Re:Lucky girl syndrome and the endless rebranding of “The Se...
by marginalia_nu on Sunday March 05, 2023 @05:54AM
(#35028484)
It's complex.
On the one hand, we don't actually experience objective reality, but in a subjective world of ideas and experiences that's very much shaped by the thoughts we think and our whole grammar of concepts and ideas. Anyone who has struggled with something like depression or anxiety will attest to how much how thoughts shape perception. In this light, hope can be revolutionary.
On the other hand, I think it's easy to oversell this and make it sound like it will deliver things that it can't. Most claiming to sell hope are in fact selling snake oil.
On the third hand, some people have an interest in keeping you feeling angry and hopeless and unable to solve your own predicaments. This is in part the ugly backside of democracy. People who are content, who aren't worried about some threat on the horizon or indignant about some insult just can't be compelled to act. This has created an entire industry geared toward keeping you feeling helpless, afraid and upset all the time and it's all somehow on you to fix too, but you can't, so for the love of god keep scrolling or you'll never be mad enough to fix this. In this light, hope is revolutionary in the other sense of the word. It can be almost subversive to consider that maybe things will turn out well on a political plane.
On the final hand, I dunno. Maybe Epictetus was onto something with that whole "[i]f you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed"
On the one hand, we don't actually experience objective reality, but in a subjective world of ideas and experiences that's very much shaped by the thoughts we think and our whole grammar of concepts and ideas. Anyone who has struggled with something like depression or anxiety will attest to how much how thoughts shape perception. In this light, hope can be revolutionary.
On the other hand, I think it's easy to oversell this and make it sound like it will deliver things that it can't. Most claiming to sell hope are in fact selling snake oil.
On the third hand, some people have an interest in keeping you feeling angry and hopeless and unable to solve your own predicaments. This is in part the ugly backside of democracy. People who are content, who aren't worried about some threat on the horizon or indignant about some insult just can't be compelled to act. This has created an entire industry geared toward keeping you feeling helpless, afraid and upset all the time and it's all somehow on you to fix too, but you can't, so for the love of god keep scrolling or you'll never be mad enough to fix this. In this light, hope is revolutionary in the other sense of the word. It can be almost subversive to consider that maybe things will turn out well on a political plane.
On the final hand, I dunno. Maybe Epictetus was onto something with that whole "[i]f you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed"