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.
Jan, like someone said, the only way is through. Sorry to hear that you had to go through all this on top of depression too. Double whammy is a bit of an understatement.
This was a real hard read. Am also a father but have gotten much better at feeling acceptance, though a lot of that involves reading a lot less about all this, getting off social media, etc etc. So you could say I'm choosing to stick my head in the sand. Maybe, but I can see what seems inevitable (and always wonder if maybe I'm wrong) and I'd say a realist too, but the only way I can cope is shut out most of the noise and focus on causing less harm and spending lots of time with my family and in nature.
I hope you can find some peace. I'll try to read your other pieces, but not sure I can, too hard to read... Maybe I'll just keep an eye out for when you hopefully reach the last stage.
I think putting on the oxygen mask first is the correct response. You're no good to anyone in a dysfunctional state. Then maybe later you can take another peep from a more robust place.
The maddening catch-22 is, of course, that this sensible behaviour leads us off the cliff, and so it's extremely easy to get stuck in a loop back to step one to figure out what else one can do, only to run into a brick wall again.
I think a pragmatical attitude is the best approach: one simply has to acknowledge the fact that one is no good to anyone if one can't breathe. If that means humanity doesn't make it, so be it. We're no hive mind. We're not eager to self-sacrifice for the good of the whole. Let's face it: ants, grass, tardigrades and even dinosaurs are/were much better designed to live in perpetuity. Our species fell into an unfortunate trap and that is that.
I'm not exactly sure what I'll put in part 5 yet, but I think it'll be fairly basic stuff of being grateful to be alive & for the small things, making the most of a bad situation, and going out with dignity. One might even argue that one owes it to all the unfortunate humans who died miserably and all the future humans who will never be born to live - to truly live - for them, because they couldn't. My own grandfather fought in WW2, developing a crushing depression from the horrors he witnessed. He died so that I may live. I owe it to him to make the most of it, no matter the situation. I'm sure as hell better off than him. I wouldn't want to trade lives.
There's much to be happy for, even during a descent, and a certain poetic beauty to humanity's limited arc of existence, possibly the only intelligent life that ever existed anywhere.
Yeah my own grandfather also fought in WW2 but never talked about it to anyone. Simply can’t imagine what they saw or did, and the friends they lost.
It can be very helpful to have a few friends (even online ones you’ve never met) to talk about it, humour always helps, there’s lots of good writers discussing it. I’ve gone through a few but probably the most helpful has been Dougald Hine’s thoughtful Substack.
Some say every generation has their crisis and thinks it’s the end of the world, a few years ago I was asking my Mum about the Cuban missile crisis. For a few days they really thought everything was gonna end. They were terrified.
😞🫂
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?"
Jan, like someone said, the only way is through. Sorry to hear that you had to go through all this on top of depression too. Double whammy is a bit of an understatement.
This was a real hard read. Am also a father but have gotten much better at feeling acceptance, though a lot of that involves reading a lot less about all this, getting off social media, etc etc. So you could say I'm choosing to stick my head in the sand. Maybe, but I can see what seems inevitable (and always wonder if maybe I'm wrong) and I'd say a realist too, but the only way I can cope is shut out most of the noise and focus on causing less harm and spending lots of time with my family and in nature.
I hope you can find some peace. I'll try to read your other pieces, but not sure I can, too hard to read... Maybe I'll just keep an eye out for when you hopefully reach the last stage.
Take care brother and look after yourself.
Thanks, Leon, I appreciate it.
I think putting on the oxygen mask first is the correct response. You're no good to anyone in a dysfunctional state. Then maybe later you can take another peep from a more robust place.
The maddening catch-22 is, of course, that this sensible behaviour leads us off the cliff, and so it's extremely easy to get stuck in a loop back to step one to figure out what else one can do, only to run into a brick wall again.
I think a pragmatical attitude is the best approach: one simply has to acknowledge the fact that one is no good to anyone if one can't breathe. If that means humanity doesn't make it, so be it. We're no hive mind. We're not eager to self-sacrifice for the good of the whole. Let's face it: ants, grass, tardigrades and even dinosaurs are/were much better designed to live in perpetuity. Our species fell into an unfortunate trap and that is that.
I'm not exactly sure what I'll put in part 5 yet, but I think it'll be fairly basic stuff of being grateful to be alive & for the small things, making the most of a bad situation, and going out with dignity. One might even argue that one owes it to all the unfortunate humans who died miserably and all the future humans who will never be born to live - to truly live - for them, because they couldn't. My own grandfather fought in WW2, developing a crushing depression from the horrors he witnessed. He died so that I may live. I owe it to him to make the most of it, no matter the situation. I'm sure as hell better off than him. I wouldn't want to trade lives.
There's much to be happy for, even during a descent, and a certain poetic beauty to humanity's limited arc of existence, possibly the only intelligent life that ever existed anywhere.
Take care and best wishes.
Yeah my own grandfather also fought in WW2 but never talked about it to anyone. Simply can’t imagine what they saw or did, and the friends they lost.
It can be very helpful to have a few friends (even online ones you’ve never met) to talk about it, humour always helps, there’s lots of good writers discussing it. I’ve gone through a few but probably the most helpful has been Dougald Hine’s thoughtful Substack.
Some say every generation has their crisis and thinks it’s the end of the world, a few years ago I was asking my Mum about the Cuban missile crisis. For a few days they really thought everything was gonna end. They were terrified.
Have you ever read Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files?