Have any of you successfully overcome an existential crisis?
In a way you find genuinely satisfied with in response to the concerns/troubles that an existential crisis brings up. Rather than what, from what I can tell, perhaps cynically, the majority of those who talk about overcoming it recommend and do which is essentially just decide to do something else to take their mind off it rather than find a constructive way to confront the issues and 'live the condition' as it were.
If so, which books helped and how?
Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik
>>7751517
>just decide to do something else to take their mind off it
what makes you think this is not constructive? i took this road btw. pic related is one starting point.
Ignoring to some extent is the only way for me. I can barely solve the more mundane issues of everyday life, let alone satisfactorily come to a concrete conclusion on existential matters.
>>7751536
>pushing a secondary school and high school maths book
did you flunk high school or something?
I accepted a sort of. self-responsibility. I recognized that even if our world doesnt have some summum bonum there is still things worth living for and its my duty to find out what thosw are.
Thus Spake Zarathustra is THE book ti read in a time like this. Especially "On the Vision and the Riddle".
>>7751517
>Have any of you successfully overcome an existential crisis?
I'm still working on it.
>>7751517
bro, work on your ability to clearly order and formulate your thoughts. i literally have almost no idea wtf youre even saying here.
>>7751549
starting point you dip, and lang is great if you're like most of lit and have never studied math. I've been studying math for most of my adult life and have a few degrees.
real analysis is also the most pig disgusting field of math there is, only highly regarded because autists use corollaries of theorems to calculate shit. absolutely fucking garbage.
>>7751539
>come to a concrete conclusion on existential matters
Thats what I dont understand about a lot of existential thought: who the fuck ever told you life was supposed have a conclusion? Its not a joke, theres no fucking punchline.
>>7751555
The sentences are fine, nowhere near hard to understand, perhaps some things wrong here and there
>>7751561
concrete conclusion in the sense of confront an issue in an honest way I imagine he means. That is, there may not be an obvious solution like an mathematical addition but at least an attempt to respond to existential issues in an honest way. Rather than just saying 'i don't want to think it' and acting leaving it as a question mark in how you live your life with it
>>7751517
Zorba the Greek ended my "erase all emotions, irrational self causes nothing but pain" existential crisis; the narrator and Zorba are two halves of one personality, and they live together amicably. One must accept and master both.
My "my dream was a lie, accept that everything after college will be pure suffering and disappointment" recent existential crisis has been greatly abated by Plato and Epictetus, because "muh stoicism"
Nietzsche soon.
>>7751517
I got a girlfriend, and she helped me move towards a life of betterment.
>>7751517
>decide to do something else to take their mind off it
i think that's valid. it is basically what i've done after having quite a frightening existential crisis (concerning the absurdity of reality and death). but it wasn't just ignoring it, during that time i couldn't stop thinking about it, and couldn't distract myself. but eventually i was able to do so. and it wasn't a matter of denying the existential problem, it was that i found peace in that "distraction" and being one with my earthly, human things; pursuing my human ambitions, with the surrender to the unknown instead of confrontation. that's what has put my mind to rest about it.
>>7751559
> if you're like most of lit and have never studied math
then again, there is this voice at the back of your mind whispering that you can't really back this up empirically. seeing that this is a literature board, i would be willing to bet that most have in fact graduated high school. whence Lang, then? if i am right, then they already know the material covered in Lang. why not Spivak's Calculus?
>corollaries of theorems to calculate shit
that's calculus, not analysis. and anyhow, you can say the same thing about other branches.
>I've been studying math for most of my adult life and have a few degrees.
kid, PLEASE--you're on the internet. who are you trying to kid?
I've been in a perpetual existential crisis since puberty.
>>7751536
If you're going to go down the road of taking your mind off things why on Earth would you spend it doing sums
>>7751517
Not to pile one meme atop another, but the only time I've felt actual distress at my condition was when I decided that religion was untenable.
I dealt with it through meditation and full engagement in my own life when I'm not meditating, and have never been happier.
>>7751608
I believe you
>>7751597
Do you know any high school graduates who can write a proof or even remember the quadratic formula? I don't. Most people need the refresher.
>why not Spivak's Calculus?
It's a good book if you are new to proofs, but as I said I dislike analysis so I would not recommend somebody read this book. Just learn the calculation tricks and pick up a real babby's first math book like Artin and actually study some real math.
You jelly of my degrees huh?
>>7751549
>>7751597
Also, you really missed my point about how mathematics is a constructive way to escape from reality when faced with an existential crisis.
At the end of the day it's alright if you find that through analysis but it's still a pig disgusting theory. Even measure and integration theory and functional analysis are just aesthetically horrendous.
>>7751517
There is meaning to life. At the heart of the universe and existence in its entirety there are only two options.
Either the universe does not exist or it does.
The only time that there would ever be "no point" would be in the case that the universe does not exist and in that case there would be no meaning or point to it because it's not there.
Since the universe does exist that's the only point or meaning you need. The only meaning there is to existence is to exist and let whatever comes of that to play out.
>>7751625
>Either the universe does not exist or it does.
you realize that binary logic is made up by humans, right?
>>7751632
ya but I understand the universe from a human perspective
>>7751614
>It's a good book if you are new to proofs, but as I said I dislike analysis so I would not recommend somebody read this book. Just learn the calculation tricks and pick up a real babby's first math book like Artin and actually study some real math.
i wasn't asking it for a personal recommendation you condescending fuck, but claiming that it would be better suited as an alternative for most of /lit/ over Lang's
>You jelly of my degrees huh?
i am indeed 'jelly', seeing that the cardinality of the set of degrees that you have is equal to the cardinality of {x : x ∈ N & Odd(x)} ∩ {x : x ∈ N & Even(x)}.
>>7751614
negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c all over 2 a
Jokes aside, I've never had an honest need for the quadratic formula. It's just another needless piece of information you stow away.
>>7751643
come on brah, you've never had to find the splitting field of the galois group of Q adjoin a low degree polynomial?
shiggidy dig
>>7751625
>>7751649
>you've never had to find the splitting field of the galois group of Q adjoin a low degree polynomial?
No. What does that accomplish?
>>7751561
Yeah, i didn't mean it in that way.
This guy explained it more like what i meant >>7751576
Although still not fully. It's not that i completely ignore the issue, it's just my views and values seem to be constantly in flux, so the crisis never goes away. If i arrive at an answer it's nothing more than temporary until something else puts it into doubt or sparks some kind of reflection or revision. Honestly, i've come to accept that it's something i'm never going to be fully satisfied with, just like most things in life.
>>7751576
Jesus, I can't type
>>7751661
let's say you want to know something about a mathematical object. a common technique is to "translate" your object into a different framework that preserves properties you care about so that you can use the high falutin machinery of that framework and "translate" the results back to your original object of study.
the post was kind of an example of that. the splitting field has information about the original group that's very easy to read off once you've computed it.
the joke was that you'd never do that in real life though
>>7751661
and you need the roots of the (sometimes quadratic) low degree polynomial to do it.
>>7751715
You're welcome. Do me a favor and don't study analysis if you end up liking math.
>>7751729
Do US a favour and stop lecturing and giving advice to others you degreeless cuck.
If you suck at (ε, δ)-proofs, you have only yourself to blame. Maybe you're just not up to snuff mature-wise for Mathematics after all.
There's no way Maths solved your existential crisis unless you developed severe autism in tandem
>>7751749
mad you wasted so many years studying an ugly theory?
anyways, I'll stop.
There is such freedom in the general futility.Think I would be more likely to an hero if everything was predetermined
>>7751641
This is one of the cringiest things I've ever seen on this board
I've managed to overcome my metaphysical crisis of existence, i.e. the absurdity of life and death, the meaning of life(and death) and the (in)significants of human life.
I did that by understanding that small things live on a small scale, where small actions have meaning for them. We are not beings that are comparable to the universe, nor in time or space, (although we are part of it), so we do not need to long for meaning on those scales. We need to look for meaning thats fit for the life of our scales. Then life, even everyday one, can have lot of meaning if your work towards it and learn to enjoy it. In those therms even death has a meaning, of giving you a scale of time to your existence.
I read a lot of books on it, but in the end i found this answer, witch quite satisfies me on random while i was leasurely thinking about the issue.
Alas, i am not free from torment, for now i have a crisis of finding my self in a society i do not indentify my self in. I spent year dealing with metaphysical problems, and other, deeper problems, forgetting to learn how to deal with everyday life.
I enjoyed high school, since i was going to a gymnasium, where i was able to study many different subjects. Now i am forced to specialize in one. Witch i did, and i am quite enjoying it, but i cant keep my curiosity for other things down, and there is just so much time in any given day. And sometimes thats even paralizyng me, making me unable to chase any subject for a time, and I also have a very strong need for socializing as well, since i am living alone for 14 years already, hanging out with friends was my primary form of socializing. But i am not ready for a family of my own yet.
I have a problem with time, and time organization . I wish every day that i could
stop time when i am doing silly things, witch i feel are essential to my life. I am always late for everything (thats why i postponed my college until i found means to live near one, where i dont have to use public transportation). It takes me too long to do housework and those everyday things. I need 3 hours in the morning to start the day properly. And i have problems with sleep. I cant get myself into a rythm. I often find my self staying up late because i got caught up in my studies, or hanging out with somebody dear. I find my self unable to say no, i must go to sleep now, and thats it. And even if i do, i cant sleep until my curiosity or the need for socializing is satisfied. I find my self unable to change altough i realize that my ways are not compatible and i am getting anxious about my future, for at the moment i am attending a university where attendence is not mandatory. That wont be like that after i graduate.
Those things look so simple to solve, and for most people they are. But not for me. I feel quite retarded. I spent so much time studying, adventuring (oh yea, i also love to travel a lot witch will be impossible once i get a job), and socialyzing, but i dont know how to adult.
>>7751808
It is no match to the cringe-worthiness of your face, though.
>>7751808
wow yeah holy shit I missed that post
no wonder that guy's standard for mathematical maturity is writing an e-d proof
>>7751823
>witch
>>7751823
Good luck. I hope everything works out. Are you a religious man, by any chance? You could find a good community of caring people at church.
>>7751826
>no wonder that guy's standard for mathematical maturity is writing an e-d proof
Says the guy who plasters his posts with 'jelly', 'mad', etc. juvenile memes, declines to study Analysis because it is an "ugly" theory and has the mathematical maturity of a someone who is BELOW the "standard [...] mathematical maturity [of] writing an e-d proof"
My sides.
Everyone who was involved in the maths parts of this thread please kill yourselves, thanks
>>7751856
I took real 1,2, complex, measure, and functional bub, all of those after taking real in undergrad. i think i can claim it's an ugly theory
it's 4chan dude, we all shitpost. it's nice though that your only refutation to being a colossal cringelord is calling me out on shitposting.
it's ok though, rest easy knowing that you're really, really mathematically mature :^)
>>7751869
math really is a nice way to leave an existential crisis though
>>7751823
>And i have problems with sleep. I cant get myself into a rythm. I often find my self staying up late because i got caught up in my studies
Download an app called sleepcycle and try it out for a couple of weeks,
also look into lucid dreaming, notebook and pen right by the bed gives you something to look forward to when you sleep (I write a subject I want to dream about before I fall asleep, and then the result dream if there was one when I wake up)
you'd be surprised how easy the habit comes when you actually look forward to sleep as it's own unique experience, not an interruption in learning
>>7751846
Thank you so much, I hope it will, especially with the rise of six hours working day and basic income, here in Europe. I am far from a lazy person, on the contrary, I love to do many different things, so that will allow me to be a more productive citizen in different fields of my interest, satisfying my ''crisis'' of not being able to find a place in my current sorouding.
No, I am an atheist, but many of my friends are religious, and of different religions, so i often enjoy their holidays with their families and/or communities.
Thanks for the advice, nevertheless! :
>>7751879
I did that once, and then i got adicted to sleeping. Those lucid dreams where you could live out all your phantasies that are otherwise impossible (in my case fighting dragons and other mystical beasts, or taming them, flying, and aliens.. ) are better than any drug ever....
What helped me in the last couple of weeks is the realisation that i need to sleep to be able to study properly and do my other interests. So when the hour of sleep comes, i say to my self:
You gave your best for today, and it was enough, tomorrow is another day where you can continue, now rest, so you are even better tomorrow.
That calms me for some reason, often enough to fall asleep without my thoughts keeping me awake.
>>7751870
The cringe-worthy part was not my post but your naive belief that anybody on here would sincerely believe, without evidence, that you have an actual degree in Mathematics.
>refutation to being a colossal cringelord
>implying that the fact that shitposting is objectively measurable and cringiness isn't doesn't make me come on top at this one too
>it's ok though,
Indeed, go work at those e-d proofs.
>>7751918
no the cringe worthy part has been your response to every one of my posts.
>>7751940
As long as it doesn't trump your god-awful shitposting, I am content with that.
Vague language-games do not interest me :^)
>>7751957
Well ok then. I only came here to mention my experience getting interested in mathematics after an existential crisis. I don't know why you had to shit up the thread because you didn't like the textbook I posted.
>>7751948
>and just because you don't have a degree doesn't mean other people don't.
The fact is that you're begging the question, which is -- had you been an actual mathematician -- quite embarrassing; but since you are not, this does not surprise me one bit. In any case: asserting that you have a degree isn't necessarily all that convincing (seeing that we're on 4chan and all that).
>I never use them in my field.
Is 'Shitposting on 4chan' the title of your field? Be honest.
>>7751971
I liked your post, but only up to the point where you recommended a high school text. The majority of /lit/'s demographic consists of recent high school grads and kids in their early 20s. Calculus would have been a better choice.
Believe it or not it was Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot poem that got me over it. The first time I heard it I cried vehemently and had, I dunno, some kind of realization. you've always heard about people who live a life of awareness and peace and then suddenly you realize "hey! I can live like that too!" that was 2014 and ever since then I've felt inner peace in every situation
>>7751994
I just wanted to get people off on the right foot by reading a baby text written by an algebraist rather than a differential geometer.
>>7751981
>Is 'Shitposting on 4chan' the title of your field? Be honest.
No by the way, it's algebraic combinatorics. But I do like shitting on analysts. It helps me get by.
>>7752061
Well, I think my intentions were alright in my first two posts. Mentioning it's a starting point (implicitly assuming the reader had not thought critically about mathematics in a long time) and recommended them a book to help them do such.
I admit to having instigated shitting on analysis to elicit a response. We all have our flaws, but I spoke from the heart.
>>7752061
>How is it? Enjoying it, I hope?
I love it, but ironically I have been studying generating functions recently where we define everything in the ring of formal power series and convergence is largely ignored. It's been a fascinating way to look at analytic objects and manipulating them, something I have never found interesting before as you might surmise.
What's your field? Are you even an analyst?
