Venting If we are all going to die anyway, why does anything matter?

[Darkover]

What is the point of treating ourselves, caring for ourselves, investing in ourselves when we will lose absolutely all of it in the end no matter what?! We commit so many sacrifices, get into ridiculous routines, set arbitrary goals in order to achieve and acquire arbitrary things and then after a good 70 to 90 years, maybe more maybe less, everything will have been for nothing if not for our offspring forced to go through the same sadistic procedure?

The truth is, life doesn't come prepackaged with meaning. Any sense of purpose we have is something we, as humans, create to justify the experience of living. But when you strip away these self-imposed meanings, life can feel absurd, a Sisyphean struggle where everything we achieve is destined to fade, and the next generation is left to repeat the same cycles. This awareness can be deeply disheartening, even enraging, when you realize how little any of it matters in the grand scheme.

The rituals we engage in—self-care, career pursuits, relationships—are attempts to stave off the existential dread of meaninglessness, to distract ourselves from the ultimate futility of existence. They're survival mechanisms, driven by our biology and reinforced by cultural conditioning. But when you see through them, they can feel hollow, even absurd.

 

[L'absent]

Existence, in its manifestation, is nothing but an accident, an insignificant parenthesis in the flow of a primordial chaos that neither asks for nor offers anything. The cosmos, in its indifferent vastness, is nothing more than an empty theater, devoid of stage, directors, or audience. The human attempt to attribute meaning to life – and even more absurdly, to the universe itself – is the pinnacle of our species' vanity, a pretense that stands as a fragile dam against the immensity of nothingness.

Life is, at its core, a contradiction: a blind impulse to perpetuate itself without any intrinsic purpose. Every desire, every action, every hope is merely a symptom of existential unease, a fever of consciousness that compels us to seek where there is nothing to be found. There is no meaning, neither in our pain nor in our joy, neither in birth nor in death. Everything we are, everything we believe, is but a fleeting stain on eternal indifference.

And yet, the tragedy does not lie in nothingness, but in our obstinate refusal to accept it. Man, this deluded creature, clings to constructs that are nothing more than ghosts: morality, progress, love, happiness – all mere reflections of a mind incapable of confronting its condition. Reality is nothing but a mute abyss, and we, with our words and actions, do nothing but scream into the void, hoping that something or someone will answer.

In this perspective, living is not a choice but a condemnation. We have been burdened with existence – the weight of being – without ever having been asked for consent, without ever being given an explanation. Every effort we make to give meaning to this condemnation only intensifies its absurdity: we are creatures that suffer, think, and create illusions to avoid staring into the nothingness that awaits us. And in doing so, we forget that all our struggles are destined to dissolve into oblivion, like dust in the wind.

But perhaps it is in the acceptance of this truth that the only authentic act is found. There is no consolation, no redemption – only the acknowledgment of the absurd. By renouncing the illusion of meaning, we can finally free ourselves from the slavery of expectations and hope. Not to find peace, but to face the raw reality, without veils, without lies.

Life has no meaning because it does not need one. Our existence is an error, an echo of purposeless forces, a flash that extinguishes itself in the cosmic indifference. And perhaps, in recognizing this truth, we can at least have the honor of not lying to ourselves. There is nothing to save, nothing to fear, nothing to achieve. Only the void – eternal and inexorable.

 

[Rational man]

I didnt choose to be born and I had no choice in the family i was born into. And in the end, we all eventually die anyway. Humankind surrounds itself with religion, platitudes, meaning and purpose, but maybe I see the world in a different light nowadays. My illness has enabled me to drop any reference to expectations, love and guarantees. I embrace the belief of cosmic randomness, chaotic disorganization of all things. No more do I regret and no more do I apologise for the mistakes ive made. No certainties and nothing guaranteed, just impermanence. Eventually, I will die too and become part of nature's soil once more.

 

[darkenmydoorstep]

What is the point of treating ourselves, caring for ourselves, investing in ourselves when we will lose absolutely all of it in the end no matter what?! We commit so many sacrifices, get into ridiculous routines, set arbitrary goals in order to achieve and acquire arbitrary things and then after a good 70 to 90 years, maybe more maybe less, everything will have been for nothing if not for our offspring forced to go through the same sadistic procedure?

The truth is, life doesn't come prepackaged with meaning. Any sense of purpose we have is something we, as humans, create to justify the experience of living. But when you strip away these self-imposed meanings, life can feel absurd, a Sisyphean struggle where everything we achieve is destined to fade, and the next generation is left to repeat the same cycles. This awareness can be deeply disheartening, even enraging, when you realize how little any of it matters in the grand scheme.

The rituals we engage in—self-care, career pursuits, relationships—are attempts to stave off the existential dread of meaninglessness, to distract ourselves from the ultimate futility of existence. They're survival mechanisms, driven by our biology and reinforced by cultural conditioning. But when you see through them, they can feel hollow, even absurd.

This is to me why (wild) animals get the better deal. They indulge their instincts, do whatever the fuck they like and as far as we're aware, have no conscience to deal with, no morals.

 

[human909]

I have no reason to be alive anymore i just want to get it over with. I've also been telling myself well since i'm gonna die it doesn't matter what people think of me which actually help me block out the intrusive thoughts but not for long. I don't get it, people would rather have us here suffering in pain then leaving? They don't even fucking care about all the pain we are going through until we leave. This world is just to cruel.

 

[SoulWhisperer]

I personally agree with part of it. Life does indeed comes with no associated meaning, and I feel like people just assign it to their own, consciously or not. Regardless of meaning or no meaning in the end we all pretty much go through society anyway. Personally, even if my life has any meaning I just want to die, really. I don't care about anythinggggg else.

 

[fallingtopieces]

Because we live and we die, it is meaningless yet at the same time it is everything.
But if the world was more just, more equitable and based in compassion. There would be fewer of us struggling with the meaningless aspect of this finite consciousness. We would spend more time simply enjoying existence, each other, and appreciating our planet.

Has there been a generation where violence hasn't existed? A history of war, occupations, genocides, dehumanization, slavery, colonialism and its plunder and exploitation; both overt and clandestine. Religious conflict that comes down to childlike my dad can beat up your dad, but with devastating consequences. Every god seems to condone violence in their name. Seems to believe women are second class to men. Every religion has been ruled by men. Perhaps the most unifying aspect of all religions is the control of women. Far too much ordinary hate, division, racism, prejudice, misogyny, ableism...

Vampiric capitalism, billionaires with absurd levels of wealth that no govt has had the courage to tax, while conservatives constantly seeking tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. Which leaves less for social services, and outright targeting funding for them. All in exchange for the exploitation of workers, wageslavery, and widespread misery. Advancement and technology was meant to free up our time so we could enjoy life, spend time with our families, have hobbies, enjoy nature. Instead we got things like the 'gig economy' which is nothing more than modern day serfdom, another form of wageslavery. The few again benefit thanks to the toil of the many. A planet on the brink ravaged by capitalism as climate change bears down. Against this backdrop the meaningless of existence is understandably more pronounced than ever.

 

[darkenmydoorstep]

I have no reason to be alive anymore i just want to get it over with. I've also been telling myself well since i'm gonna die it doesn't matter what people think of me which actually help me block out the intrusive thoughts but not for long. I don't get it, people would rather have us here suffering in pain then leaving? They don't even fucking care about all the pain we are going through until we leave. This world is just to cruel.

Agree with the last bit. The sympathies always lie with the grieving relatives rather than the person enduring a cruel existence. Wtf is that all about??? Flipped the script there didn't they? To grant people humane, speedy deaths would be the ultimate in compassion. But no. All about dem relatives. I call bullshit. All about the worker bees, the taxes, the booming Big Pharma industry. That's what.

 

[NonEssential]

I feel kind of like I'm less concerned about death from ctb whenever I remind myself that death is completely inevitable anyway, so it wouldn't matter too much whether I died now or in a few decades.
I'm held back by SI and my empathy towards family members though.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

as far as we're aware, have no conscience to deal with, no morals.

Nearly all animals display varying degrees of consciousness and there are in fact some researchers who believe that some animal species may even possess a sense of morality.


Anyway, I personally like the fact that life comes with no meaning. I've come to find that there's something very freeing about the fact that none of this will truly matter at the end of the day. It doesn't matter if you fail or if others look down on you because one day you'll die and that will be it. It takes a lot of pressure off of your shoulders. Why bother holding myself back if my messing up won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things? I honestly prefer the relief of none of this truly mattering versus the pressure that comes from the belief that everything that happens is all in the name of some sort of grand purpose I must try to live up to.

 

[Silently Dying]

I've been dead since 1989. I just keep walking around. That will change in 5 days.

 

[darkenmydoorstep]

I've been dead since 1989. I just keep walking around. That will change in 5 days.

Half my life (since the age of 25 years) I've wanted out. Think of the people I could have saved who wanted to live if they'd had my healthy organs.

 

[divinemistress36]

Nearly all animals display varying degrees of consciousness and there are in fact some researchers who believe that some animal species may even possess a sense of morality.


Anyway, I personally like the fact that life comes with no meaning. I've come to find that there's something very freeing about the fact that none of this will truly matter at the end of the day. It doesn't matter if you fail or if others look down on you because one day you'll die and that will be it. It takes a lot of pressure off of your shoulders. Why bother holding myself back if my messing up won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things? I honestly prefer the relief of none of this truly mattering versus the pressure that comes from the belief that everything that happens is all in the name of some sort of grand purpose I must try to live up to.

Your wise words bring me peace

 

[_Maya]

whether or not if there is a afterlife, heaven, hell, an empty black void. We only live this life once, so i do whatever makes me feel good, feel happy until i eventually ctb.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I agree, nothing matters. I'm an existential nihilist in the sense that I acknowledge that there is no grand purpose or meaning to our lives. The universe doesn't need martians to exist just in the same way that it doesn't need earthlings to exist. We are infinitely missable and we are not as important as people like to think they are. Fundamentally, we're all just a product of an extremely, extremely rare event that allowed chemistry and biology to do its thing over billions of years to create us. With that said though, for the already existing beings on the planet, I'd say that the suffering that all sentient beings go through absolutely matter and should be eliminated as quickly as possible. I think it'd be illogical to also be a moral nihilist as suffering does matter to those who are alive as we always try to run away from suffering as much as possible.

This is to me why (wild) animals get the better deal. They indulge their instincts, do whatever the fuck they like and as far as we're aware, have no conscience to deal with, no morals.

I have no idea why people are envying wild animals. Looking at what they have to go through makes me glad that I'm a human (though I'd still rather not have been born). I'd rather be in the comfort of my own room than be out there fearing about getting brutally killed by a predator

 

[outofbounds]

What is the point of treating ourselves, caring for ourselves, investing in ourselves when we will lose absolutely all of it in the end no matter what?!

I agree with you. Once someone dies, all of their past experiences become moot, so it is kind of pointless to invest and care for ourselves. But it is also true that noone is exempt from SI, and it is difficult to overcome them, and I prefer to feel better than worse in the meantime. So I continue with the nonsensical ways I can make my existence more enjoyable.

 

[kunikuzushi]

Life without meaning is torture because there's no reason for me to suffer every day for nothing. But if I were to make up a "meaning" for my life, that would be even worse because it will just disappear the day I die! So I'll just continue seeing this meaningless existence for what it is until I die one day soon.

 

[darkenmydoorstep]

I agree, nothing matters. I'm an existential nihilist in the sense that I acknowledge that there is no grand purpose or meaning to our lives. The universe doesn't need martians to exist just in the same way that it doesn't need earthlings to exist. We are infinitely missable and we are not as important as people like to think they are. Fundamentally, we're all just a product of an extremely, extremely rare event that allowed chemistry and biology to do its thing over billions of years to create us. With that said though, for the already existing beings on the planet, I'd say that the suffering that all sentient beings go through absolutely matter and should be eliminated as quickly as possible. I think it'd be illogical to also be a moral nihilist as suffering does matter to those who are alive as we always try to run away from suffering as much as possible.

I have no idea why people are envying wild animals. Looking at what they have to go through makes me glad that I'm a human (though I'd still rather not have been born). I'd rather be in the comfort of my own room than be out there fearing about getting brutally killed by a predator

Human life is brutal, maybe more brutal, just in a different way.

 

[Pluto]

 

[niki wonoto]

I'm from Indonesia (42/M). I can deeply relate with this post. I've had what's perhaps known as "existential depression" for a long time. I think it's much worse than just a mere temporary existential crisis that many people have/had. There is also what's called the "existential OCD", which basically means that I keep asking the "Big Questions" of life, but with no answers. Philosophically speaking, it's rooted in Nihilism.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

The meaning of my life is to have as much fun and good feelings as possible. Even the search for a meaning and the finding that there is none is thrilling. Worst case would be a booring life but we can end it with an exciting dying.