Words like "endurance" and "coping mechanism" are limiting and reductionist. There is this sly tactic to reduce the power of a phenomenon by naming them, I have seen. Whence before fell into that trap as well as bought into schopenhauer1's pessimism which is indeed a cold, dark place.

It is troubling for you right now because you haven't gotten it right, yet. Others have and they have been trying to show you the light at the other end of the tunnel. I don't mean to make this too personal but once one 'get's it right' then it is right. Everything is right. All is right. Things are alright. Success shines forth and justifies life. When you are consumed in your passion, it is enough.

Thanks for the cool article. Nice to be reintroduced to Kierkegaard in this manner.

I'm not sure.

I was always learned wisdom meant 'applied knowledge' or something such there-other.

RIP RICH

So sad we lost this genius

I would say it non-selfish to give another being a chance at rectifying the world.

Musical cymbals & drums

That must be why God is silent.

One is isolated from a vast number events that occur and directly or indirectly influence with our day-to-day lives. Production is simply a whole/totality where we play the role of part(s).

This isolation should not be a problem for modern man if his day-to-day is rich enough.

For my next trick, I will make this post disappear! Wait for it...

Isn't the goal to listen to silence? Why is there no shushing?

What about the collective mind? saving face, hive mind, group think. Don't they count for something? I don't know if I could definitively say if truth was subjective or objective. Is it possible that truth is beyond subjectivity/objectivity.

Lol okay, well how do you conceive of nothing? As a thing or concept?

Perhaps we can speculate about God based on our intuition and perceptions of life and reality. Some of us have had closer encounters with life (and death) than others and can therefore share their spirituality. Where the more we come to accumulate knowledge, the better we can speculate about God.

Would you rather talk about nothing?

Excellent, thrilling, riveting.

I would argue thought about God rivals that of nothingness (and wholeness) and The Great Other. God as beyond concept.

Perhaps you could elaborate on this "most pessimistic people aren't intelligent"? Is it all a hoax? Are personalities masks?

Kurt Vonnegut — 'We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.'

Pessimism is not a falsity but a truism of existential consideration. ? The world is as you perceive of it and nothing more. I gained a new perspective. Open soul open mind. I finally focused on what's inside.

Yes some people are better than others. They think outside themselves and appreciate the experience of others. The betters also apperciate everything revelatory as if it were significant. Hope can only lie in some kind of faith of truth and beauty.

Self-sufficiency sounds nice enough.

I am a drummer. But I've settled and its eating me alive.

Very true... It is fear that keeps us in chains.

Like my drum sticks?

iPods FTW :cool:

what is a question?

I’m sorry you had to experience such pain. Can you possibly elaborate on what it means to say “pain beyond reason”? What can that mean? Would it make sense in a similar fashion to say you have experienced joy beyond reason? Thanks.

DNA is from our nature. Doesn't nurture also construct identity? Surely we have unique perspectives.

What do you think about the idea that music is higher than wisdom and philosophy? — Noble Dust

I think its a bit too dualistic to think about these things as separate. I think philosophy and music converge at their best moments. Beethoven's music expresses his understanding of the world and of life. For the record this isn't the exact quote I was looking for but I thought it was decent enough to post. I really wanted to find the quote I think from Schopenhauer that places music as the highest form of art.

"I despise a world which does not feel that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." (from a musician, and also philosopher? Ludwig van Beethoven) :wink:

By pedestal I mean that it is a justification for all else. It too suffers from all experiences hoped for. Often times experiences that aren't novel end with disappointment (too many of the same thing) and often times experiences are hard to achieve (the right circumstances have to be in play). If it was easy, and well-established, it would be had by all at a much higher rate. This is not the case. Therefore, it is suspect as something that can be achieved more than a fraction of the time. Much of life is stubbornly grinding, mundane, and fraught with anxieties, worries, and "stuff that just needs to be done". Much of the time is spent keeping oneself comfortable, falling into patterns that promote economic welfare (doing stuff at the job and paying bills and such), and keeping others at bay from disrupting one's own comfort. — schopenhauer1

I agree with all of this except for but a few points. But by placing these achievable flow states (which are in my opinion always novel) on a pedestal we balance out the purported asymmetric-structural suffering of existence. Transcendence is one of the answers to the questions of both meaning and justification.