, that was your informed decision... thus no longer purely unsolicited advice.

  4. I see that you are giving astrochuck more line since he responded to your challenge by claiming to have nothing (despite obviously having some kind of background in the area) and claiming that you are venturing well beyond his understanding or knowledge. OTOH you seem increasingly irate at me for refusing to take your training (and taking training is far different from considering advice).

Yes, my opinion of you has vastly lowered since initially reading your OP. At first I saw you as a philosopher, like me. I thought I saw you in a rough patch similar to one I'd been through, and offered to you what would have been very helpful to me at that time. Instead now I see you as fundamentally very different from me.

I'm done with this. Respond or not, it's up to you - but I'm not going to respond to any more of your comments in this thread, and I'll make some effort at remembering who you are so I don't respond to you elsewhere either, but it's possible that I could forget who you are and respond somewhere sometime to one of your comments until/unless I remember who you are.

0

I doubt it....But then again I’m a depressed existentialist. Better ask an optimist.

Kevbo Level 4 Feb 4, 2018
0

I agree with no ultimate meaning, but that's not a bad thing. The odds of you being born instead of someone else is something like 1 in a trillion. The atoms you are composed of were forged in a star. The air you breathe was created by an ancient species of microorganisms. This life you live is the only one you get. Spend it enjoying your time, caring about others, and finding out what you do and don't like about life and fixing what can be fixed. The video game, tv, phone, and internet based industries wouldn't exist if there had to be meaning in something for it to make you happy. Find what you want to focus on and make it your meaning. Mind you I tried to expedite the meaningless process a couple years ago so I may have no idea what existentialism is like.

4

That's interesting. Kinda goes along with
" it's not a sign of health to be well adjusted to a sick society"
Yeah when you realize the truth about life and the finality of death it can seem pointless. However there can be a great deal of enjoyment in living. Doing, being, helping. It can be worthwhile. Just don't take life too seriously.

0

Personally when I die I hope my name is never uttered again just want to go become part of the cosmic storm called the universe. Evaporate into nothingness.

2

Sure, mathematically, there is that possibility. I take my iced Nietzsche with butterscotch Buddha on top - not the religion, I killed his ass of course, but the philosophy - there is only now, and there is suffering, and it is a choice. I try to do what makes me happy, or close to it.

jeffy Level 7 Feb 4, 2018
1

If you can make just one human or animal's day a little better, isn't that enough reason to exist?

7

I am an existentialist and have been for 60 years. I have never found the perspective depressing. Instead, I find it freeing and exhilarating. I am free -- free to make my own choices, to create my own meanings free to make my own mistakes and learn from them, free to be and learn. So what if what I do will be lost within a few generations. At least I mattered while I was here! What is depressing about that?

Yes, it is much less depressing to know that, what gives your life meaning is what you have chosen to live for.

@Carleigh That circumstance is depressing. I live in Florida, which is only slightly less politically dominated by backwards p9litics, but I am still happy to be an existentialist.

2

Embrace absurdism with a dash of Epicureanism then find someone to laugh and have fun with. Then make every attempt to spread the joy. Yes, I've thought about this 🙂

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