Look, "spirituality" is such a loose term... everyone just defines it however they want. Sure, maybe if someone’s had some wild out-of-body experience and feels like they're floating between this world and whatever comes next, they might make decisions based on that—but honestly, those kinds of experiences? They're pretty questionable at best. Anyway, whether reincarnation is a thing or not, you’re eventually going to end up in that eternal state. Every soul is basically gravitating toward that finality, and let's face it, this life is just a fleeting phase anyway. That's why I find it more likely that once a soul actually feels that state, it’ll just want to stay there forever. And you can't truly get there while you're stuck in a body... no matter how much you think you aren't tethered to it, you always are.
I can even make the comparison because I’m coming at this from the exact same angle—just looking at life where people are terrified of dying, yet they can't exactly "return to life" since they're already stuck in it... if that makes sense. That's really all there is to it. They eventually just make a quiet, unspoken decision to avoid death altogether, but you can be damn sure nobody's making a comeback from the grave back into the living...
@rapidrider3 I guess it all depends on how you view life and whatever comes next... personally, I’m not really buying into that whole "good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell" thing. And honestly, I don't think someone doing shady stuff is necessarily having the time of their lives just because they think there won't be any consequences later...
@Michael Moore3 How is that even contradictory? Look, we aren't dead yet, so we can't exactly decide whether or not to come back to this life—there's no vote on returning. Death and rebirth are basically the biggest shifts a human being ever goes through. People just freak out when things change on that scale...
Michael Moore3 said:I suspect most of you fail to realize that you’re actually answering the question of whether you’d return on a daily basis, which is precisely why you find yourselves here. It strikes me, much like what Dragan mentioned, that this has been your default mode for a lifetime...
What I was really trying to nudge you toward is this: are you even aware that your answer to that remains stubbornly, relentlessly positive?
btw, that's not even really true. Nobody's asking us to move back because we haven't actually gone anywhere... and we aren't leaving because people just hate change. They're terrified of it. And let's be real, this is probably the biggest shake-up anyone could ever imagine.
I honestly feel like when you actually commit to some kind of talent—you know, finding that one thing where you can pour all your effort and ambition without feeling like you're wasting your life—it changes everything... it’s like one of those rare wins in this chaotic world. Your confidence starts climbing, you finally start grasping at some kind of purpose, and you actually learn how to be okay just being alone with your own goals and your own head. It’s honestly pretty incredible...
To just feels like when Americans plant their flag on the moon, but with this whole vibe of "this is our territory now, we proved it with the sword and we’ll defend it with the sword if anyone tries anything"... sort of stylized, like some weird medieval fever dream...
Serotonin... Honestly, I’ve woken up feeling like the absolute weight of the world was crushing me, and then the very next day, I’m floating on air—all under the exact same circumstances. One day, nothing on this planet can pull a smile out of me, and the next, I’m just drifting along, feeling some weirdly blissful connection to a breeze on my face or even just staring at those heavy, gray clouds rolling in over the skyline... It really all comes down to where you are in your cycle. Being a woman is just... it's a lot. The only other thing that actually touches my mood is the sun. When I'm already in a good headspace, it’s easy to keep me happy, but when I’m spiraling? Good luck. That’s why, if you ask me, biology and brain chemistry are the only real explanations worth talking about here.
AD is actually solid because it helps you weather those storms that might otherwise absolutely wreck your mental state—if you get on AD early enough, you might just avoid ending up in a psychiatric ward in some corner of the US. Another perk of AD is that it gives you a lift... sure, it’s temporary and artificial, but it doesn't boost you beyond what you deserve; it just shows you how good you *could* feel. It kind of proves there isn't some objective reason why you can't be doing great and finally getting your life together, aside from that damn depression... Maybe you'll find a bit more motivation or strength to fight the depression... And maybe you can actually summon some of that drive back up in your brain once you eventually taper off the AD.
That being said, I really think decent psychotherapy is the make-or-break factor here. Using AD alongside good therapy can be incredibly helpful, but if your therapist is garbage, the whole thing can go south fast.
As for that whole "you should handle everything on your own" crowd... well, it really depends on how you view mental illness. If it's just a temporary dip in serotonin levels caused by whatever life throws at you, then it's basically like a migraine—you don't just sit there waiting to "overcome" a migraine on your own, you take an Advil... Or if it's like high blood pressure; plenty of people in this country spend half their lives on meds for hypertension, so why shouldn't someone take something for low serotonin? It's the same logic, I guess... Though, yeah, it's dangerous too—you either end up with a stroke, start hallucinating, or decide to jump out a window... We can't run from the fact that our psyche is just as vulnerable as any other part of the body... You try to toughen yourself up, physically and mentally, as much as possible, but the reality is that everyone hits a wall. You have to accept those limits. Sometimes it feels like my entire worldview shifts every sixty minutes...
lonegardener said:I’m not talking about the pills you see on the shelves today.
Let’s talk about those hypothetical "super-tablets" from the future—the kind that could supposedly keep you feeling amazing no matter what life throws your way.
Think about it this way: there won't be any need to take action. If you're only acting because you want to chase that feeling of happiness or satisfaction, then why bother? If you already feel happy and fulfilled right now—without doing a single thing—then the drive to act just disappears. 😬
The only thing you’ll actually have to do is swallow a pill. 😈)
But nah, that's just theory... though, theoretically speaking, if there were some little pill or powder that could send you into an orgasmic trance, I'd probably take it once in a while—provided it wasn't toxic and didn't turn into an addiction, obviously... but I've got this nagging feeling that in practice—or maybe even in theory—those two requirements might actually contradict each other. 🤷
Anyway, I'd probably just settle for some high-grade, non-lethal chocolate...
Let’s play a little thought experiment. Imagine there were these pills—they don't exist yet, obviously—that you could take regularly with zero side effects. They would simply make you feel happy and content, regardless of your circumstances.
Would you take them? And if not, what's the reason?
Like some kind of chocolate or heroin that doesn't wreck you? I'm in!
I personally have huge hang-ups about taking antidepressants and all that stuff... I know people who've been on them, and honestly, it didn't really "fix" anyone's problems—it just helped them white-knuckle through a rough patch. I guess that's the whole point, though... And as for actually solving your problems, I don't think those things can help with that. Especially if you're mentally fragile—you're always going to be somewhat unstable, you just have to be extra careful how you handle it. 😢 From what I've seen, when people aren't in a massive depression and they start taking that stuff, they end up acting hyperactive and weirdly upbeat... I haven't heard much about it helping with the really severe cases...
I guess I’m more stuck on finding some kind of actual, objective way to measure self-worth... I feel like I’m constantly overestimating things, honestly. It feels way too easy to just manufacture this external image of yourself—whether you're playing the hero or the victim—and then when you realize you've been consciously crafting that persona every single day, you lose track of what the "real" you even looks like. Basically, I end up selling myself short, and that's where the real mess is.
As for that whole thing about parents tearing you down... man, that happens way more often than people want to admit. In my book, it’s usually just a reflection of how they feel about themselves. Your failure becomes their failure, plain and simple. Since they can't handle feeling like losers, they try to force you to fix it for them—like you're some kind of lifeline meant to make up for their own shortcomings—but the truth is, projecting their baggage onto you doesn't actually solve anything for them. It just leaves them stuck in this endless loop of being unsatisfied. Once you grow up, you really have to draw that line in the sand and realize their lack of confidence is their own cross to bear, not yours. Easier said than done, though... definitely easier said than done.
Look, there’s really no point in dragging that stuff out into the open. What someone chooses to spend their money on is their own damn business. Honestly, most of those high-society types—you know the kind—probably don't even realize people know they use certain... substances. Or maybe they do, but only within their own little bubble of equally questionable characters, so it just feels normal to them. It's all just part of the club, I guess. Back here in the States, though, if that kind of thing ever actually hits the headlines, people still treat it like some massive, unforgivable scandal.
I’d say you can't really pick one or the other... but if we're being honest, maybe you can nudge the direction of who you end up loving. I mean, love isn't just some lightning bolt that hits you out of nowhere in a single second, right? It takes time. So, you basically have to give yourself the space—the actual permission—to let those feelings grow. That's pretty much the only kind of control we actually have over the whole mess.
I mean, how would we even stop being unique? It’s not like they’d be some different species of people... I mean, they’d be living beings, sure, but we’ve got plenty of those walking around right now. Honestly, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that a human could ever look at some other creature's existence and decide that's enough reason to step out of their own damn center. I don't think it's just not in our DNA. Maybe—and this is a big maybe—if we ran into some divine entity, something we're actually a part of, something higher than us... But aliens? On their own, compared to us, they'd just be this totally separate, disconnected group. And those consequences you're asking about... man, it's almost impossible to gauge because there are infinite ways that kind of intelligence could show up. Our reaction is going to depend entirely on *how* they manifest... For me, just speaking generally, all I can really see is this massive sense of being threatened, mixed with a desperate, obsessive curiosity about their biology and how their civilization works...
Mark Torres14 said:Let’s say humanity runs into an alien intelligence in the near future—something that evolved completely separately from us. That reality would absolutely wreck the scientific establishment. We'd be forced to tear up almost everything we think we know and rebuild our entire worldview from scratch. The real question is: in this hypothetical scenario, which philosophical stances, theories, and methods become totally obsolete? For instance, the idea that "man is the measure of all things" would become just as useless as claiming the Earth is a flat disc.
I don't know, man... why do you think that? To me, it feels like they'd just be another species out there—not human, obviously—but something we might eventually find a way to coexist with or establish some kind of organized relationship with... maybe...
And Persen? Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for them—they don't really do much to take the edge off when my anxiety starts spiking—but I ended up trying them once by pure accident right before bed. And man... I have to admit, I went out like a light. Woke up feeling a little groggy the next morning, too. It caught me off guard, but it’s happened a few times since then where they actually worked... just taking 3 or 4 before hitting the hay. Probably wouldn't touch a severe case, but hey, maybe not everyone needs to jump straight to the heavy-duty stuff immediately.