P

pyx

Wizard
Jun 5, 2024
618
intellectually and physically i think i have plateaued. i feel as if there is no more room for growth, that i am beginning to stagnate and nothing more
i have no energy to learn anymore. it's as if there is a limit on how much i grow, and the impossibility of exceeding this limit becomes more apparent each day i rot in bed. i know that i am utterly inadequate, and yet i feel no violence to improve. i no longer believe that intellect is as malleable as i once thought. there are some things that will never change. defeatism is the only option

does anyone feel the same way?
 
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Dr Iron Arc

Dr Iron Arc

Into the Unknown
Feb 10, 2020
20,971
Can't relate because I've constantly been on the decline for at least a decade.
 
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DanielDanDean

DanielDanDean

Member
Jul 18, 2024
39
I feel the same, feeling I can't learn more, make more things etc.
For some time I thought I'd just fuck around, live life as is but then I found out and, now I'm just declining
 
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F

Forever Sleep

Earned it we have...
May 4, 2022
9,414
It's more that I don't see the point anymore. I've tried really hard at certain aspects of life- mainly regarding my career. I've taken huge risks, given it my all, moved all over the country for jobs. I don't really think it was worth it! Maybe it was. It at least saved me from retail work again. But, in terms of moving forward, I feel like people at the pinnacle of my industry are treated like shit! Why would I aim for that?!!

For me, it's more like I'm just begrudgingly treading water now. I suppose there is some peace/relief in feeling like I've in some part failed- not just because I wasn't good enough or, didn't try hard enough but because I also made a conscious decision to stop pursuing such a high end goal because it didn't seem worth it anymore.
 
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ijustwishtodie

ijustwishtodie

death will be my ultimate bliss
Oct 29, 2023
4,812
I've been doing well academically so far but I believe that my limit ends here. I think I will plateau here and I just hope that I'll be dead before I have to experience the full effects of the aforementioned plateau. Outside of academics, I have no skills or talents at all so I can't say that I've plateaued there as, by definition, a plateau requires a rise before it turns constant yet my skills outside of academics have always been a constant 0 throughout my entire life
 
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derpyderpins

derpyderpins

Normie Life Mogs
Sep 19, 2023
1,797
I have felt this way a lot before. Recently I feel like I'm actually just starting now.

You limited the lanes of improvement to intellectual and physical. Having had a few exchanges with you, I think you are likely viewing intellectual improvement fairly narrowly: academics, knowledge in certain fields of study, ability to discuss said knowledge with eloquence, etc.

Whether you want to view it as a third lane of improvement or a widening of the intellectual lane, I view my current track of improvement differently. I'd call it something like "wisdom" if we're using D&D stats, although calling it something like spiritual wouldn't be far off. Basically a personal understanding of myself and the world around me that can only be gained through experience and deep reflection regarding said experience.

Being able to separate out the ones and zeros and the academic theories from the organic experience of living in this world has proven - in my experience - incredibly beneficial in its own right and has raised my intellectual ceiling. (Or, at least what I perceive as such. But does it really matter so long as I feel the motivation to improve?) I still have a long way to go, which is great because it means there's no plateau feeling.
 
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P

pyx

Wizard
Jun 5, 2024
618
I have felt this way a lot before. Recently I feel like I'm actually just starting now.

You limited the lanes of improvement to intellectual and physical. Having had a few exchanges with you, I think you are likely viewing intellectual improvement fairly narrowly: academics, knowledge in certain fields of study, ability to discuss said knowledge with eloquence, etc.

Whether you want to view it as a third lane of improvement or a widening of the intellectual lane, I view my current track of improvement differently. I'd call it something like "wisdom" if we're using D&D stats, although calling it something like spiritual wouldn't be far off. Basically a personal understanding of myself and the world around me that can only be gained through experience and deep reflection regarding said experience.

Being able to separate out the ones and zeros and the academic theories from the organic experience of living in this world has proven - in my experience - incredibly beneficial in its own right and has raised my intellectual ceiling. (Or, at least what I perceive as such. But does it really matter so long as I feel the motivation to improve?) I still have a long way to go, which is great because it means there's no plateau feeling.
the trouble is that my cognitive abilities have plateaued in such a way that i'm unable to develop new theories to ground my organic experience: in fact, i'm unable to differentiate between facts of organic experience and facts established through theory building. i feel the very great danger of intellectual degeneration. i think that academic pursuits which are grounded in logic would vitiate this decline, yet i lack the energy to pursue these studies, so my organic experiences necessarily suffer.

i consider myself to be like charlie from flowers for algernon. he began as an unconscious being who, throughout the course of the novel, becomes a conscious being, only for this new-found sapience to decline, inevitably leading to his once more unconscious state. i fear that i will become this, since then i would be unable to engage in anything constructive. i would cease to be a truly rational being

i think that you have probably accumulated a great deal of knowledge, both academically and organically. i really envy the capacity to engage with the world rationally. it is something which i had to fight for, since my parents never cared for my development. now, plateauing after a productive few years, i feel nothing but resentment
 
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derpyderpins

derpyderpins

Normie Life Mogs
Sep 19, 2023
1,797
the trouble is that my cognitive abilities have plateaued in such a way that i'm unable to develop new theories to ground my organic experience: in fact, i'm unable to differentiate between facts of organic experience and facts established through theory building. i feel the very great danger of intellectual degeneration. i think that academic pursuits which are grounded in logic would vitiate this decline, yet i lack the energy to pursue these studies, so my organic experiences necessarily suffer.

i consider myself to be like charlie from flowers for algernon. he began as an unconscious being who, throughout the course of the novel, becomes a conscious being, only for this new-found sapience to decline, inevitably leading to his once more unconscious state. i fear that i will become this, since then i would be unable to engage in anything constructive. i would cease to be a truly rational being

i think that you have probably accumulated a great deal of knowledge, both academically and organically. i really envy the capacity to engage with the world rationally. it is something which i had to fight for, since my parents never cared for my development. now, plateauing after a productive few years, i feel nothing but resentment
Well, if it helps, in my case I hit a wall in my mid-twenties. My ego had to get broken down a bit before I started improving on the 3rd lane, and I absolutely wasn't actively trying to, I just analyzed it in hindsight.

It's hard to explain without being pretty morose, but I guess the point is that it can happen when you aren't trying, which is positive. I don't want to say "give up," it's more like "take a break." It's okay to just play Mario kart and chat with the guy you're playing with and listen to his crazy political theories and just accept that he thinks that, and that he can still be a decent person. Weirdly specific but you get it.

And thanks for saying nice things but I'm really nothing special. I just hope I can help a bit.
 
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