it's really been kind of startling to see people who've been subscribed to me for *years* being like "wtf dude ofc childbirth is evil no idea you felt this way" to the antinatalism video. did I really give off an "anti all life" vibe in my videos??
@lackingsaint i think a lot of people struggle to see life as possibility. instead they see the patterns and assume them unbeatable, unchangeable
@exiliaex @lackingsaint Often I feel like happiness and hope is a delusion, and should be dispelled so one can make decisions with accurate data. This is probably exacerbated by the fact that I’m usually only happy while intoxicated or genuinely experiencing psychotic delusions. Because of this, the idea behind this sentiment is understandable to me; it’s not evil to want to minimize unnecessary suffering or help people make clear-eyed decisions. Isn’t that the same as what one does when trying to alleviate someone’s depression?
@exiliaex @lackingsaint I agree with this but I don’t even necessarily accept that we need to struggle for change vs accept emptiness I think it’s important to try to find happiness worth living for in the world as it exists for you
@destroy @exiliaex this is a complex topic, but I just want to comment based on things I've said elsewhere in the thread that I don't think telling someone their life is meaningless and their joy is a delusion minimizes harm/alleviates depression at all. I would point to acting this way as exactly the problem with thinking of human emotions as something to be 'dispelled' for 'sober' thought
@destroy @lackingsaint i don't know why happiness/hope and accuracy/honesty/truth are at odds here.
i think it's important to be honest, truthful, realistic; to not eschew evidence in favor of naivety. knowing and accepting failures as a possibility is part of being honest with ourselves. but, if we refuse hope and happiness itself, how can we struggle for anything beyond us?
i don't think it'd be "minimizing unnecessary suffering" to tell someone in the lowest lows of their depression that "actually you're totally right, life is worthless, nothing has any meaning, everything is empty, no one loves you, love is just a chemical reaction in the brain" *even* if every single one of those things is "true" to some extent, from a certain point of view.
i think, it'd actually be really harmful to tell someone those things. it wouldn't alleviate their depression, because the framing itself is devoid of hope, devoid of the possibility of change, devoid of the faintest light of happiness, trust, love, that gives meaning to the relationships in our lives, and thus, to our lives.
and, while i can sympathize with the sentiment (that we should avoid unnecessary suffering) i think it's a destructively nihilistic outlook, that takes a hopeless POV as truth because it's easier to accept emptiness than struggle for change.