It is hope that is the opiate of the masses — schopenhauer1
It is hope that is the opiate of the masses. — schopenhauer1
Which is to say, only suckers put hope in the future. — T Clark
It is hope that is the opiate of the masses. — schopenhauer1
Hope is expectation. Expectations can be realistic or not. If the latter, it leads to a downward spiral...into pain, suffering and despair. If it is the former then you're in sync with the truth - reality - and the cycle is merry go round. What do you think? — TheMadFool
It is hope that is the opiate of the masses. — schopenhauer1
The transcendental (i.e. big picture) view of the absurdity of the instrumental affair of existence is lost as we focus on a particular goal/set of goals that we think is the goal.. We think this future state of goal-attainment will lead to something greater than the present. Hope lets us get caught up in the narrow focus of the pursuit of the goal. But then, if we get the goal, another takes its place. The instrumental nature of things comes back into view as we contend with restlessness. Then, we narrow our focus (yet again) to pursue (yet again) what is hoped to be a greater state than the present. The cycle continues. — schopenhauer1
It is despair is the opium of the pessimist. Isn't this just as fair? — t0m
But a certain kind of lifestyle is so engrossing that one doesn't reflect on this futility much. One swings from object to object, becoming more complex and skilled at pursuit. I don't see how the "ultimate futility" makes life more or less valuable in itself. We could just as easily be grateful that the wicked human heart is insatiable. In Brave New World, they chew aphrodisiac chewing gum. Why? Because lots of sex is available in the world of Find The Zipper. So appetite is desirable. Indeed, lust and hunger are even enjoyable when mixed with the pleasure of anticipation. — t0m
This is a very comforting view of hopelessness. The comfort of this view actually creates it's own sense of hope. — Noble Dust
Is this a response to me? If so, just your ideas. You seem to find hope in hopelessness. — Noble Dust
One is trapped in the narrow confines of each opium den of the new hopeful pursuit. — schopenhauer1
It is just another and another and another. Whether you use terms like grateful for the wicked insatiable human heart, doesn't negate the situation any more than "challenges need to be overcome to make life better" does. If you are alive, human, and self-reflecting, this is your situation. Slap on as many terms as you'd like to make spin it a certain way, but it is just one damn goal after the other, and the hope that a future state will be better. Otherwise, the situation would be too stark to fully manage. — schopenhauer1
So what do you find hope in? Since you're still here. — Noble Dust
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. — Bitter Crank
You assume I have a way out of it or something. — schopenhauer1
I am just saying that this is how we operate. We can see the situation, but despite it, hope is what drives us through what otherwise would be unbearable instrumentality. — schopenhauer1
But "trapped" implies an unpleasant situation. I don't think your description is incorrect. I just think you are adding a value judgment to an otherwise accurate description. — t0m
I agree with what you imply, that we "slap on terms" in order to cope with reality. But I radicalize this theory. Even the grim "truth" of futility can function as an erotic object or power play. Pessimism is sexy.
Occasionally I feel world-weary. Occasionally (especially if I get sick), I get disgusted with life. So these modes appear, and it's easy to abstract assent to my death in such modes. But for the most part the game is too absorbing. I have projects to bring to fruition. We can call the projects an illusion or the sense of futility of illusion. We'd just be privileging one mode over the other. — t0m
That's an interesting idea; do you think driving through that has a telos? Or any kind of meaning you'd like to assign it?
Also, I noticed your edit about paralyzing depression. I have it, and am currently wrestling it. I'm responding here, emotionally, because I'm with you, not because I think your ideas are inherently wrong. — Noble Dust
So you are just reiterating what I said. Hope moves us along through the instrumental nature of reality. Sometimes you see it for what it is, but probably not very long. You get swept in some other hope, perhaps some Nietzschean notion of the erotic object or power play. As you indicate, the premise stands, and you are simply supplying some good examples in your own hopefulness in Nietzchean (or whatever you want to call it) philosophy. — schopenhauer1
Restlessness churning. — schopenhauer1
Yes, I agree with the basic structure. But "seeing it for what it is" is also part of the structure. This vision of instrumentality is itself instrumentality. It is itself wishful thinking, even if it hurts, perhaps especially because it hurts. I don't know about you, but I was raised beneath a crucified God. So these dark visions remind me of the self-crucifixion of the spirit. Nietzsche is apt. This is festival of cruelty. Society can't do much to stop us from self-cruelty. It's erotic. — t0m
Assuming that this is the THE TERRIBLE TRUTH, where does that put us? Or you in particular? You are the one who sees the face of God, and it is death to look upon the face of God. It may hurt. You may be terribly unhappy. But such suffering is ennobled by possession of this Truth, God's (or Reality's) actual, terrible face.
I'm not saying that this isn't the truth, but it's just a truth among others. If we are as humans fundamentally the desire for recognition or status (Kojeve's notion), then there's just more than one strategy. And to me this "status lust" is prior to instrumentality, or includes it. The theory of instrumentality is itself an instrument for status. That's my theory. But that theory too is a questionable instrument of status, which my anti-faith bids me to not completely identify with. — t0m
It's your business, but maybe your lifestyle isn't what it should be. My physical/economic lifestyle changed while my "metaphysics" stayed the same and I became much happier. The little details add up to making the endless cycle worth repeating -- at least for now, while I'm young-middle-aged. — t0m
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