Possible solutions
simply not working full-time, NEET, Freelancing, working in transportation to see many different places, organized crime, foreign agent/saboteur
Out of these i have only tried NEET, trying part-time work next
I encourage you to keep trying different things. As a quote goes: "Its okay to go through awful places, just don't stop and unpack". For me personally finding communities have been THE most meaningful thing I found in my life.
absolutely great post, could never relate more to anything posted on here.
I think the monotony is not that way to purposefully control us or to drive consumption, but simply because it is economical.
Human life has been made scalable
and we agreed, because it makes thing affordable
Economical how? Economic theories are per definitions theories of how to distribute scarce resources. When I reflect on the forces that keep us down, they're only 'economical' in the sense that they are self-serving. Oil companies making massive profits, are making massive profits whilst literally drowning entire countries due to the sea levels rising (and honestly, that's the least of our concerns when you look at the bigger picture). Tiktok is generating massive profits, whilst at the same time making us/the young retarded (thus leading to less total resources).
And sure, there is also the monotony that is economically efficient. Think of our jobs being increasingly specialized and thus repetitive, because that is how we create resources. Sure, part of the monotony does come from that, but I wouldn't say that is the main factor. If resources were allocated more equally, we could easily work less.
If adjusted for productivity over the last 50 years, the minimum wage of the US would be $26 an hour. Currently someone earning minimum wage ($7.25), assuming they're working 40h a week as they are expected to, makes $290 a week. If they were earning the amount they should be earning (assuming this $26 wage of earlier), they could make this money in just a little over 11h a week. Then, instead of working 29h extra to make as much profit as possible for their shareholders of a lifeless conglomerate, they could do something less monotonous. Think about doing something creative, visiting family and friends more, or heck, work a 2nd job that is more interesting (but is less productive). LIFE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BORING.... even if we keep being pushed towards this.
This kind of reminds me of my favorite book, called 'island'. It was written by the same author as 'brave new world', but instead of the story being played in a dystopia, the story was being played in a utopia. This book describes so many amazing ideas, but in the context of this, it described one's work life as followed: Everyone on the island worked multiple jobs, switching them semi-regularly. Which, they did for the exact reason I described earlier - to make life less monotonous.
I personally have given up on meaning. I have found it hard to find objective meaning and if i can't come up with a correct answer, i would rather not answer at all.
Finding meaning is dividing by Zero
Meaning is inherently subjective. Why do you think when you ask ChatGPT the meaning of life, he can't give you a straight answer (because he himself says he doesn't experience any subjective reality). But, you are right about it being hard... just not that it is 'objective'.
Finding meaning is not like dividing by zero. Because, the problem with dividing by 0 in mathematics, is that nobody can do it. The problem with finding meaning, is that only few can do it. You can say their meanings are futile, but, those who have truly found meaning, won't let themselves be influenced by another's nihilism. Life is more complex than some metaphors to an impossibility.
Nowadays i think of myself as a perception machine, seeking novel and pleasant stimuli as well as an inferior gpt. My main social function was/is as a walking encyclopedia and brainstorm machine, this was already a bad position due to google and wikipedia and with advanced ai chatbots, i have become socially obsolete.
I try to survive until posthuman transformation is possible and see if things get better from there, unconstrained by petty physical needs and with a stronger and faster mind, freely building things on some far away planet as IRL minecraft until the embrace of cold death finds me.
Something I've noticed is that the weakest part of chatGPT is to come up with something truly 'unique'. It is great at using something known, finding a pattern and using that pattern to create something anew. Whilst we humans, at a deeper level do that to, I think the very last thing that is gonna be replaced by machines is this executive function - of coming up with something truly unique.
Another thing chatGPT, partially due to its constraints, is unable to do, is take initiative. I tried poking it to take the initiative to ask questions, but I couldn't get into a conversation where ChatGPT started leading the conversation. In general 'initiative' is a rare sight (but, in my personal life it is the fuel which powers my engines), but, it is what may lead to greatness.
In my experience it helps when there are actions I can take with these two aspects. I try to take initiative left right center, I try to think of something unique and work with it. I'm a brainstorm machine just like you, so see if you can brainstorm to end up in new places, instead of brainstorming 'for' something else, like some AI chatbot. But, I must admit, it is something I can't do consistently. I'm still struggling with the monotony, but, every once a while I do get that eureka moment and think of a unique initiative which helps make my life more colorful.
Nature is cruel. If one looks at the cosmos and the state of earth it's rather hard to come up with anything other than "this is a sensory deprivation torture chamber"
It feels like this universe was designed against sentience, simply to make things suffer, just good enough so that sentience can develop, with small lumps of transient joy and tranquility
breaking the vast sea of monotony and suffering. Even if we, through human intervention, could make this miserable place, non-miserable, this will not be lasting as the universe itself will expire and rip us apart in coldness.
Ah yeah I agree. No matter how good my life becomes, I still can't get rid of the thought that it would've been much nicer if I was never born. But, at least for me, suicide isn't an option. And, when you look at most suicidal person, suicide in general just isn't a great option (mostly because you end up hurting the one's you love). Thus, you are stuck here, until your life ends by forced outside your control.
So, welcome to the "sensory deprivation torture chamber", and realize that there is a big likelihood you're gonna be here for another few decades. Now the question should become "what to do with it", instead of "what is this madness".
Nature wants to consume and poison you and for you to gtfo. Places called "nature" that humans finds pleasurable to go to are more like gardens, were everything inconvenient to us is either exterminated or bend to our will. Australia, the Jungles of Africa and South America and the Deep Sea are the places where human influence is weakest, this is closest to nature and it is right for it to die.
Nature in these untouched places is inconvenient to us, precisely BECAUSE it is inconvenient to us. All convenient places are now concrete jungles. To make a more fair comparison, compare the places of ancient civilizations. Europe used to be full of trees, full of nature. Sure, there were a few wolves, and other easy deaths. But, life really wasn't that inconvenient there for us. I would much rather live in the tribal world than this concrete jungle. Chasing behind an animal sounds much more fun than sitting behind a desk for 8 hours lol.
But for real, nature can be wonderful. It's the small sensations that get me every time. The smell of plants, the sight of some insect crawling, the sound of birds chirping, the feeling of putting my hand in some body of water. Please be honest with me, what's the last time you went on a walk through nature, and tried being fully in the moment. No music, no distraction, no thoughts of anything except that which is here right now in front of you.
Yes, nature is cruel, but the cruelty is not the context I was trying to refer to (although to be fair I was a bit vague). Nature for me, means the moment, and it's the moment that is the ultimate key (if you wanna read a good book about this concept, go read 'the power of now'. Another one of my favorite books).
The Anthropocene extinction is mostly a good thing, because everything that is valuable to us will be preserved, whereas these who are annoying or useless die off. No ecological niche stays empty and the void will be refilled by things more similar to things that humans enjoy or at least by things less annoying than before.
Whilst I agree the world that will come after the extinction that is inevitable this century, will be one much better than the current one. I think the process of extinction, will be of horrors beyond anyone's imagination. And, just like I said earlier, thinking of that which is outside of our control, doesn't get us very far.
"Life swings like a pendulum backwards and forwards between pain and boredom" -Arthur Schopenhauer
But, in my personal life, I've noticed when I'm busy doing something meaningful, I no longer feel either. It is when one sits idle (or does something mindless for too long), that one experiences either pain or boredom. As another quote goes: "The idle mind, is the devil's playground". The problem here, is that finding something meaningful, is not only difficult, but made even more difficult by all systems in our world pushing us towards monotony.
Remember tho, despite the optimism I project here, I'm still really fucking frustrated with life. Holy shit it is driving me insane, but also holy shit what else can I do except wage a war?