Going to start a planned February regimen a day early. The nervous energy from our deeply troubled world is difficult to manage. It's not just the awfulness in the news; it's the relentless reminders of immaturity in the face of it all, from so many.
I thought it was bad enough dealing with a tankie in the family post-Ukraine invasion, but whew. The number of people *so eager* to leap further into destruction is tough. I get that walking the knife's edge is, too--but it's better than giving in.
@MLClark I mean, there's a surefire way to quell the nerves... it's not necessarily better, though.
That is to adopt a cynical, fatalistic outlook: everyone ultimately dies in the end regardless; the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics ensures that's the only possible outcome, no matter what we do.
All life has always lived on borrowed time; even the universe itself has an expiration date. Odds are we never would've made it anywhere near that far anyway. So what if the deadline accelerates? *shrugs*
@MLClark It's easier watching the world go to shit if one accepts the inherent meaninglessness / pointlessness of life and inevitability of universal decay.
Removes the stakes - and if none of it really matters, there's really no sense fretting about it.
Fighting the sense of meaninglessness and futility is hard; ironically it's easier to be happy - or at least some semblance of it - if one just... doesn't.
As an existential humanist, I have zero concerns about being dust myself. When you grow up fully aware that this life is it, one brief moment of bearing witness to the cosmos, there's no anxiety about the deeptime meaninglessness of all struggle.
But while I'm here, the fear and pain and struggle of those around me - including my nephews, and their whole generation - matters very much. Trying to make the journey to dust easier for fellow humans is a worthwhile use of time alive.
@MLClark Fair enough.
For me... I care most when there is something I can do about it, provided there's nothing overriding my natural sympathy (many things can do this, one example is if they repeatedly ignored my warnings not to do something, did it anyway, then expected sympathy afterwards).
Otherwise, my view is often exemplified by the statement "life is cheap, suffering is a universal constant, the world's always been a hellhole, & sometimes horrible things are unavoidable or necessary".
Ah, essentialism.
For me, there's little "natural" about sympathy. We're a group species, very selfish. Tribalist concern is more "natural", and lately our tribes have grown maybe to nationalist scopes, but rarely further.
Expanding a sense of care to proactive humanism isn't "natural"; it means working against a lot of biology that inclines us to abuse, & creating cultures that temper the worst in individuals.
But it's a constant push-pull with tribalists, and always will be.
@IrelandTorin
Put another way... it's living with full knowledge that far too many of us would have shown up with snacks to watch a public hanging in the past, or easily been foot soldiers and hearth-keepers for fascism... and still doing what we can to change the social structures and political cultures that make it so easy for some to lean into their worst natures.
Not forever. Not because we'll change human nature by setting out guard rails. Just because it might ease cruelty in our time.