I'd say the only way out is through... but I haven't managed to inhabit a post-doom mindset with anything like consistency... I also think it risks a kind of solipsism bordering on smugness that I've encountered in some Boomers in particular. When I was doing outreach in the early days of XR I talked to an older man walking down the street with his granddaughter. He smilingly agreed that civilisation is doomed and near-term human extinction inevitable and I couldn't help thinking "But your granddaughter is going to have to live through that". It's easier when the physical suffering (and let's not underestimate physical suffering - we're only able to do that when we're not in it) is not going to be your own. I've read people writing earnestly about how much they are suffering witnessing the atrocities in Gaza... and it is depleting and harrowing and exhausting and I (like millions of others) have shed tears. But it's still better than being there by an unimaginable amount.
All that said, I //have// sometimes found the post-doom talks by the late Michael Dowd to be a combination of revelatory and healing:
Not everyone has the capacity to connect with it fully, even when trying. But just acknowledging it, at least, is a huge step in the right direction.
I think denial of truth is my personal pet peeve. If, from there, you just wanna party - well, that's between you and your maker/mirror. Who am I to tell you what to do? One must beware one's moral outrage and acknowledge we are all built differently and products of different indoctrinations in the form of religion and sociopolitical and cultural environments.
I had Thomas Ligotti's book on my TBR; thanks for the link.
The great collapse, as I like to call it, is on its way. Thankfully, due to my expertise, I do not face the reaction you face from friends and acquisitions. At first, of course, they are reluctant. But slowly I manage to explain it to them and they become less reluctant (they do not fully share my view, of course—that would take hours of discussions and explanations—but they do start seeing it).
I do have a solution, for what is worth. But as a friend of mine told me recently, this is asking too much from people. Anyway, the solution is for people to become more humble, responsible, rational, forward-looking, conscious, less self-absorbed, more courageous.
😞🫂
The two blog-posts that Jan has put our are eloquent and insightful. Congratulations -- and legerly looking forward to the further episodes!
Martin Rees
I'd say the only way out is through... but I haven't managed to inhabit a post-doom mindset with anything like consistency... I also think it risks a kind of solipsism bordering on smugness that I've encountered in some Boomers in particular. When I was doing outreach in the early days of XR I talked to an older man walking down the street with his granddaughter. He smilingly agreed that civilisation is doomed and near-term human extinction inevitable and I couldn't help thinking "But your granddaughter is going to have to live through that". It's easier when the physical suffering (and let's not underestimate physical suffering - we're only able to do that when we're not in it) is not going to be your own. I've read people writing earnestly about how much they are suffering witnessing the atrocities in Gaza... and it is depleting and harrowing and exhausting and I (like millions of others) have shed tears. But it's still better than being there by an unimaginable amount.
All that said, I //have// sometimes found the post-doom talks by the late Michael Dowd to be a combination of revelatory and healing:
https://www.youtube.com/@reverendreality8282/playlists
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcAlqMeyeaW91q0fUuOWHKEaGTCL41ItE
Similarly, listening to old recordings of Terrence McKenna can help me feel less crazy and alienated.
Otherwise, in a strange way, I find the pessimistic horror of Thomas Ligotti oddly soothing and I often fall asleep listening to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clzt5XgwEkM
Thank you, Adam, I appreciate it.
Not everyone has the capacity to connect with it fully, even when trying. But just acknowledging it, at least, is a huge step in the right direction.
I think denial of truth is my personal pet peeve. If, from there, you just wanna party - well, that's between you and your maker/mirror. Who am I to tell you what to do? One must beware one's moral outrage and acknowledge we are all built differently and products of different indoctrinations in the form of religion and sociopolitical and cultural environments.
I had Thomas Ligotti's book on my TBR; thanks for the link.
This one helped me a lot, check it out if you haven't yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QeYM1L0FfY
Take care.
Thanks :) You too - and I'll keep reading your writing
The great collapse, as I like to call it, is on its way. Thankfully, due to my expertise, I do not face the reaction you face from friends and acquisitions. At first, of course, they are reluctant. But slowly I manage to explain it to them and they become less reluctant (they do not fully share my view, of course—that would take hours of discussions and explanations—but they do start seeing it).
I do have a solution, for what is worth. But as a friend of mine told me recently, this is asking too much from people. Anyway, the solution is for people to become more humble, responsible, rational, forward-looking, conscious, less self-absorbed, more courageous.
Wish you the best. Here is a song that I hope you will enjoy listening to: https://open.spotify.com/track/3TQxkQsyJS03EUwl02Qaub
I know this is part 2 of 5 but holy damn.
"We really had it all, didn't we?"