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Originally Posted by Plato  We have no morality. We think we do but in reality it's just fragmented parts of what was previously a functional system. We have the language of morality without the teleological beliefs that made it work from the beginning of human civilisation until the reformation. And people actually celebrated the so-called "freedom from superstition" so this disaster was covered up in history and it's only recently that some philosophers have begun to piece the puzzle together. |
I agree with this though I would replace "morality" with "values" though the two are intertwined. The things most people claim to live for ring very hollow when spoken about. Even on this forum, a step up from society at large, it's chockful of cliches and tired advice. Sure you can find a gold nugget by digging a bit but when you are surrounded by so much deadness on a mass scale it starts to weigh down on you. You lose the energy and ability to dig deeper for these nuggets which are really all the keeps you going. Eventually you run out of energy and give up. I should mention I think Steve Pavlina has talent for mining these nuggets and bringing them to the surface for others to see (I suppose that's why he rakes in the $$$, that combined with his technical skills). But he is one small voice in the greater scope of society and can only do so much to help.
Of course I can't "prove" the above, it's more a feeling I get. I also don't think we as individuals are "dead", but most do get trapped into going through the motions via convention. Even though they don't think that's what's happening to them as they are too busy distracting themselves with "life". Despite the pronouncements of "rugged individualism" so pervasive in our culture I believe we need more from society. It is a powerful physical manifestation and reminder of our unity deep down, but when all it can offer is the chance at dead material wealth we suffer emotionally and lose contact with our true being. It's this cultural failure that makes us feel more alone than we really are, and drives us to drastic self destructive acts like suicide (amongst other things). When you add in the pain and suffering that life often brings naturally, the isolation and lack of true meaning starts to feel like a big cosmic joke, and I don't mean the funny kind but the sick kind.
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abbiejoice
I agree with you, (missing), that for some, suicide is the only powerful thing they feel they can do. I would like to put it this way, that in committing suicide, they are making a statement. And what statement would that be? That they have been ignored, disregarded and trampled upon by the people around them. Maybe it came with a hope that in the end, even though they die, somebody has noticed them for what they have done. Maybe it is also an angry statement, anger for all the people that failed to see their worth. Yet is it worth it? What do we achieve by doing something for such kinds of people who care nothing at all about us?
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most people do care but we've been trapped by a system that forces us to suppress our natural empathy to survive. I think this is what suicide makes us most aware of, and it's the reason it angers most people. They don't like thinking about how they themselves have also been played in the same cosmic joke, but suicides force them to confront this reality.