What's your view of the world around you?

[XMisery666]

I just want to know how people stand on philosophy, world issues, etc.

Personally, I see the world as being a cold, dark place and we just have to make the best of life before we die...or at least try...or kill ourselves, whatever you choose.

[Mogget]

The philosophical worldview I'm closest to existentialism/absurdism. Essentially, it's the belief that existence has no intrinsic meaning, "Existence precedes essence," in the words of Sartre. Only after something exists can it begin to have meaning (essence). Meaning is something we imbibe into life by staring ultimate meaninglessness in the face and saying, "Fuck you."

The main reason I'm not a true existentialist is that existentialists generally believe in libertarian free will and I don't. At all. I find the concept incoherent, actually.

[Rooni321]

Haha Doctor Faustus needs to reply to this!

[FleetFish]

I keep writing and erasing stuff over and over.

Basically, I view the world as flawed and imperfect. It does not want to be saved. But we should still always do good and try to not cause harm, whenever we can.

This may sound naive/simplistic, but it's really what a lot of my views come down to.

The more specific the arguments get, the more fluid and elaborate my views become.

There are no great answers and no great absolutes. The world is too complex to succinctly define. But for some reason we're never going to be happy with this non-answer. :P

[IanGallagher]

The world is a crazy whirlwind of rinse and repeat.

1) People fear what they do not understand. The person who's feared changes with time. Once a minority becomes free, they ostracize another part of their prior minority. For example, I've heard it's harder being a black guy who likes guys than a white guy. Also it's mostly the older gay guys who lived during the fight for gay rights who become biphobic. That feared minority - they create rules and try to submit forms of registration or specialized "camps." Most minorities are sent to segregated places. Wealth allows you to move on. The way of enforcing these minority beliefs is through re-inforcing stereotypical images.

2) The grass is always greener on the other side. Poor people and lower middle class are in uproar over the rich having a lot of money and material goods. Their children come to resent the rich and sometimes show it. While the children of rich parents, while still pre-destined, continue their status quo or rise higher, but hate the status they were given and wish for freedom. I've noticed this from a poor friend who sometimes complains about how much money I have. While a rich friend and I joke about how we hate our silver spoons but can't live without them.

3) Freedom died a long time ago, we get things to distract us. While there may have been some beneficial things to come our way. There are increasing ways for the government to keep a close watch over us. The President is more of a figure-head.

4) Contacts are key, if you don't have contacts - you're screwed. You need experience to get a job, but the only way you can get a job is if you have experience or know someone. I'm connected to a top film studio via an internship, luckily I made those connections stable and I can get in at some point. There may be someone more talented than me out there, but the fact that I have the contact means that I will rise above. Comically, for a lot, this also equates guilt thus a need/urge to contribute to charities.

5) People like to think they're invincible. Most people say something will never happen to them, but a lot of the time something eventually does. Ex: Addictions.

6) History is screwed. The victor writes the history books. One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. It's all biased, don't fool yourself otherwise.

7) People are hypocrites, especially parents to their children. A pot headed young man who complains about his nagging sister may later become a parent who yells at his young son for doing exactly what he did. Hippies of yesteryear are the squares of today.

8) You can kill an adult, but if you kill a child or animal you are labeled a monster. Children and animals people automatically love because they represent the innocence we all lost and spend our lifetimes trying to get back. If an adult is killed, the majority shrug it off.

9) When you are young you want to constantly grow up and escape school. When you become old you desire to become young again and for your good ol' days at school, while forgetting the negative aspects making those years of hell in high school seem like paradise.

10) We have all done things we regret, bad things we can't take back, while expecting someone else in our lives to be perfect. People sometimes don't know if they're doing bad, they only know they're bad after society at large judges them for doing so. Controversial - the bible both teaches children to stone old men to death and to be kind to your neighbors.

And the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round. All through time.

---------- Post added 13th Dec 2011 at 04:07 PM ----------

Also to younger people, do not fear - life is not always a deep dark pit of agonies and hell. That's adolescent thinking, no offense, it just - things that were once the end of the world you learn to shrug them off with time. Thus, it does get easier. That said, it's easy to see how some can come to view the world as a cosmic joke because it is on a loop.

Personally, I'm a one man crusade to save it. But, I'm an orphan raised on comic books where orphans were given that responsibility lol. We all become some kind of archetype.

[Rinamir Mortem]

The world around us is little more than a concept drawn up by Humanity's endless cycle and need to find the ultimate meaning of everything. I have found there is no meaning, no absolute truth or formula that can result in an epiphany of knowing that will rain upon us like thousands of glass shards.

The world is random. It always has been. The reason why that lion kills that gazelle is not down to divine wisdom, fate, or any universal logarithm that determined that gazelle would die that day at the paws of that lion. No. It was chance. Chance that the lion was faster. Chance that the lion was able to get close enough to the gazelle. Chance that the lion did not trip or fall. Chance that the gazelle did not have wings. Chance that the gazelle was not at the top of the food chain.

The world is nothing more than what we make of it hence the fact you will no doubt receive a good deal of explanations on what is the world.

The world, being just a concept, is therefore malleable and pliable to the demands of the Human mind. That is why Schizophrenics and other people with mental disorders can perceive a world that is by far different to our own and as such, one can manipulate your world and change it for the better should you find yourself lower than a snake's belly.

In essence and the interests of nutshell logic, you are the world. Nothing more.

[needshelp]

happy that you made this thread because there's a lot on my mind about this. so much shit to say about this but anyways..

looking back at dealing with people in general, looking at how the world works, myself and etc, the world is a fucked up place. a VERY fucked up place. you can find 100 things wrong with the world, things that can piss you off, find things that will kill you or pretty much shorten your life span, and very few things that are right with the world that will help you in the long run. i think the sad thing about it all is that speaking for this country, everything that is supposed to be right for you such as books on important things that will help you out towards life, basically saving your money and not being materialistic, basically helping others and yourself is frowned upon. the opposite of these things are praised and celebrated. even your own health, it's very expensive to take care of yourself. they pretty much put a price tag on your life and your well being such as a gym membership running for 40 dollars a month yet turn around and have all the cigarettes, alcohol, all the junk foods which are all outthere and give it to you for 5 dollars. with that said, people have a choice in doing what they want but most people chose to mess with all the poison outthere because it's easy and cheap. it's hard to take care of yourself especially if you do not have the $$$$$ to do so. i myself am a part of that population and am ignorant to an extent sadly. i'm trying to wisen up but at the same time, it's kind of hard to live a good life because i myseld don't have the patience to go to long haul. i tend to get bored easily where i feel the need to be entertained and stimulated.

it also makes me surprised how people literally care about a lot of bullshit too like kim kardashian and etc and how the government uses this to be slick doing whatever it feels like doing, knowing that the public in general is ignorant. in other words, the government pretty much doing whatever it wants to do right under our noses and being that majority of this country is apathetic towards the workings of our government, the government gets away with what could be murder. sometimes, the government does it right in front of our faces and people go along with it not realizing what's REALLY going on.

and another thing too. i think that life is what you make of. everything is here. a lot of people tend to focus on a lot of things in life that is not that important. you do not need to fall in love with somebody or to be in a relationship or to have sex to know what love is. with that said, a lot of people don't know how to love themselves. loving yourself is not masturbating or acting cocky or arrogant where you tell yourself "you're the best person in the world". if you love yourself, you pretty much are secure with who you are and can live with it. you accept the things you can and cannot change about yourself regardless of what the next person thinks. there's more things to say this though.

another thing too. it doesn't matter how smart you are, how much college degrees you have, who you know, what you know, and etc. if you don't have any real money to your name, you are powerless.

[seeksanctuary]

My views are some ethical version of "whatever floats your boat".

I honestly don't care what people do, to who or what, as long as it is ethically neutral or ethically acceptable. Want to ride a pink tractor through the 'burbs of Detroit? Whatever. Want to marry three guys at the same time? Whatever. Kissing cousins? Whatever. Wanna marry your horse? Whatever. Want to legally change your name to Duff and start a beer company? Whatever. As long as you can make a good argument for it, using some ethical approach, fine by me.

To me, the world just is. Whatever it is, is what people make of it; for some that means it's crap, for some that means it's awesome. Personally, I think it's awesome. Are there sad, cruel, horrible parts? Yes. But the world is beautiful, life is beautiful, and giving up on it because some people are assholes... that's a shame. Understandable but sad, nonetheless.

Sooo... That's about my philosophy. The world's a floating rock in space, and we're floating in space on it; do whatever the hell you want.

[Z3ni]

Scarred yet beautiful, and full of secrets.

[breakingboxes]

Flawed, but maybe I can make my corner a little better...

[J Snow]

I believe in some sort of God and afterlife. I likewise believe that the best way to live one's life is to humble themselves by admitting they are ignorant as to the mysteries of the universe, and instead dedicate themselves to making this life better for others. How anyone views "God" does not determine how good of a person you are.

One philosophy I've been toying with is that we ourselves are all a part of "god." Our "souls" are in essence the part of ourselves that was taken from God. So to some extent we are all part of the same greater being. After we die we stay here until we learn to let our past lives and even our identities go. Then we go on to rejoin the other souls in sharing ourselves with "god," until we are again taken to begin a new life.

I have no evidence to believe this, I just think its a cool idea. Either way, I believe when we die, all the suffering and everything in this world will make sense to us when we die. We will understand things that can't make sense to humans.

[Kidd]

This pretty much sums up my entire 'philosophy' on life.

Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, "So what."
"My mother didn't love me." So what.
"My husband won't ball me. So what.
"I'm a success but I'm still alone." So what.
I don't know how I made it through all the years before I learned how to do that trick. It took a long time for me to learn it, but once you do, you never forget.

*Andy Warhol

I'm pretty nihilistic, honestly. I'm always living under the assumption that people are stupid, and if it feels good you should probably do it. Its served me fabulously so far. I could probably be described as a secular humanist too...

[Rinto]

I feel like I'm living a scientific-slash-fantasy belief of the world that is slightly self-centered.

A person lives on his world where everybody else and anything else around him are just built for his sake to perform his "living functions".

Everything you do triggers the butterfly effect that more or less defines what will happen to you someday.

Problems are just illusions that delude your way of fixing your "living functions"
I think i watch too much anime haha

[FleetFish]

I also don't believe in 'fate' or 'reasons.' Stuff just happens.

Some find this frustrating to imagine, but it actually has really helped me come to terms with a lot of things. When you quit trying to find meaning in everything, sometimes it all suddenly makes more sense.

[malachite]

People are:
Petty
Selfish
Cowardly
and have a hive mentality

[GoinStag]

It's run by politics and religion. Basically a big game of "follow the leader" where everybody likes to complain about "the other side", but won't do anything to change it.

[MyDecember]

It's flat but if i zoom out on Google its round. Thats pretty much it.

[XMisery666]

Wow....

[Hexagon]

That it got abused as a child and now wants to punish everyone else.

In short, I will list my problems with the world (in no particular order):

1. The vast majority of people with power abuse it and care only for themselves. Western democracy appears to be failing, partially for this reason.
2. There are millions of people starving/dying of easily curable diseases, and the selfishness of the rich and fortunate prevents these people from living.
3. There are too many people and the population is growing too fast, and no one stops to think that this is hurting the people mentioned in point two, and that it will also hurt the earth, and our decendants.
4. People who corrupt their (usually) good (if incorrect) religion by using it to justify hate and descrimination, be it against race, sex, sexuality or gender or other religion.
5. Unintelligent/uneducated people who nonetheless think that they know enough about a certain type of people to hate them.
6. Theocracies
7. Theocracies who pretend to be secular democracies.
8. Terrorism, especially religious terrorism.
9. People who think that just because they are in the military, or just because they are following orders, they have the right to kill indiscriminantly or carelessly.
10. War, unless its actually helping innocent people, rather than just about any of the following subjects: religion, oil, land, the fact that your dad had unfinished business in the the last war, hate for a specific type of (peaceful) people.
11. The fact that all of the US's more recent wars have been against people they but in power, such as the Teliban and Saddam Hussein.
12. The gap between rich and poor
13. People who hate communism just because they won't be above everyone else.
14. Monarchies. There is no divine right to power or money or respect, and any power, even symobolic power, should be elected and not inherited.
15. The obsession with celebrities' private lives.
16. Polititians who aren't accountable for the lies they've told.
17. The fact that not enough people believe in global warming to actually prevent it.
18. Politics. Leadership of a country or state should be about what is good for it and what the people want, not about left or right or what your boss says.
19. Politicians who act in the interest of placating their parties instead of the interest of the country and world. (yes i am referring to the EU treaty.)
20. People who think they have the right to vote on my right to marry.
21. The fact that I and other transpeople have to wait for treatment until we are 18, although I have been sure of my gender since I was 8, and aware of it long before that.
22. The fact that most transpeople are denied free treatment under the supposition that surgery is elective in this case. While it may be true that we can decide whether to undergo treatment or not, it is comparable to declining cancer treatment or back surgery. Yes, we may decline, but we may as well be dead (and sometimes are)

P.S. If anyone has bothered to read this, and is offended by any of the content, I really don't care.