Humans are not all bad

[BadgerJelly]

Here is an example of how we may wish to blame others for doing better than us in life, but really they are likely working damn hard under horrible circumstances we're utterly unaware of.

Be thankful that our world is functioning, and has functioned for as long as it has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1et_q81J8Yk

Don't blame stupidity or incompetence unless it is your own, then get up and do something that makes you feel "useful."

[wolfhnd]

You really like that guy don't you. How did we get to a place where common sense seems like a revelation?

[BadgerJelly]

I really like Jung, Husserl and Nietzsche. They are dead though.

I hope more people will begin to appreciate Jung through Peterson. He is certainly a needed voice at the moment. Obviously I am attracted to people with the same interests as me.

Common sense is so obvious we tend to ignore it. We recognize it, but only when it is pointed out.

I've only read two people who really "spoke" to me. Jung (completely) and Husserl (in part.) Nietzsche too, but he is much harder and deep than I first realized.

Other than that the only person alive I would call a "genius" is Bjork. It's easier to idolize the dead because you cannot so readily see their faults.

[wolfhnd]

In the talk between Stephen Fry and Steven Pinker Nietzsche came up. My take was that Pinker is too much of a Pollyanna to appreciate Nietzsche.

[zetreque]

What about greed or laziness?

I'd also ask about lack of awareness or selfishness, but on could argue that is simple obliviousness or mental illness which is fine.

[BadgerJelly]

What about greed or laziness?

I'd also ask about lack of awareness or selfishness, but on could argue that is simple obliviousness or mental illness which is fine.

I think the point of the nice story is that everyone can act with nobility in life and intellect, or lifes inevitable hardships are no excuse to throw in towel, become enraged with life (even though there are often many reasons to do so at one time or another) when even those in horrendous positions in life - much worse than our own - are able to try and be useful to others.

People really struggle in life not because they are living under hard circumstances, but because they have either decided there is no meaning or refuse to look for meaning. If you have meaning you can overcome anything.

"He who has a why can bear almost any how." - Nietzsche

It makes me think of The Charge of the Light Brigade" too. Even though we now know that they were given the wrong order it doesn't take away from the fact that they in thw face of inevitable death moved forward and someone lived.

Then we can look at "Dulce et Decorum est" and many ask ourselves what bravery happened in those trenches beside such horror.

[zetreque]

I completely agree with your point about people struggling and not knowing other peoples circumstances for the majority. Where I have problem with this thread is the generalization of all humans. There are some clear exceptions from that generalization. That's why I bring up greed.

Also you could get into this analogy.

[BadgerJelly]

It's a funny analogy, no more.

Generalization? We're all human, and we're all capable of doing better. We're not all killing each other, and we're not down at the supermarket fighting over loaves of bread or firewood.

We live in a world of incredible safety and comfort, of incredible freedom and opportunity. It is most certainly a delicate balance so I see no need to start viewing ourselves as "viruses" (I'd find that inhumane if I didn't find it so entertaining and amusing.)

[zetreque]

I see no need to start viewing ourselves as "viruses"

Where I live, I see it clearly. I was born into a tiny healthy community abundant with nature. I now am finding myself crammed into a continually being polluted metropolis where people are continually trying to escape cities and bringing the very problems they are trying to escape with them.

[BadgerJelly]

The cure for pessimism is exploration.

Viruses are viruses, and humans are humans. It makes just as much sense to compare humans to any object at hand.

Movies are also movies. They are not reality only a reflection of some unfulfilled fantasy/idea.

[zetreque]

It's hard not to see the bad when you have spent time with natives first hand where their homelands are being pillaged and grew up where your being pressured out of your own home.

The irony is that many of the white settlers of the USA are now complaining about immigrants taking their jobs, their resources, their freedoms and crowding them out.

Meanwhile the population keeps growing and few take notice to the irony or bigger picture.

[BadgerJelly]

I didn't say ignore the bad. It is easy to see the bad, what goes unnoticed is the simple humane actions taken by people everyday. The care and concern people have.

Pessimism for pessimisms sake doesn't seem much use to me. As a contrast and drive toward what could be it serves a ready and vital purpose.

You either let death consume you fully and slowly, or become renewed - what can I say, I'm Jungian in this sense. You can take the pain and the suffering of life as a personal attack or you can take it as a means of renewal and painful growth. One is easier short term, but deeply self-destructive, the other is deeply painful immediately yet necessary for human flourishing.

Exploration is the only reasonable and emotionally worthy answer I have found to life's conundrum.