I think it sucks that our idea of "doing nothing" is watching porn and playing video games. Actually doing nothing is so hard that the closest thing to nothing a human can do while being conscious is meditate. Doing nothing is so hard that Zen Buddhist monks will dedicate their life to the practice .
I think what he means by doing nothing is taking the path of least resistance. Doing the the thing that's absolutely easiest for you, not making any real choices. Doing literally nothing would be a real non easy choice.
DUDE, its no use trying to help pessimists! They'll just flag your video until it gets shut down because they are too intelligent to take your criticism!
I think Luke found the way to convey positivism wrapped in realism, all while bashing people on the internet. Truly a cognitive and moralistic master-piece.
Agree 100%. Having kids and raising them properly is essentially your own ethno-state. Be the change you want to see in the world. Don't cry about 1945, work towards the 2038 centenary.
I think you mixed up pessimism and defeatism. Pessimism can be an asset in security (cyber or otherwise) with risk evaluation and mitigation. Defeatism is resignation to hopelessness. Defeatism is a fools empowerment to mediocrity, whereas pessimism can be a strategic tool to prevent the worst possibilities.
Pessimism spirals down into defeatism, just like an addiction. If you think you can "get away" with having lots of pessimistic thoughts and be okay, you don't realize how your brain works. It's just like anger. People think "venting" is a good thing. It's not, the more you let out anger, the more angry you will become and the more it will control you and take away your ability to think any other way. Pessimism becomes a habit, a very baaad habit. Pessimism turns into a depression soon enough (it may take years, but that's faster than you notice). So it's important to stay positive. Think of it as mental hygiene, like showering every day. It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy most of the time. If you believe something is going to fail, it will fail because you believed so, not becaused it was doomed all along. You will MAKE it fail.
Thanks for the video, and I am also greatful that I found this channel. I was a shut in "gamer" who spent the whole day playing games, but you and other channels like yours helped to open my eyes about the wonderful word of linux, and about the important things in life. I literally stopped playing skyrim because it was more fun to learn about arch and other linux distros, how to configure them and what can they do, than to aimlessly wonder around in a game. I also wrote my own very basic arch installer, which is a simple thing to do but like 6-7 months ago I didn't even know arch existed. Thanks again :D
Almost three years later I come here again and it sums up my life, had I taken what you said instead of just listening, things wouldn't be so bad, thanks for the advice Luke, unfortunately its too late and must gather what I have and carry on.
I think the best way to go is realist/stoicist. Deny yourself cheap thrills, and use self discipline to foster a sense of self-reliance. Of course my hedonist, pot-smoking ass doesn't come close to this ideal, but I still think it's the best way!
I've seen this as an animal rights activist and environmentalist, encountering a lot of doomers, with the excuse that it doesn't matter what people do. Doing nothing is so much easier than critically analyzing what you're doing and alternatives to it, and adjusting behaviour accordingly.
Pessimism isn't about wallowing in despair, it's about being realistic without tricking yourself into irrational hope. I plan for the future, I do what I can to make the world a better place, but I know full well it will all be forgotten and not matter much beyond my life. I also find that not expecting the best of other people allows me to be happy when they are good rather than being disappointed by bad behavior; when you expect nothing good its easier to be surprised by joy.
Hi Luke. Good video. Actually, this is the lesson I learned in my life - just do things. Why successful people acheive more than others? Are they smarter? Not really. They just do things, fail, learn and do. There is no way to predict everything, only practice and changing of the approach allows to grow, prosper and reach our success. BTW, thanks for a great Linux videos. I watch your channel for 2 weeks only, but I got used to Vim in those two weeks and customize my hybrid Win/Linux setup quite nicely.
Lovely video, much appretiated ..... Have been hearing a lot of people giving up before trying and I needed to hear this today since I have been goofing off doing nothing the past 3 days. Thanks my man!
Never really thought about it much myself. The defeatist mentality. I've always gone through life with the thoughts of: I hate my job. Oh well it pays well and its not like I have any other skills. And I could make a game or learn more about programming (just an at home hobbyist right now) and make a career I enjoy out of that. Nah, too hard I'll never make anything out of it / it would take too much time. That is the defeatist attitude you're talking about. I know it well. Time for a change. Thank you for this and all the other videos you make.
@@aeronautisch pretty far actually. Didn't change my job, but I did make alot of other changes that were vast improvements on life. I figured out why I hated my job so much. I was listening to other people bitch and complain all day and I let that effect my view. So I decided to take a different view and my job became much more fulfilling. Kind of amazing how much we let others dictate our thoughts and out looks. I also took up buddhist practice and life style which improved my life since I saw how much I desired what was unnecessary and how big of an A-hole I was. There is more but I'm not gonna clog up this wall of text anymore. Fantastic how a change of mentality can improve life so much.
This channel has the perfect mix of linux "geek"-content and social critique. No channel has ever delivered this kind of perfect content stream, thanks
Thanks for this video. I was feeling a bit pessimistic (not about DNS) but about other things in life... But you are totally right, it's a wrong mindset. It predisposes one for losing. So this video cheered me up and I'm grateful!
LOL Cereal Killer: FYI man, alright. You could sit at home, and do like absolutely nothing, and your name goes through like 17 computers a day. 1984? Yeah right, man. That's a typo. Orwell is here now. He's livin' large. We have no names, man. No names. We are nameless!
5:46 a little bit unrelated, but I get stuff like that from my friends sometimes. they say stuff like "yo, google already stole all your info at this point so why get around it?" a mentality like that is what got those companies into the position to steal all your data in the first place.
Pessimisim and defeatism are different. Pessimisim can be "Things are probably going to suck, but I hope for the best, and will try anyway." Defeatism is "Things are bad and will always be bad, so why try?" An important distinction, I think.
I love this video, especially after seeing what happened with a certain stupid gossip website. Because you can still win even if they try to take your domain and your servers away. You can still try and you'll win if you're willing to put in the work. Pessimism is indeed for losers.
I think pessimism is for winners (actually I doubt in that looser-winner categorisation but I'll stick to it for a moment). Pessimism actually does make you a happier person compared to what optimism does. Here is the point. When you expect good things to happen as an optimist does, you will end up disapointed, because often things goes wrong at least partially. Not everything, but there is a lot of those. So what you get as a whole is worse than what you would expect. Everytime. So you live in a kind of constant disapointment. When you are pessimistic though, you expect nothing. You are ready for the worst scenario, because you expecting it. So you plan like if everything will go wrong completely and when something goes better than completely wrong you are just happy about it: hey, it's not that bad, what a pleasant surprise! Your outcome always exceeds your expectance. So you live in a kind of wonderland! See. You just should not justify lazyness and apathy by pessimism. It is not about drowning yourself in pessimistic thoughts and justifying doing nothing and giving up. It is about exceeding expectance really. And whem you expect low you should not lay down, you should step up and prepare and do something about exected outcome. So you do proactive, you meet that mf with hands open wide and a devious grim on your face ready to beat the shit out of it. And everytime a bad thing you expected didn't even show up you laugh out loud! So it is not that pessimism is bad. It is using it wrong is bad. IMHO 😌
I just came up for an example. You going to distant ride. Optimistic way: what can possibly go wrong, lets go full gas! You crash and freeze and starve and die (possibly). Pessimistic way: I can flat a tyre, so I take a spare and a pump and everything to change it. I can stuck in a middle of nowhere and it can get cold, so I take some warm jacket and a pair of boots and gloves and a little bit of food and water. It can take more time than I thought so I would allocate some extra time for it. I can get hurt so I take some first aid kit. I could even die, but so I would ride carefully and if it happens at least I would know: I did good this is what was to happen anyway. Then when you prepared just act with no regrets. And enjoy the ride anyway it goes. And you don't ever think of those bad things you prepared to until they came up and you just: ha! Take this, you stupid thing.
This put a smile on my face, honestly! I mean, it's ok to feel sad, but all this it's-all-over-stuff is just a whining and seems as a comfort rather than a statement.
You’re absolutely right, now I’m going to wonder the world as a holy monk recording my wisdom for the world to see in my quest for godhood. My cult following shall inspire and change the world as you do. BUT! We shall take a nihilistic path to success! Through the power of passion and sacrifice.
There is a line to be drawn in pessimism, I've found. Pessimists who actually have a drive to do something can create foolproof plans and agendas to achieve goals for problems that require the insight of someone who always accounts for the worst. Pessimism is a good tool for diagnosing complex issues, but maybe not for conversation, I admit. Your body adapts to the dosing of blackpills when you're always choking some down.
The other aspect of this is people who have tried and been kicked so many times, that the only worldview they have is one in which all paths lead to failure and loss. If you don't have exposure to anything else, it becomes very easy to start to think that's the only world that exists.
Pessimism or optimism seems like a personality trait to me, I don't see much of a point in thinking about how much something that is unchangeable is bad for you.
I'm a "pessimist" or, as I like to think of it, I try to view the things that I dream of attempting realistically. And I've still done a considerable amount of crazy shit, gone down paths in which defeat was by far the most likely outcome, paths, however, I deemed worthy risking my neck over. I've also lost more times than I have won, in the big-life-decision category. Contentedness with the safe option is what I loathe. Pessimists need not have opted for the safe route, Luke, and though I understand what you dislike in such people, your generalized statement is imprecise. Also, I have nothing against people (I do not write loser, because it probably doesn't fit your definition of loser) who have lost in specific ways doing certain things. I keep this last sentence purposefully vague.
I’m much more worried about being deplatformed IRL from my employer/university board/community etc, than being postblocked on Facebook or shadowbanned from twitter, so publishing my opinions on my own website would probably lead me to self-censor more intensely than I do on Facebook, Discord or other social platforms.
I am pessimistic, antinatalist and perhaps black pill well but I dont shout my views to the high heavens because I know people are not going to listen. Sometimes to he happy you need to deluded and accept that we might not be able to change things. Besides, who am I to take away someone's happiness As children we are the most happy, at least those who live comfortable, but the most deluded. I wish I could be optimistic but there are things that we can never control.
@@wafflestretch420 Happiness is a state of mind. It doesnt last as long as you perpetuate it. I am not being negative it is just the reality. You know the saying. Have *no* expectation. This doesnt sound like optimism to me.
@@wafflestretch420 Haha, precisely. The guy who made this video didn't come with any arguments whatsoever. At least after a certain age pessimism is only about being honest.
Optimism isnt about deluding yourself into thinking you are in control. Its about accepting there are things you cant control, but taking control of the things you can. This is a weird point of view to have, optimistic people dont ignore things out of their control they just dont care.
Great Vid. I don't know how it is in the US, here in Germany though we have - apart from pessimists - also the problem of hypercritics (that's a word now) wherever the eye can see. They figuratively carry around an unsecured diving pool of negativity that's so easy to fall into, that unless you stay vigilant in every conversation you have or happen to overhear your whole mind becomes submerged in debilitating negativity. Everybody's actions - especially of people in positions of authority - are scrutinised to such a ludicrous extent, they measure things with such ridiculous standards, that one might be forgiven to think they figure themselves demi-gods. Talk to them, however, and engage their criticism and very soon you'll realise that even on-the-fly counter-arguments will make apparent the porous grounds their opinions are based on.
"Pesimists rationalise doing nothing." is simply fucking beautiful and thought-provoking. I agree that there are areas in this world that are screwed and beyond repair, but life is, and always will be, worth living and worth trying in. If a field is broken, I'll try to find one that isn't. Bitching and moaning doesn't solve anything. I'll climb that mountain, and even if I don't reach the top, at least I died trying, rather than wallow in my own feces like some black-pill loser.
I share you're frustration with doomers and general defeatists, but I feel relating blackpilling and generally lazy people (which is what they are), and philosophical pessimism to be the wrong direction for getting you're point across. Pessimism is a an interesting philosophical standpoint with some genuine arguments. It is sad to see some people using it a an excuse to do nothing. That aside love you're video
Luke, it's not a matter of pessimism. People should definitely follow your advice and proactively change their circumstances, whether it be creating their own website or buying land. But as you mentioned in your video there are domains in which the forces of control are dominant and negotiating with them becomes impossible without fundamentally changing who you are to comply with their views. The internet is joining academia as a battlefield won by the leftists and while Alex Jones may still be able to operate independently from a platform like RU-vid, make NO mistake that he is still at the mercy of some other choke point in the system. To simply dismiss that as being 'pessimism' or 'doomer' is irresponsible and naive. The two largest payment processors Visa and MasterCard have 'hate speech' policies that leftist activists have and continue to exploit in order shutoff not just some means of receiving payments but ALL means of receiving payments. Coinbase is at their mercy as well along with any crypto currency exchange that converts crypto to dollars. There are numerous examples of Patreon alternatives/competitors who have been denied access to the US financial system effectively ending their businesses. This isn't pessimistic speculation, this is REALITY. So when you say, "where we are going, there are no platforms" you are wrong. The nature of internet architecture and the nature of the US financial system means that you will always be at the mercy of some platform. So, yes, start your own website or business, but be aware of the risks. There is no escaping the choke points. We need to petition our representatives to ensure that our access to these essential services aren't cutoff due to some ambiguous 'hate speech' policy.
I don’t think you’re right. There’s always room for change, be it either spontaneous or deliberate. Nothing is ever set in stone, the world is just to chaotic for it to be. But you can either think it will never change and you’ll be at the mercy of a sudden change or you can stand up and cause a deliberate change. Change like that starts out small and grows. If it gets big enough and a majority of a population says no to something the system just falls apart. Maybe it’s a bad example but how do you think all those revolutions started out? I’m definitely not a fan of Soviet Russia but that’s an example of a change which started small in the face of a tyranny and in the end the revolutionaries controlled the country.
I don’t think it’s all the leftists fault either. To me it seems a lot more likely it’s just rampant left ideas which were blown up. Not because they’re trying to do good or control people, but to safe face and make a lot of money. I don’t think big companies care a single bit about doing good, but I do think they care a lot more about protecting their wealth.
I fall more on the doomer side of things because I always look at things and go "is this going to make my life any better, will I be happier if I do this" and the answer usually is no and thats putting effort into a lot harder. Whenever my friends tell me shit about their plans I try to support them because the passion they talk about their goals puts me at ease for some reason I always try to give them ideas and what not. I want to try and improve my own mindset with regards to how I see happiness or how I view what a better life is like, but its difficult, this crappy mindset seems too logically sound to break my way out of.
Use noise cancelling headphones. Good alternative to pessimism. Advice: Surround yourself with people with optimism and support everything you do.Productivity and motivation increases by tenfold.
People also need to realize that their pessimism/demoralization isn’t some gnostic secret they stumbled upon. It’s the endgoal of the issues they raise in the first place.
I wonder if you'd reconsider this now given the past three years. I would have said back then when you made this video exactly what I'll say now, because I saw very clearly the writing on the wall about 20 years ago as a teenager. Young people may not articulate themselves particularly well or elucidate a coherent logical philosophy, but the underlying impulse is definitely valid; It's not pessimistic, but being realistic, to see how this world actually operates in its current format. Which is corruption. This doesn't mean one shouldn't try and fight on a personal level to better themselves, but at the same time you have to be realistic about the actual state of play - I doubt very much you would hold the viewpoint you do if you grew up in China. Peoples lives and businesses were ruined during the past couple of years. Imagine building up a business for years, decades, and the state just destroys it for no valid reason. Imagine being a young person and having your neurological, psychological, and educational development sabotaged for no valid reason. Pessimism, even cynicism, is a completely valid response to that.. even if you only witnessed others going through those experiences.
Pessimists are good a finding problems, not at solving them, but finding weird and unthinkable problems is a good talent if used right, I feel a lack of imagination on this video
I don't know why but I relate this situation that is going on in my homeland now. There are lot of people who do extraordinary efforts to be independent, change something and unite people around. They even do things that government can't. At the same time, there's bunch of people constantly whining about being "corrupted, manipulated by politicians". While the first group of people seems courage and proactive the second one is basically complete losers.
When you started talking I thought, " I think a better term would be defeatism, rather than pessimism" , but then you said you are ticked off by pessimists and defeatists. I think pessimism is a subset of defeatism, in that pessimists have a negative and sometimes unfounded opinion, but a wider group of people are more likely to believe 'they cannot' do something, and on a very subtle level might refrain from even trying something which, unbeknownst to them, they might actually do reasonably well in given some determination, but I guess the pessimist is a defeatist in the complete sense? I'm not sure; I think pessimism can have some value, depending on whether you want to take action or not.
I'm a pessimist. I never insult people for they choses. I might tell them why I wouldn't do that if they ask. I only complain about myself. And things my friends complain about. Oddly enough I feel better after complaining.
You are completely right sir. As a wise man once said: "You don't become a looser when you fail, you become a looser when you give up" edit: Think I got that quote from Arnold Schwarzengger of all people.
I think the main reason some people hate society is that acknowledging it's benfits raises the moral duty to buold towards those benefits. It's not really about if taxation is theft and neither it is about actually getting off grid and having independence. It's about achieving the minimal personal potential and thus the minimal total responsibility. I don't claim that for example immigration is an easy and unproblematic topic overall. But if you can justify not having a job or other social problems you really don't want to address directly, believing that ranting on /pol/ is your best option for making your own life is at least easier than doing stuff. Or ranting about neo-liberalism and pointing out signs of late stage capitalism to your fellow comrades, and pretending the Gestapo will get you if you actually do something. Easy and effortless, and the absolute maximum you pretend you can do.
I've been stuck for what I consider a few years but I still have provided more for myself that I had before and it's not of anything that could easily be taken from my possession. Stagnation is legitimately boring to the point that it is painful, so I don't understand how people rationalize it.
