To preface this, I'm not suicidal, but I'm feeling really depressed right now.
I've been at college taking summer classes, and all the time I've had alone has made me start to think about what the point of all this is. I'm a Buddhist, and I'd like to believe fully in reincarnation, but I'm stuck. On one hand, if we aren't reincarnated, we just cease to exist, which is pretty depressing, and makes this whole life thing kind of pointless. On the other hand, if we are reincarnated, we can't escape this world. There will never be anything more interesting than what there is now. It's not like I'll be reincarnated and all of a sudden the world will be full of magical dragons or something. It's just becoming more technological. More of the same. My own life seems pointless. I can be just a drone like the billions of other people here, not amounting to much, maybe I'll have kids, put my name on something, but that's it. Then you die. Either that, or I can be world famous for something, and then die. Either way, what's the point in all the in-between stuff?
I've watched a lot of TV shows and movies where the creators imagine some fantastical world, where all kinds of interesting adventures happen. But here, I know that things like that will never happen. Everything here will just be about "progress". I feel like I'm not even the protagonist of my own story, I'm just a background character, barely a speaking role. Somebody over there will change the world. I'm just going to live out my pointless life and die. Maybe I'll come back in another pointless life. So what? I'll just be floating back and forth in an endless loop. And if I do break that loop (Buddhism), what's so great about that?
Has anyone else been faced with this thought process? I'm pretty sure I'm depressed, I just feel this aching pain all over.
Do what the fuck you want, OP.
You live, you die, try and have some fun in between.
And by fun, I mean doing the shit you actually like, not "going outside on adventures."
Unless that's ya thing, than, by all means.
There is zero reason to be depressed over things you can't control. Being depressed won't make life less meaningless. You might as well enjoy your time here while you have it.
>>17318027
That was a bad comparison. What I mean is that "whatever the fuck I want" doesn't matter. Doing what I want doesn't make me happy anymore. I'm a physics major. Physics research is a career I've wanted since I was literally a toddler. But now that I'm doing it, it's just boring. And not in a "maybe something else will be less boring" way. I just don't enjoy any of what I'm doing, but I like it better than anything else I've ever done, so it's really moving the rest of my life down a notch.
>>17318028
I know there's zero reason to be depressed over things you can't control. If that helped me be less depressed, do you think I'd be here?
>>17318042
I wasn't talking about work.
Nobody likes to fucking work, but we all got to do it to do the shit we like with the money we get.
What are your hobbies anyway, if you have any?
Do you like playing vidya, traveling, fucking exotic women? Tell me.
You do know that Buddhism ends with you being reborn in other planes of existence right? That's what happens after achieving enlightenment.
Philosophy is what you're looking for.
Philosophy is life
>>17318015
>that pic
laughed harder than I should have
>>17318015
you're having analysis paralysis, except not about one thing, but fucking everything.
seriously, this "depressed philosopher" archetype is way too common for a group of people purportedly intelligent enough to be seeking truth. since you're so knowledgeable about how the world works, maybe you're smart enough to realise beforehand that reality isn't all nice all the time - and that learning only presents a net benefit if you can handle the negative parts of it.
I suggest you suspend your judgment on things, at least momentarily. why is it bad if there isn't a point to anything? it isn't. it's like a dream, where I do stuff in it and when I wake up, none of it ceases to matter anymore. but I fucking love my dreams - why don't you? yes, it's meaningless, but it's a positive experience.
alternatively - you could actually be clinically depressed due to chemical imbalances or some shit. in which case, you'll feel crappy regardless of whether or not you have a reason to. find a medical professional.
>>17318097
Same. I'm a Narutard for life.
>babbys first existential crisis
Read the works of Dostoevsky, Camus, de Bouvoir, and Nietzsche.
>>17318168
I've read de Bouvoir and Nietzsche, but I'll look at the other two. And this isn't my first existential crisis. This is just the first painful one.
>>17318158
Thanks, this helped a bit.
>>17318168
marcus aurelius as well, stoicism helped me cope a lot
