Zompist Bboard Again

Man in Space wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 5:32 am I just had a profoundly bad dream.

My bad dreams are generally happening at a less frequent rate, they usually have to do with sleep paralysis and if i close my eyes during a dream nothing bad happens.

It stills feels deeply unfair and unreasonable that everyone expects me to white-knuckle this horrible future with no escape. We all know where the future is headed. There is simply no point pretending a miracle will eliminate all the reactionaries and solve global warming.

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 8:56 pm It stills feels deeply unfair and unreasonable that everyone expects me to white-knuckle this horrible future with no escape. We all know where the future is headed. There is simply no point pretending a miracle will eliminate all the reactionaries and solve global warming.

You need therapy. Not venting, therapy. You need to find out why reading the news has such an effect on you (and why you read it anyway). And while you're at it, why you react to the world situation as if you're the only victim.

zompist wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 1:35 am

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 8:56 pm It stills feels deeply unfair and unreasonable that everyone expects me to white-knuckle this horrible future with no escape. We all know where the future is headed. There is simply no point pretending a miracle will eliminate all the reactionaries and solve global warming.

You need therapy. Not venting, therapy. You need to find out why reading the news has such an effect on you (and why you read it anyway). And while you're at it, why you react to the world situation as if you're the only victim.

Yep. We all worry about the situation of the world. It is indeed more worrying than ever since Word War II, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists doomsday clock needs a second-hand now because it is less than a minute to midnight. But malloc, you are not alone, and giving up is the wrong reaction on the crisis. The appropriate reaction is to try to do something about it. Join a NGO. Write a realistically optimistic novel that shows how the current crisis could be overcome (this is what I am currently doing, and I am not the only one - the genre even has a name, it is called "solarpunk"). You need therapy. We can't give you what you need here; we are not professional therapists.

WeepingElf wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 5:58 amWrite a realistically optimistic novel that shows how the current crisis could be overcome (this is what I am currently doing, and I am not the only one - the genre even has a name, it is called "solarpunk").

It seems impossible to imagine any optimistic future given the rapidly growing popularity of reactionary politics and the implosion of all alternatives. The fact that Trump lost no support whatsoever despite his disastrous first term demonstrates that even the worst failures cannot discredit the far right anymore. The notion that fascism can lose at this point feels no less fantastical than elves and magic given the present evidence.

zompist wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 1:35 amYou need therapy. Not venting, therapy. You need to find out why reading the news has such an effect on you (and why you read it anyway). And while you're at it, why you react to the world situation as if you're the only victim.

Would it make a difference if I posted every news story about the looming catastrophe so people here understood the stakes? It seems like everyone here is utterly unaware of the surging grassroots popularity of reactionary politics, the plans by Trump to annex Canada and Greenland, and so forth. Alternatively they seem to believe that Trump and hundreds of millions of reactionaries are all bluffing.

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:35 am

zompist wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 1:35 amYou need therapy. Not venting, therapy. You need to find out why reading the news has such an effect on you (and why you read it anyway). And while you're at it, why you react to the world situation as if you're the only victim.

Would it make a difference if I posted every news story about the looming catastrophe so people here understood the stakes? It seems like everyone here is utterly unaware of the surging grassroots popularity of reactionary politics, the plans by Trump to annex Canada and Greenland, and so forth. Alternatively they seem to believe that Trump and hundreds of millions of reactionaries are all bluffing.

We are not unaware of it. We do not believe they are bluffing. It is simply that we do not go into a blind panic immediately upon seeing a news article on these topics.

(Analogous case: I have OCD. There are certain substances for which, if I touch them, I will have a panic attack. I can’t comprehend how other people do not have that reaction, but I can see that they don’t, and that it makes their lives much easier than mine. I won’t say any more because I am uncomfortable talking about my own mental health in a public forum, but I hope you see the similarity to your case.)

Also malloc, you do this for every situation at every level. Any little setback has you start spiraling into despair, so of course things on a country-wide or world-wide scale are even worse. But that's not healthy, and it's not helpful.

As others have said recently and I have said in the past, go to therapy. Get on anti-depressants, if you're comfortable with that. They don't force you to be happy, but they do allow it so your brain isn't constantly in anguish. That by itself can help a lot.

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:54 amWe are not unaware of it. We do not believe they are bluffing. It is simply that we do not go into a blind panic immediately upon seeing a news article on these topics.

But all evidence points to the worst possible outcome in the near future. The far right has taken over numerous countries including the US with most of Europe not far behind. The world's richest man has thrown his support decisively behind fascism and intends to spend billions to turn the entire world fascist. The common people have enthusiastically embraced far right politics all across the world and seem completely unfazed by its brutality and failures. There are no Allies waiting to defeat Trump and restore democracy like WWII nor even meaningful resistance to the MAGA regime. Looking at the plain unvarnished facts, there simply is no grounds for optimism.

There is nothing new under the sun,
Plato already describes how fascism comes about
and perhaps the means to support it...

I know it is hard to keep up one's hope and confidence in these evil times, but one thing you can do is STOP DOOMSCROLLING. There are good news, though they are hard to find - try this site for starters. There are people who try to stem and reverse the tide of fascism - while nobody can say whether these will succeed or fail in the end, they try their best, and that is a source of hope. Best be one of them rather than just complain that everything was going to hell.

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 11:50 am

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:54 amWe are not unaware of it. We do not believe they are bluffing. It is simply that we do not go into a blind panic immediately upon seeing a news article on these topics.

But all evidence points to the worst possible outcome in the near future. […] Looking at the plain unvarnished facts, there simply is no grounds for optimism.

1. The situation may not be grounds for optimism, but it isn’t grounds for panic or depression either.
2. But this logic also reminds me of when I myself have a panic attack: I am literally unable to think of any outcome other than the worst possible one. It’s generally not the most likely one, but I’m not able to consider that in the midst of a panic attack. You seem to be stuck in this mode continually. Just because you can’t think of evidence for anything other than the worst possible outcome, doesn’t mean that evidence isn’t there.

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:43 pmThe situation may not be grounds for optimism, but it isn’t grounds for panic or depression either.

Why not? If ever panic and depression were justified, it would seem to be now. The alternative is expecting a miracle to save us from this catastrophe, an utterly irrational and preposterous mindset. There is nothing left to do but mourn the millions (if not billions worldwide from global warming) who will die horrible deaths in the coming years.

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:59 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:43 pmThe situation may not be grounds for optimism, but it isn’t grounds for panic or depression either.

Why not? If ever panic and depression were justified, it would seem to be now. ...

Name one thing you've done to make your situation on any level better for yourself. And did panic and depression help with that?

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 8:59 pm

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 6:43 pmThe situation may not be grounds for optimism, but it isn’t grounds for panic or depression either.

Why not? If ever panic and depression were justified, it would seem to be now.

I disagree with the premise: panic and depression are not ever justified. As linguistcat suggests, panic and depression simply make you feel worse while at the same time taking away any ability you may have to improve the situation. There is nothing about either of those which is good in any circumstance.

The alternative is expecting a miracle to save us from this catastrophe, an utterly irrational and preposterous mindset. There is nothing left to do but mourn the millions (if not billions worldwide from global warming) who will die horrible deaths in the coming years.

This is catastrophising. There are plenty of outcomes other than ‘billions of horrible deaths’, but whenever we’ve mentioned them you’ve instantly dismissed them. Just because your brain is stuck on the worst possible outcome, it doesn’t mean that other outcomes are implausible.

Again, you need to find someone to talk to who is able to discuss your thought processes with you. (i.e., a therapist.)

You must understand that my situation is rather like terminal illness except on a global scale. How should one react to something truly horrible and agonizing yet recognized beyond all doubt as inevitable?

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2025 10:27 pm You must understand that my situation is rather like terminal illness except on a global scale. How should one react to something truly horrible and agonizing yet recognized beyond all doubt as inevitable?

BY GOING TO THE THERAPIST.

A lot of people have given you good advice here. E.g.

bradrn wrote:We are not unaware of it. We do not believe they are bluffing. It is simply that we do not go into a blind panic immediately upon seeing a news article on these topics.

That is, you are not more insightful on the global situation than we are, nor are you affected by it in some special way. Rather,

linguistcat wrote:Also malloc, you do this for every situation at every level. Any little setback has you start spiraling into despair, so of course things on a country-wide or world-wide scale are even worse. But that's not healthy, and it's not helpful.

Remember when you forgot to pay a month's rent, and decided that you were about to be evicted and would never be able to rent again? Did that happen? No, it was not the catastrophe your brain conjured up for you, and there were things you could do (like pay the rent) that would improve it.

Therapy is not a matter of someone telling you that there's nothing to worry about. It is a matter of discovering why you catastrophize, why you freak out reading the news, why you have such trouble forming helpful and useful responses instead.

Of course nobody works on second of January. I should have known better than wasting a couple of hours going from a closed shop to a closed service to a closed shop.

What I'm extra annoyed about is that two of the places explicitly stated that either they're going to be open on that day, or that it's not part of their holidays' extra days off. And yet there was noöne to be found.

Are you suggesting that all the news reports and such regarding the rise of reaction and its dire threat are simply wrong or exaggerated? Does it really count as catastrophizing when all evidence points to catastrophe on the horizon? I need compelling reasons to believe the reactionaries are doomed to fail. Nothing over the past few months has given me any hope that they will even face meaningful opposition, let alone the resistance needed to defeat them. All the corporations and media outlets and politicians are falling in line with the MAGA agenda after all.

malloc wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:57 am I need compelling reasons to believe the reactionaries are doomed to fail.

False binary. Of course the reactionaries aren't doomed to fail, but then again, neither are their opponents. Your tendency to see everything in strict either-or terms is probably a big part of what makes some people here see you as so psychologically unusual.

malloc wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 11:57 am Are you suggesting that all the news reports and such regarding the rise of reaction and its dire threat are simply wrong or exaggerated?

No, please read what I wrote:

Therapy is not a matter of someone telling you that there's nothing to worry about. It is a matter of discovering why you catastrophize, why you freak out reading the news, why you have such trouble forming helpful and useful responses instead.

We do care about you, as much as long-time Internet acquaintances can, but we're not going to give you permission to spiral into despair. For once, listen to what other humans have to say to you, and get help.

Don't respond with more "oh but things are so bad" stuff; that is not helping you and I will delete it. Start looking for therapists. And if doing a search is too hard for you, take WeepingElf's excellent advice and stop doomscrolling.