Is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
I'm in mid 20s. I've been able to convince myself that the vidya, anime, and escapism is enough to get by. Still, occasionally the realization that I missed out on "young love" and will probably be alone for the rest of my life hits me like a freight train.
Tell me, robots. Is the love depicted in my animus all a meme?
Fantasy is much better than reality.
Reality can end in catastrophe that it is impossible to escape from.
Think about what you're risking and giving up, permanently, by involving yourself with roasties.
I can barely stand being dragged out of my inner world.
>>29538450
The thing about reality tho is that it's real. At least for me personally, fantasy and escapism will never be able to fill the hole.
>>29538459
There are a lot of techniques that can compensate for that.
Lucid dreaming, consuming artwork, ERP, just straight up fantasizing, whatever.
You have to realize that fantasy is just bait for a trap. You can eat the bait without triggering the trap. That is being a clever mouse.
>>29538450
I suspect this. I watch some SOL shit and I think to myself, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if I could have a group of friends like that?"
Then when I actually find myself interacting with people IRL, and I find them completely uninteresting or annoying at worst.
It is what it is.
>>29538390
Yes, I'd elaborate but it'd take a while, everybody has an opinion, including this faggot.
>Is the love depicted in my animus all a meme?
No but it's very rare and probably too late for you to experience.
>Is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
Absolutely. I constantly live in my own bubble, never noticing anything about the "real world" outside of it and I feel fine. It probably helps that I don't money or health problems.
I feel like it's more doable prior to discovering you want one, or experiencing love. Once you experience that, you need to get over wanting it again, because there's a void. If you want to get by without it, don't experience it. If you do experience it, you'll always want or miss it.
If you dont go to the mall on weekends you're probably okay
>>29538390
>Is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
It is but not without escapism. Why do you think the loneliness people always gravitate towards the same hobbies? It's an effective coping mechanism.
>is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
No. Humans are social creatures and to socialise and maintain relationships with other humans are actions that are ingrained into our biology. It's inescapable.
>>29538390
>Is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
Yes, but the level of willpower one would need to truly achieve this is so strong you would basically have an easier time trying to adopt Buddhism and eliminating all desires.
We don't seek relationships because we like others, we seek them because we like ourselves and we can only see ourselves reflected clearly in the ways others see and treat us. Intimacy (say, a romantic relationship) is the pinnacle of this reflecting because, presumably, there is another person out there that can reflect almost the entirety of what we are (or, alternatively, what you would want to be- if you misled that person. It's all the same thing, really. Gives you the same fulfillment, ask Chad.)
The way I see it- maintaining one's identity, maintaining all those little and grand things that make you who you are, that takes a lot of work. Most people (or, all people) can't do that on their own. They need others to help carry some of the weight of their own identity by affirming it. Some people outsource their entire identity onto others and have no notion of who they are outside of what friends and society tells them- this is the other, equally perilous, extreme.
Can you keep your identity whole without forgetting who you are, but without letting anyone help you with this? Like I said, that shit takes willpower. I tried really hard, but ended up on that opposite pole- being completely dependent on one person to tell me what I am.
Escapism means you have a developed faculty of imagination and a lot of avenues for maintaining your own identity without validating relationships comes down just to that- imagination.
TL;DR: You can try, buddy. But you will probably get lost along the way like I did.
TL;DR2: watch NGE
>>29538390
>Is it possible to live a happy or content life without any meaningful relationships?
yes, but it heavily depends on the person
you must decide for yourself if you are capable of this, else you will need to lower your standards to prolong your sanity
