How to live happily with the world going under

Hello,

I have been doing some reading on issues like overpopulation and climate change recently and I'm pretty convinced we are totally and completely fucked. There is no way we will be able to react on the scale necessary in time to alter our ways. Things will keep getting worse and worse, I think the world will spiral into economic hell, overpopulation will strain our resources and various other factors will lead to the deterioration of democracy and the first world society. I'm sure several people reading this will have similar views on the future.

So, how can you know and acknowledge this is true and at the same time not be in a constant state of depression and/or madness?

Do you just try to suspend those thoughts?

Buy all the porn in a 10 mile radius, or Skylanders.

Accept that there is nothing you can do to change things in the long run, and just do what you can to make your little corner of the world as best as possible for when we are all driving around on dune buggies and raiding bondage stores for our clothing. It's also good to know that we are most likely the last generation to get to see the "good life" before it goes real bad, and that we will most likely be dead or at least a pretty good age when shit truly hits the fan.

I guess you should probably just end it all.

The solution is alcohol

I dunno, you could try rational thought instead of confirmation bias.

We've had a lot of threads like this this year.

Get a gas mask, metal detector, kevlar vest and a firearm. Oh, you should also get some military food rations.

Then you're set for the end of the world.

Or... just fake your own death.

I'm the happiest I've been in years.

The world is fine. I'll be dead long before it fucks up, so I don't give a crap about all that stuff you mentioned.

@Harkat: Be rich. Only poor people have to worry about those things.

Why is everyone so emo?

Way to be a pessimistic prick man, really good job! Why not try and do something about it or maybe try and not be such a pessimist. Try to enjoy life for what it is instead of whatever the hell you think the worst case will be.

How is the world going under?

there will always be problems with the world, no mater what. In nature when a population grows to much for its food supply it finds ways of naturaly lowering that population. also climate change is cyclical, and there are natural ways for it to fix its self. I am not saying that it wont be hard, or these options are very, good? but they are options non-the-less.

It sounds like you've been on Reddit too much.

Um I dunno.... I don't feel like there's anything there to "cope with". People are pretty adaptable we'll be fine. The real question is where you have been reading about this stuff.

Science will fix it.

Always has, always will.

World ain't going anywhere.  Don't be melodramatic.

Overpopulation and climate change?
 
There are a million and one ways for you to unexpectedly die tomorrow just walking out of the house. Why not worry about those instead?
 
War, earthquake, volcano, plague, terrorism, disease, asteroid impact, nuclear accident, tsunami, hurricane ... there are plenty of more immediate events that can occur to the world. I don't think people in Fukushima are too concerned with overpopulation right now.
 
Considering any disaster could happen to any country on the planet at any time, living in fear of one thing when there are multiple other ways to end humanity that you cannot foresee is a ridiculous way to live life.
 
If half the planet gets wiped out and the other half sent back to to the stone age in fifteen years time, than climate change and overpopulation won't be an issue will it?

I try to consider my "world" to consist of my sphere of influence. If something is outside my sphere of influence, then I try my best to not worry about it.

I think the food industry is horrible, so I'm a vegetarian. I despise the hatred leveled at homosexuals, so I always call people out on it. I fear that people are electing the wrong officials for all the wrong reasons, so I inform myself to the best of my ability before voting.

I can't control the fact that the train system in Chicago appears to be run by middle-school children, so I don't fret when I have to wait far too long at a station. I don't have the power to tell Rick Perry he's a damned idiot, so I don't freak out when he releases terrible campaign ads. I don't have the power to effect the Euro-Zone that might send us into another economic collapse, so I go about my daily business and hope the economy stays strong.

Thinking about the stuff outside your power will only frustrate you. Control what you've got and try not to worry about the rest.

I try not to worry about what I cant control and instead focus on what I can.

I'm a pathetic cynic so I get pseudo joy from thinking that those issues don't matter and 'fuck the world'

Check out Debbie Downer. The great-great-great-grandchildren of everyone on this thread will be long dead before your doomsday prophesy comes to pass.

1600MSP will get you the New Life+ option. Sorted.

Although it was already on disc so kinda hard to justify the cost :/

Stalker has set me up for any post world scenario, I'm good.

I heard about this one guy who killed himself by accident with a hot potato....

Overpopulation is the least of my concerns.

@Dagbiker: The "natural" ways of lowering the population are usually via disease or mass starvation... so... yeah it is possible.

On an overall note, scientific advances will be the most likely answer to many current world problems (and will probably cause a few other problems along the way tbh). Specifically, for problems which may occur due to overpopulation, we already have GM crops that improve yields etc. just people are fussy about them for some reason and there are governmental policies which would likely have to come into effect such as limiting the numbers of children couples can have.

@Dagbiker said:

also climate change is cyclical, and there are natural ways for it to fix its self.

While it is true that natural climate change is cyclical, I'm positive the ever-accellerating climate change we are seeing now is man-made, and will push the changes into irreversible territory.

Oh, and the quality of posts in this thread has been good, thanks guys.

Don't worry, you'll probably be dead before anything severe happens.

How old are you?

@FancySoapsMan said:

Don't worry, you'll probably be dead before anything severe happens.

To me? Sure. I'm a upper middle class norwegian with moderately good grades. But I get depressed looking at death numbers that don't seem to better with the years at all.

@Joker369 said:

I try not to worry about what I cant control and instead focus on what I can.

What frustrates me is that, unlike in the cold war, this time the world is at the mercy of the masses rather than of two states. So we're trapped in the uncomfortable zone of kinda being able to do something and kinda probably not.

@Wes899 said:

How old are you?

I am 16 as of June.

Set goals for yourself, strive to do them, then set new ones. That is the best way to live happily.

With any luck, most people will have good enough intentions to set goals of being more educated, changing the world, helping others. That if everyone completes their own happiness the world will improve. Though I do think you should look outside your own life... people who say "I'll litter, do whatever I want, waste energy... I won't be alive to see the results".

It's a little short sighted. What if your parents said "Screw it, let's nuke the Soviet Union, we won't live to see the results". The world would be pretty messed up for you wouldn't it? Or if every researcher, engineer, and scientist thought the world was fine the way it was... well you wouldn't have anything you are using right now.

@Harkat said:

Hello,

I have been doing some reading on issues like overpopulation and climate change recently and I'm pretty convinced we are totally and completely fucked. There is no way we will be able to react on the scale necessary in time to alter our ways. Things will keep getting worse and worse, I think the world will spiral into economic hell, overpopulation will strain our resources and various other factors will lead to the deterioration of democracy and the first world society. I'm sure several people reading this will have similar views on the future.

So, how can you know and acknowledge this is true and at the same time not be in a constant state of depression and/or madness?

Do you just try to suspend those thoughts?

Since both are myths, live it up.

I need to gather as much bottle caps as possible then.

@Harkat: dude i feel the exact same way. the truth is most people are to dumb and naive to fully understand.

which is another reason were all fucked. And people are able to just wander through their little lives doing nothing to help.

Get a boyfriend/girlfriend/pet/kid that's weaker than you then dominate and beat the shit out of it to make yourself feel better

When others are ready to actually do something about it I will be here ready to go. Until then, there isn't a damn thing that I can do so I try to simply reduce my impact on major problems as much as is reasonably possible. Conveniently this can be accomplished staying inside playing video games all day.

Hello,

I have been doing some reading on issues like overpopulation and climate change recently and I'm pretty convinced we are totally and completely fucked.

Cause nothing crazy enough is going to happen before I'm an old man, so I don't really care.

Hey, guess what, the world will be even worse if you mope and won't do shit about it. Do what you think is right towards yourself and to the people around you, your country and ultimately the planet, but set your expectations to be realistic and not some fucking hippie acid-dream were everything is a fairytale. The world will one day cease to exist and that's why you need to make it be the best it can be during the time you get to spend on it.

That's just my personal take on it though, and even it may seem too positive, but dude, try not to think about shit that's not your fault and out of your hands or it will fucking destroy you. I had a period of that myself when I was younger about mortality, and I haven't truly gotten over it, but I'm not depressed anymore, so it worked in a way.

Read up on stuff that bothers you in society, pay attention to politics becaue that's basically the one thing that enables you as "the little guy" to make big changes happen. Be nice to the people around you, spread love and joy, stand up for what you believe in, call people out on shit you think is wrong and stupid.

The giantbomb forums sure are a philosophical place today. Best thing I find is to just keep on smiling and think positively! :)
 
Edit - It may be cliché, but I feel this thread deserves a bit of Monty Python.
  

At moments like these I'm just happy that I'll be dead before things get several times worse than they'll get in my lifetime

@BrockNRolla said:

I try to consider my "world" to consist of my sphere of influence. If something is outside my sphere of influence, then I try my best to not worry about it.

Someone's been reading some Stephen Covey?

Theres also a chance I could get run over by a car tomorrow, or have a heart attack, or be attacked by a swarm of bald eagles.

Don't live your life worrying about death.

Sometimes I think I can be an irrational person, but within 5 minutes of being on the Internet I find someone that is 100 times worse than me.

What an invention.

@tunaburn said:

@Harkat: dude i feel the exact same way. the truth is most people are to dumb and naive to fully understand.

which is another reason were all fucked. And people are able to just wander through their little lives doing nothing to help.

You're not exactly "helping" by belittling everyone else. Also, it's "too dumb".

@Harkat said:

Hello,

I have been doing some reading on issues like overpopulation and climate change recently and I'm pretty convinced we are totally and completely fucked. There is no way we will be able to react on the scale necessary in time to alter our ways. Things will keep getting worse and worse, I think the world will spiral into economic hell, overpopulation will strain our resources and various other factors will lead to the deterioration of democracy and the first world society. I'm sure several people reading this will have similar views on the future.

So, how can you know and acknowledge this is true and at the same time not be in a constant state of depression and/or madness?

Do you just try to suspend those thoughts?

Brother,

First of all, relax. The world is not ending anytime soon (despite Harold Camping's Rapture predictions). Everything is NOT totally fucked. What are you reading that has you so needlessly bummed out? Things keep getting better and better! If you live in the USA you enjoy a standard of living unprecedented in human history. Think about what sort of medical advances have been made in your lifetime alone.

Second, I highly recommend you read Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics 4th edition. It's a simple guide to the economy and how it works. No charts. No graphs. Just plain language. The most important thing you will take away from it is learning about the Price System.

Overpopulation is a myth. I drove two hour from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Fayetteville, Arkansas and did not see ONE single person on my drive -- just wide open fields of grain. Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iodJ0OOdgRg#!

Next, climate change is real, but it's normal. It's been happening for centuries and the human race is still here. Climate change has everything to do with the sun's activity, not man-made industry. Correlation does not equal Causation. If you have an hour, please watch the BBC's "The Great Global Warming Swindle". The reason climate change is so popular is because its an entire industry know. We have jobs like "environmental journalists" and the like. Millions of people's livelihoods are dependent on climate change being man-made. That's why there such hysteria over it. Please watch the movie with an open mind.

Cheer up, my friend. The future is bright. Don't buy into the hysteria.

The rise and fall, and eventual balance, has always been the way of the world. Things may get rougher but they will be ok.