What makes people want to live?

[a_dead_mess]

I used to believe that staying in the rat race is what brings meaning to this life and makes it enjoyable but, that same rat race is what brought me here.
pro-lifers always say stuff like "you should live so you can make money and achieve your dreams" but not everyone gets this chance and you're most likely not going to be achieving your dreams, rather chasing them until your inevitable death. when they are faced with that, they either decide to tell you "you just don't get it", decide to ignore this visible fact, or decide to question the importance of life. I guess people love the experience of life so much that they'd rather go against all their logical intellect and chase it rather than ask if that chase is really worth it.

would love to hear your guys' insight on the topic :)

 

[Un-]

I have no bloody clue. I have no idea what makes people tick. I heard.. I was watching a YouTube video, and someone said something about "living to make others happy, and the world a better place". They stated they knew how meaningless life is, but that's their justification for waking up everyday. Other people state that they live for other people. Sometimes they live to reach some arbitrary goal.

The main pattern I'm getting from this is.. It just doesn't make sense. I've always thought everyone was delusional in some way. I think in order to live.. You have to somewhat be.. Sigh. I don't want to call it delusional because it isn't, but at the same time.. What do you call someone that looks at the facts that point in one direction, but knowingly goes the opposite direction?

I mean there's probably something I'm missing. Maybe I'm just an extreme nihilist. I don't know. I don't think about it at all (as you can probably tell), but I just don't understand what makes people try live. I'm too stupid.

 

[Life_and_Death]

hobbies, someone else (family, SO, kids, close friend)

at least those would be my reasons, but my someone else left and all my hobbies dont make up for the pain that was there before him or the pain that he added to the pile
others just have a better sad:happy ratio then me..

 

[a_dead_mess]

I have no bloody clue. I have no idea what makes people tick. I heard.. I was watching a YouTube video, and someone said something about "living to make others happy, and the world a better place". They stated they knew how meaningless life is, but that's their justification for waking up everyday. Other people state that they live for other people. Sometimes they live to reach some arbitrary goal.

The main pattern I'm getting from this is.. It just doesn't make sense. I've always thought everyone was delusional in some way. I think in order to live.. You have to somewhat be.. Sigh. I don't want to call to delusional because it isn't, but at the same time.. What do you call someone that looks at the facts that point in one direction, but knowing goes the opposite direction?

I mean there's probably something I'm missing. Maybe I'm just an extreme nihilist. I don't know. I don't think about it at all (as you can probably tell), but I just don't understand what makes people try live. I'm too stupid.

ironically enough, one of the few reasons I'm not 6 feet deep is because I'm looking for that reason. if there isn't one, then no one should blame others for CTB

 

[veryhappyhuman]

Attachments (other people, pets etc) mainly. A lot of people in my country are also religious nuts and think suicide is the greatest sin. It was a crime in my country until just 5 years ago.

 

[GasMonkey]

sex

 

[Forever Sleep]

Sometimes wonder whether some people are just more naturally positive than others. Honestly, I look at most other people's lives and reckon I wouldn't be happy there either! Reckon I'm just a pessimist.

Regarding money and the rat-race- Often felt like it was either-or really- either working all hours to earn enough money to get by- so- have no time to enjoy it. Or, have time with no work but no money to enjoy. (I'm a freelancer with a very poor business sense- that's probably going to have to end soon and I'll need to get some God awful, piss poorly paid normal job again.)

I do get what you mean though. I've had a couple of Head of Department jobs which I thought would make me feel 'acceptable' as a grown-up but really they just made me super stressed and frustrated. Lots of admin work to juggle with creative, practical work and it really didn't mix. Just felt like I was on a hamster wheel working all the time.

I guess we're all different. I've known people to work like crazy to make enough money to travel, come back and do it all again. I imagine the daily grind is more bearable when you know you are saving for something amazing- not just your existence.

Really, I'd just like to know I have enough to get by on. Think I could actually be just about content if I knew I could continue in my current job and be ok but I pretty much know I can't and I'm just delaying the inevitable.

 

[Suicidebydeath]

Love.

I don't really want to live, but survival instinct is too damn strong.

 

[a_dead_mess]

Love.

I don't really want to live, but survival instinct is too damn strong.

I wish people who love us would actually stay but it seems like any person I ever get close to and I'm genuinely interested in ends up leaving at some point.

 

[lionetta12]

I used to believe that staying in the rat race is what brings meaning to this life and makes it enjoyable but, that same rat race is what brought me here.
pro-lifers always say stuff like "you should live so you can make money and achieve your dreams" but not everyone gets this chance and you're most likely not going to be achieving your dreams, rather chasing them until your inevitable death. when they are faced with that, they either decide to tell you "you just don't get it", decide to ignore this visible fact, or decide to question the importance of life. I guess people love the experience of life so much that they'd rather go against all their logical intellect and chase it rather than ask if that chase is really worth it.

would love to hear your guys' insight on the topic :)

Idk, usually the pro lifers I've met through out my life always say live for your family and friends. That's their number 1 argument for «you have so much to live for». But I have no family and my friends will be fine without me so that argument doesn't make much sense to me. I guess the second thing is «things will get better», but I've waited 12 years for that to happen and it still didn't happen even after changing every aspect of my life.

So to sum it up, I don't really know what makes people in general want to stay alive, but maybe it has to do with a strong optimism that their future will improve massively or/and their love for their family and those around them. That's just my guess and overall observation.

 

[redeyepiranha]

I've met a lot of people who said they live for others and their wish to make this world a better place, the idea of human extinction scares them, also they think suicide is a sin, it's up to them I guess

 

[sewercide]

family, food, nature, listening to music, connecting with people, having a sense of purpose, discovering things, idk

 

[Mofreeko]

Most people live in order to get to the next nugget of pleasure in their otherwise monotonous and painful lives. They go through the work day longing for the time to go home. They go through the work week longing for the weekend. They go through the months longing for their two weeks vacation. Sprinkle in some tv, gaming, the occasional party and that's apparently good enough for most people to spend the lion's share of their time doing something they hate.

 

[WorthlessTrash]

You keep going because your life is worth living (SO, talent, wealth, etc). Unfortunately for me, as long as I am in the wrong body and life keeps rubbing it in, my life is not worth living. I hope to check out soon, rather than keep talking about it.

 

[obafgkm]

Expectation about the future.

People suffer the present (or give up immediate pleasure) with the hope that there will be greater reward in the future. This is what the marshmallow test tries to find out: self control.

But without hope, suffering is meaningless.

 

[a_dead_mess]

Expectation about the future.

People suffer the present (or give up immediate pleasure) with the hope that there will be greater reward in the future. This is what the marshmallow test tries to find out: self control.

But without hope, suffering is meaningless.

hope for eternal peace? that is non-existent. you'll still suffer, but I guess you'll feel more morally obliged to stay because of the more things you have

 

[foreverfalling]

I think, people just go through life without contemplating it. There isn't a 'want' to live, it's just the default state and nothing else has been considered. Children probably don't think about this question, everyday just happens for them. Maybe many of us here remember a time when these thoughts didn't occur. There is no wanting to live because people are already living.

Do bees want to live? Would a bee choose to give up something to continue living? They just live, react to stimuli and being themselves. They will give up their life to protect the group when it is threatened. They don't think whether it makes sense, or if it's worth sacrificing, because it just happens.

It just doesn't make sense. I've always thought everyone was delusional in some way. I think in order to live.. You have to somewhat be.. Sigh. I don't want to call to delusional because it isn't, but at the same time.. What do you call someone that looks at the facts that point in one direction, but knowingly goes the opposite direction?

Yes I find it somewhat, disgusting engaging with people like this, because it doesn't make sense. When you actually think, then there is no way any of this makes sense, living like a bee. Would you talk to a bee about your existential troubles?

For people that become confused by the world, they may stumble upon philosophy and spirituality, which will show ways to make sense of the world, only to come back full circle to learning to 'be in the present' and 'letting go', which means not to think.

 

[Un-]

Yes I find it somewhat, disgusting engaging with people like this, because it doesn't make sense. When you actually think, then there is no way any of this makes sense, living like a bee. Would you talk to a bee about your existential troubles?

For people that become confused by the world, they may stumble upon philosophy and spirituality, which will show ways to make sense of the world, only to come back full circle to learning to 'be in the present' and 'letting go', which means not to think.

I think "disgusting" is a harsh word.. I mean there's nothing wrong with wanting to live, y'know. I just agree with you that it doesn't really make sense. The only way to.. Continue is to somehow.. Not think about it.

I find that tragic. In order for some people with depression.. To overcome it, they have to avoid the bad.. Avoid triggers. I don't want to call it a delusion, but it's somewhere along the line of kidding yourself. Or maybe it isn't. I don't know.

I was looking at the reasons people had here, and it still makes no sense to me. If nothing matters, why.. Do any of that? The whole.. Your life is worth living.. I don't know. I just think that people make their existences much larger than it is. Makes me think of this Gumball song:



With this in mind, why suffer? At all? If you can leave, and it makes no difference? If everything you do just does not matter, and everyone you think matters to you, does not matter, and anything and everything you are will one day stop existing - and it'd be as if all these things, and YOU, didn't exist at all.. Why continue with anything? Meh. I'm not one for psychology.

People should exist if they want to. I think it's okay, though, to say it doesn't make sense. Plus, the song is catchy hahahah.

 

[a_dead_mess]

I think, people just go through life without contemplating it. There isn't a 'want' to live, it's just the default state and nothing else has been considered. Children probably don't think about this question, everyday just happens for them. Maybe many of us here remember a time when these thoughts didn't occur. There is no wanting to live because people are already living.

Do bees want to live? Would a bee choose to give up something to continue living? They just live, react to stimuli and being themselves. They will give up their life to protect the group when it is threatened. They don't think whether it makes sense, or if it's worth sacrificing, because it just happens.

Yes I find it somewhat, disgusting engaging with people like this, because it doesn't make sense. When you actually think, then there is no way any of this makes sense, living like a bee. Would you talk to a bee about your existential troubles?

For people that become confused by the world, they may stumble upon philosophy and spirituality, which will show ways to make sense of the world, only to come back full circle to learning to 'be in the present' and 'letting go', which means not to think.

about whether the bees want to live or not, bees or other animals don't have the intellectual properties to question the things around them the way we do. do bees ever think about astronomy, death, science, philosophy, building empires, etc? this sounds to me like a straw man fallacy where you compare the intellect humans have to that of other creatures and build an argument upon it. they simply aren't capable of reasoning things the way we humans do.

I pointed out that people don't 'want' to live in my post when I spoke about how they try giving out stupid reasons to live. I can get why someone wouldn't care about such questions because they are contempt of whatever the world throws at them but we came here and found a lot of suffering and hardships which, for me, would require an explanation, or else why would I bother to live?

on a side note: I really like your username

 

[FuneralCry]

I really don't know. There is nothing that could ever make me want to stay here. I see life as just being endless suffering and problems all for the sake of it and I view non existence as always being preferable to living no matter the life lived. I am convinced that many people only pretend to want to live in front of others but in reality they would take a peaceful exit if it was easily accessible to them. I do think that for anyone to want to live they must be very delusional as to actually want to be alive would mean denying the cruel reality of existence. Wanting suicide is the rational response to seeing the world for what it really is and the idea that there is anything positive about living is certainly a delusion. Anyone can end up in the worst pain possible after all.

 

[y'ffre]

Life is a journey and every accomplishment takes time even learning how to walk. And I am really curious about that if we were depressed when we were babies could we still learn how to walk or not?

I guess If they can enjoy the journey, they can feel good while they doing the regular same things constantly and can still be at peace they will want to live.

 

[outrider567]

I used to believe that staying in the rat race is what brings meaning to this life and makes it enjoyable but, that same rat race is what brought me here.
pro-lifers always say stuff like "you should live so you can make money and achieve your dreams" but not everyone gets this chance and you're most likely not going to be achieving your dreams, rather chasing them until your inevitable death. when they are faced with that, they either decide to tell you "you just don't get it", decide to ignore this visible fact, or decide to question the importance of life. I guess people love the experience of life so much that they'd rather go against all their logical intellect and chase it rather than ask if that chase is really worth it.

would love to hear your guys' insight on the topic :)

Companionship and sharing life with the right one, and appreciating nature good and bad, were my primary reasons for enjoying life, but that enjoyment has been extinguished

 

[Journeytoletgo]

Some people have a huge social circle where they don't have time to contemplate these things. Loneliness is the biggest killer of a human being. As a bully survivor I isolate as it's safe it isn't good as it is hard to understand social code and made me more awkward

 

[Rounded Agony]

Biological imperative is the simple answer, I think.

All life seeks to preserve and perpetuate itself. We all have biochemical systems in place to this end. For humans in particular, well, the very fact that we have managed to exists for as long as we have with the more or less same basic brain is a great example. We didn't all off ourselves when there wasn't sufficient sustenance, shelter, safety, or whatever else. Things are still very awful for very many human beings in the world and this is still the case, though of course suicides happen.

I read in a BBC article that in particular, our brain is designed to mediate stress and misery through physical touch with other people, which is maybe the foremost example. As @Journeytoletgo indicated, there is a loneliness epidemic happening, worse in the so-called "developed" (I prefer to say industrialized) world - it seems we just can't get it right as a species which is pretty pathetic.

 

[nopride86]

Biological urges aside.
The delusion that they are going to be exactly as they are, forever, and in that time they will achieve xyz and be happy while doing so.

Like a child.

If everyone faced reality head-on, with the understanding that only suffering and decline awaits them regardless of what they do or don't do, they would be on here with us.