Indirectly this is a question (also) for people who say they despise life. And see life itself as the inherent problem.
I might even had added the pill might make you to consider whether procreating is a good thing. Maybe that assumption would a little bit too drastic. I would still add: the pill would probably indirectly increase your chance of procreating.
So I try to give more context: you would not be actually forever happy in a every second on earth. Your happiness level would however be way above average. You had self-esteem because you love yourself. David Benetar says many healthy humans overestimate their skills. And underestimate their weaknesses. They torture themselves not as much for their own faults. (I think many successful people need that trait.) I think they also can accept themselves easier.
There is a debate whether humans have a positivity or negativity bias. I just asked the internet. And it says science says humans have a negativity bias so they overvalue negative aspects in life. I am not sure how much that is common sense or whether it is debatable. I would assume it depends on the circumstances and the way of reasoning. Personally I cannot wrap my head around how people can claim to be happy when they work 9 to 5 5-6 days in a soulless office job. But well I am mentally ill maybe I am the insane one.
The idea for the poll came me when I read a thread questioning antidepressants. Also a character in a fictional story of DFW about depression says: If I take antidepressants how can I be sure I am still myself. Whether I am still the same person? Maybe I am still a fraud deep inside. Maybe I would just get a different framing of life my perspective changes. But is this still me?
A different question would be: What if i remain the same person but my view of myself and the world would become distorted. Some people on here are extremely convinced and certain that life is objectively extremely horrible and nightmarish. What if the pills changed my view on the world. Would I become part of the problem itself? Maybe I would not be able to see the truth anymore.
Now my personal stance: For me these are just hypothetical scenarios. I would take such a pill asap without any doubt. I am determined to search for a way to live even if I am unhappy most of the time. Committing suicide is a very existential step which scared me when I was close to it. I still think that this will be my eventual fate though. I am pretty desperate. I see the unconditional self-love aspect a little bit critical but that would never stop me not to take the pill.
But I also had such thought experiments. Personally I don't care whether medication changes my personality. If it is for the better. And usually I am in hell of pain. I take antipsychotics and they can slow you down. My thoughts are usually racing all the time and it is agony. I came to the conclusion everything that increases my life quality is bought. However this is very tricky. I had major depression for several years without a break. I wanted to convince therapists to try ECT with me. My dad prohibited it to me. (I am a legal adult in my mid twenties but I listen to the takes of my parents.) My dad is pretty stupid but his takes on circumcision (hell no) and ECT were pretty smart. My depression got better eventually. He told the electricity was way too dangerous.
I would not rule out a ECT forever. But when my depression got better I started college again. And it is well known ECT can damage your skills to memorize things. Something I am already not good at. I would never be able to attend college in case I had an ECT I assume. So it was a good choice (so far.)
I got a little bit off-topic. Lol. I just wanted to emphasize to try EVERYTHING to get better without thinking about the longterm consequences can also be a mistake. I especially think about coping with illegal drugs. It is something different when it is a treatment accompanied by a therapist (in my opinion).
Thank you by the way for reading this. I feel so fucking depressed. I have soon an exam and the stress tortures me.
Now the most thought-provoking statement. I also imagined to be in such a place where I would say life is inherently awful. Without any doubt. I considered that route and for a certain time period I shared that opinion. I think the ultimate proof would be trying to change your view. Listening to opinions that disagree with you. I listened to people who were anti-choice and debated them and it was horrendous for my mental health. It was on social media such a fucking waste of time. So this is not really what I mean. I rather think about taking antidepressants. Or other recommended medication and trying psychotherapy (if possible). One could argue there are potential side effects and I would not recommend to start with SSRI or without any consideration about potential side effects. But if you are that convinced life is without any doubt bad the medication would not work anyway. If you don't do it you will never know it. It makes the case stronger if you yourself tried what other people consider pleasant and helpful. And if you have not tried it there will always be the off-chance that you were wrong. The argument is more epistemological (i.e. wanting to seek the truth). Some people don't care about truth. Some say every truth is relative. But so say life is inherently bad without questioning your own opinion by trying to see the other side seems to be flawed. Trying to change the perspective usually undermines a case that a person presents by considering different arguments and making one's own statements more nuanced.
And not a few people in this forum have exactly this attiitude that life ins inherently flawed or even awful.
Where do I position myself? That's difficult and could fill a whole thread with another text of wall. I noticed when my mood changes my view on life changes too. So it is intersubjective. I would say I am way more pessmistic about life than most average people. Actually I barely know anyone as pessimistic about the world as me in real life. However compared to some people in this forum I am quite optimistic. So it depends on the comparison.
I watch a lot of news and the people here in this forum already hate life. I mean most of us come from wealthy industrial societies with food, health care (not all), a roof over one's head (not all) etc. I just try to imagine how all the people in third world (e.g. civil war chaos) countries must feel. The interesting thing is many there want to live. Maybe they have not the luxury of freetime to question the bullshit. Maybe they lack education or are indoctrinated by a dogmatic religion.
I am ambivalent on anitnatalism. However I saw many fates on here of individuals and I think they make a pretty strong case that procreation causes hell of problems. However I feel too much like a misantroph when I am into antinatalism. But is this a good argument when truth is the most important category?
I don't try to convinced other people of antinatalism anymore. Maybe just my sister not to procreate a little bit. But all the underlying assumptions of antinatalism intersect with very personal relations to life and I don't want to intervene too much in someone else's plans for life. I don't know what is good for a stranger. What actually makes him or herself happy. Honestly this thread got a little bit out of control. I am not good mentally. I am under immense pressure and I am scared to get crushed.
I will end it here.
I might even had added the pill might make you to consider whether procreating is a good thing. Maybe that assumption would a little bit too drastic. I would still add: the pill would probably indirectly increase your chance of procreating.
So I try to give more context: you would not be actually forever happy in a every second on earth. Your happiness level would however be way above average. You had self-esteem because you love yourself. David Benetar says many healthy humans overestimate their skills. And underestimate their weaknesses. They torture themselves not as much for their own faults. (I think many successful people need that trait.) I think they also can accept themselves easier.
There is a debate whether humans have a positivity or negativity bias. I just asked the internet. And it says science says humans have a negativity bias so they overvalue negative aspects in life. I am not sure how much that is common sense or whether it is debatable. I would assume it depends on the circumstances and the way of reasoning. Personally I cannot wrap my head around how people can claim to be happy when they work 9 to 5 5-6 days in a soulless office job. But well I am mentally ill maybe I am the insane one.
The idea for the poll came me when I read a thread questioning antidepressants. Also a character in a fictional story of DFW about depression says: If I take antidepressants how can I be sure I am still myself. Whether I am still the same person? Maybe I am still a fraud deep inside. Maybe I would just get a different framing of life my perspective changes. But is this still me?
A different question would be: What if i remain the same person but my view of myself and the world would become distorted. Some people on here are extremely convinced and certain that life is objectively extremely horrible and nightmarish. What if the pills changed my view on the world. Would I become part of the problem itself? Maybe I would not be able to see the truth anymore.
Now my personal stance: For me these are just hypothetical scenarios. I would take such a pill asap without any doubt. I am determined to search for a way to live even if I am unhappy most of the time. Committing suicide is a very existential step which scared me when I was close to it. I still think that this will be my eventual fate though. I am pretty desperate. I see the unconditional self-love aspect a little bit critical but that would never stop me not to take the pill.
But I also had such thought experiments. Personally I don't care whether medication changes my personality. If it is for the better. And usually I am in hell of pain. I take antipsychotics and they can slow you down. My thoughts are usually racing all the time and it is agony. I came to the conclusion everything that increases my life quality is bought. However this is very tricky. I had major depression for several years without a break. I wanted to convince therapists to try ECT with me. My dad prohibited it to me. (I am a legal adult in my mid twenties but I listen to the takes of my parents.) My dad is pretty stupid but his takes on circumcision (hell no) and ECT were pretty smart. My depression got better eventually. He told the electricity was way too dangerous.
I would not rule out a ECT forever. But when my depression got better I started college again. And it is well known ECT can damage your skills to memorize things. Something I am already not good at. I would never be able to attend college in case I had an ECT I assume. So it was a good choice (so far.)
I got a little bit off-topic. Lol. I just wanted to emphasize to try EVERYTHING to get better without thinking about the longterm consequences can also be a mistake. I especially think about coping with illegal drugs. It is something different when it is a treatment accompanied by a therapist (in my opinion).
Thank you by the way for reading this. I feel so fucking depressed. I have soon an exam and the stress tortures me.
Now the most thought-provoking statement. I also imagined to be in such a place where I would say life is inherently awful. Without any doubt. I considered that route and for a certain time period I shared that opinion. I think the ultimate proof would be trying to change your view. Listening to opinions that disagree with you. I listened to people who were anti-choice and debated them and it was horrendous for my mental health. It was on social media such a fucking waste of time. So this is not really what I mean. I rather think about taking antidepressants. Or other recommended medication and trying psychotherapy (if possible). One could argue there are potential side effects and I would not recommend to start with SSRI or without any consideration about potential side effects. But if you are that convinced life is without any doubt bad the medication would not work anyway. If you don't do it you will never know it. It makes the case stronger if you yourself tried what other people consider pleasant and helpful. And if you have not tried it there will always be the off-chance that you were wrong. The argument is more epistemological (i.e. wanting to seek the truth). Some people don't care about truth. Some say every truth is relative. But so say life is inherently bad without questioning your own opinion by trying to see the other side seems to be flawed. Trying to change the perspective usually undermines a case that a person presents by considering different arguments and making one's own statements more nuanced.
And not a few people in this forum have exactly this attiitude that life ins inherently flawed or even awful.
Where do I position myself? That's difficult and could fill a whole thread with another text of wall. I noticed when my mood changes my view on life changes too. So it is intersubjective. I would say I am way more pessmistic about life than most average people. Actually I barely know anyone as pessimistic about the world as me in real life. However compared to some people in this forum I am quite optimistic. So it depends on the comparison.
I watch a lot of news and the people here in this forum already hate life. I mean most of us come from wealthy industrial societies with food, health care (not all), a roof over one's head (not all) etc. I just try to imagine how all the people in third world (e.g. civil war chaos) countries must feel. The interesting thing is many there want to live. Maybe they have not the luxury of freetime to question the bullshit. Maybe they lack education or are indoctrinated by a dogmatic religion.
I am ambivalent on anitnatalism. However I saw many fates on here of individuals and I think they make a pretty strong case that procreation causes hell of problems. However I feel too much like a misantroph when I am into antinatalism. But is this a good argument when truth is the most important category?
I don't try to convinced other people of antinatalism anymore. Maybe just my sister not to procreate a little bit. But all the underlying assumptions of antinatalism intersect with very personal relations to life and I don't want to intervene too much in someone else's plans for life. I don't know what is good for a stranger. What actually makes him or herself happy. Honestly this thread got a little bit out of control. I am not good mentally. I am under immense pressure and I am scared to get crushed.
I will end it here.
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But a instant recovery pill? Fuck yes. I need that. I don't want to suffer.
