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What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Simply put, I ran out of fucks to give. I try to be the best man I can be under the circumstances and that's enough for me and if such a thing exists, hopefully for whoever guards access to the afterlife, or to reincarnation or whatever there is or isn't after death.

It's all anybody can do, really. Success or failure, striking it rich or being poor, being healthy or sickly, most of it is actually random luck. Every day, any number of insignificant things you do can balloon out of proportion and affect your life in spectacular fashions. You need to be in the right place at the right time, foster relationships with the right people, take the right opportunities and leave the wrong ones, say the right thing at the right time and so on. Life is a game of timing and coincidences. The threads of life are so numerous and complex that the best thing any of us can do is make an educated guess at which to follow when we have a choice to make. You strike gold, or strike out. You can help yourself by studying, working hard, eating right, doing exercise, being disciplined, you can put a tiny bit of the odds on your side, but ultimately it's nearly all dumb luck.

A lot of smart, driven people fail, and a lot of dumb louts succeed. Fortune does what she wills. No use worrying over it. Do your best and lead your life without regrets. The last part is the hardest, in my opinion.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Also, what is it that non-South Africans think of Rooibos tea? It's way expensive over there where you all live, so why is it worth it?

I love rooibos. Smells great, subtle earthy/sweet taste. I'm a bit sensitive to caffeine so I can't drink tea before sleep, but I can drink rooibos since it has none. It's the tea that made me like drinking tea in the first place (though it is not, technically, a tea).

It's not that expensive over here. The top-end tea store in Quebec City sells it 6 buckaroonis/50g, so about US$4.75 (to see how crazy it can get, here's a $65/50g green tea). I paid a little less because I don't care much for the snob tax and I get it at the neighbourhood tea store. Quality is probably comparable.

Of course it's probably horrendously expensive compared to South Africa, but that's actually pretty cheap for loose leaf tea where I live. Kind of like how I can get enormous cans of top shelf maple syrup for 10 bucks or so and maple lovers in other countries have to pay much more because we produce 70% of the world's maple syrup.

Never really bothered with different blends. Whatever lipton packages in the box is what I've had my whole life. 

Trust me my man or woman, one day buy yourself a nice tea. Loose leaf is generally better but there are very good bagged teas also. It's worth the extra expense.

Never been one for existential crises. I live with the intent of being happy. Nothing more and nothing less. That's enough for me.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

I don't give it much thought, to be honest. I focus on the journey, and doing things that I have fun doing, and having an impact on people in a positive way, especially the people I care about and love. It may not matter on a historic scale or a cosmic scale, but it matters to me, and that's all that's required.

Though sometimes I wonder if planet Earth would be better off without humanity.

@Gerrick

It says on Steam that you want Civ VI. You want the 50% off coupon I got for the Digital Deluxe Version? Steam sent it to me for some ridiculous reason.

@Gerrick

It says on Steam that you want Civ VI. You want the 50% off coupon I got for the Digital Deluxe Version? Steam sent it to me for some ridiculous reason.

I have the coupon as well, so I think everyone who owns Civ V got the coupon. But I probably won't buy it until they're finished releasing DLCs and I get a new PC. Thanks for the offer, though!

@Gerrick

It says on Steam that you want Civ VI. You want the 50% off coupon I got for the Digital Deluxe Version? Steam sent it to me for some ridiculous reason.

I have the coupon as well, so I think everyone who owns Civ V got the coupon. But I probably won't buy it until they're finished releasing DLCs and I get a new PC. Thanks for the offer, though!

Sounds good, If anyone else would like it feel free to ask.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Also, what is it that non-South Africans think of Rooibos tea? It's way expensive over there where you all live, so why is it worth it?

I'm not too terribly familiar with Nihilist arguments, nor do i really care for them.

But arguing extremely hypothetically here in a world where there is no God, a human's function as an animal in this ecosystem within a human tribe is in and of itself inherent worth. Having friends, having a husband or wife, going to work every day, those are things that are inherently worthwhile, and it means no matter how minute you might think your existence is, you are still contributing.

And that's also how religion is worthwile. Even if God doesn't exist, a person praying is merely self soothing, a person volunteering at the mosque, synagogue or church is contributing to the happiness and thus general emotional health of the local population. The Torah, the Quran, the Bible, etc. help instill proper morals into a person that they might not get from secular philosophy. Of course, some push it toward evil, but I firmly believe that religion has done vastly more good than harm.

My wife and I were walking around downtown Austin today and happened upon a pop-up donut shop set up by Google. Turns out if you asked a question to these Google Home Minis inside, you had a chance to win either a free donut or a Home Mini. So we both did it, and we each won a Home Mini! Lucky day.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Also, what is it that non-South Africans think of Rooibos tea? It's way expensive over there where you all live, so why is it worth it?

When I was seven, I once broke down crying because of how terrified I was to die. Now, I just shrug. Nothing we do truly matters, because everything we do will be topped by someone else. History will forget us, our great grandchildren probably won't even know our names. Even if we do manage to make a name for ourselves, so what? You'll be forgotten within a few generations to come, if even. And if you somehow manage to do something great enough to be put down in text books, children will only memorize your name for a test and then forget all about you by the time the next one comes. There's 8 billion of us alive right now, we can't all matter, it's pretty much impossible. If anything, we should just be glad we're able to even be remembered by friends and family.
The only thing I take comfort in anymore is the fact that my dog still gets excited and runs up to me when she just saw me a couple of hours ago. Like, I don't know if she thought I left or something but it was so cuuuttte.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Also, what is it that non-South Africans think of Rooibos tea? It's way expensive over there where you all live, so why is it worth it?

I'm not too terribly familiar with Nihilist arguments, nor do i really care for them.

But arguing extremely hypothetically here in a world where there is no God, a human's function as an animal in this ecosystem within a human tribe is in and of itself inherent worth. Having friends, having a husband or wife, going to work every day, those are things that are inherently worthwhile, and it means no matter how minute you might think your existence is, you are still contributing.

And that's also how religion is worthwile. Even if God doesn't exist, a person praying is merely self soothing, a person volunteering at the mosque, synagogue or church is contributing to the happiness and thus general emotional health of the local population. The Torah, the Quran, the Bible, etc. help instill proper morals into a person that they might not get from secular philosophy. Of course, some push it toward evil, but I firmly believe that religion has done vastly more good than harm.

I beg to differ. Faith has done little harm. In fact, early Christians, before there were continent-spanning church orders, were willing to go into plague-infested areas to care for people that governments had pretty much written off as lost causes. It's when it becomes an organised religion, with punishments for "heretics" that it all falls apart and I have no patience for it.

But yeah, as it so happens, I do not have a problem with positive self-deception, as long as it stays positive.

What is it my fellow Wintreans do when they consider the bleak nature of our existence? How do you cope with the probability that nothing you do really matters? Do you find comfort in the very thought?

Also, what is it that non-South Africans think of Rooibos tea? It's way expensive over there where you all live, so why is it worth it?

I'm not too terribly familiar with Nihilist arguments, nor do i really care for them.

But arguing extremely hypothetically here in a world where there is no God, a human's function as an animal in this ecosystem within a human tribe is in and of itself inherent worth. Having friends, having a husband or wife, going to work every day, those are things that are inherently worthwhile, and it means no matter how minute you might think your existence is, you are still contributing.

And that's also how religion is worthwile. Even if God doesn't exist, a person praying is merely self soothing, a person volunteering at the mosque, synagogue or church is contributing to the happiness and thus general emotional health of the local population. The Torah, the Quran, the Bible, etc. help instill proper morals into a person that they might not get from secular philosophy. Of course, some push it toward evil, but I firmly believe that religion has done vastly more good than harm.

I beg to differ. Faith has done little harm. In fact, early Christians, before there were continent-spanning church orders, were willing to go into plague-infested areas to care for people that governments had pretty much written off as lost causes. It's when it becomes an organised religion, with punishments for "heretics" that it all falls apart and I have no patience for it.

But yeah, as it so happens, I do not have a problem with positive self-deception, as long as it stays positive.

Because any form of organized religion entails punishment for disbelief

Because non-organized religious belief systems can't be manipulated for evil.

It's a lot harder to manipulate something that doesn't have an established order. And yeah, pretty much all I've had the displeasure of experiencing absolutely do entail a punishment for disbelief. Hell is a uniquely Christian concept to punish those whose only crime was not believing, but the Jews certainly had enough case studies to choose from, like Sodom and Gomorrah, to show that no hell is necessary when you've got an all-powerful bigot running the show.

The only "religion" I have any sort of tolerance for is Buddhism, and I suspect that is only because I don't know enough about it or its more unsavoury history yet. As a religious system, though, it looks a lot closer to the type of secular values I prize.

EDIT: Actually, I forgot about Laveyan Satanism. It also seems pretty rad.

The only "religion" I have any sort of tolerance for is Buddhism, and I suspect that is only because I don't know enough about it or its more unsavoury history yet. As a religious system, though, it looks a lot closer to the type of secular values I prize.

All religions have their good and bad sides.

EDIT: Actually, I forgot about Laveyan Satanism. It also seems pretty rad.

I assure you it very much is. 

So I'm happy. Kea are objectively the best and now will get more help. Kinda wish I could find a better resolution of the campaign badge, but this'll do for the rest of the month.