Philosophy, Rationality, Humanism, and all the rest of that thinky shit.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I've always found my mindset to be fleeting when it comes to philosophy and what setting I think as. I remember being a little kid and wondering what non-existence would feel like, to being a middle schooler and having delusions of egomania, to being a nihilist high schooler who found people in books infinitely more interesting than people in real life, and finally to the pill-popping, slightly insane man I am now. Overall, I have always been in a constant flux on how to live life, gain knowledge, understand morality, and et cetera.

So I'm wondering if there's anyone else on this humble board who's in my situation, found themselves in a sort of enlightenment, read an Ayn Rand book and somehow liked it, or wherever else you stand on the scale of philosophical thought.

[Foggle]

I'm a sarcastic, cynical nihilist who really loves humanity in general and tries to see the good in everyone. If that makes sense.

I really liked The Fountainhead, but Atlas Shrugged sucked.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I used to be a cynical hateful bastard who was a total asshole and hated myself for it. Now I'm a more open-minded and friendly person who strives to be nicer and more open with people. I'm not a perfect person, and I don't think you can really be one, but I think tolerance and understanding (as cheesy as it is, I find it true) is the best way to get by.

The only thing I really dislike is conceited arrogance and those close-minded to others' views and opinions.

[Foggle]

I'm openly sarcastic and cynical, but I go about it in a lighthearted and exaggerated way that people seem to find endearing. I'm a huge pessimist, but I make fun of that a lot. A little hyperbole and a sense of humor definitely go a long way. It helps that I actually want and try to think of others as generally good, even though I may say otherwise.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I know what you mean. I talk a lot of shit with people, but I generally am just joking around and don't mean anything by it.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Starting to wonder if my world view's taken a turn for the worst. Almost everyone who knows me has told me right to my face that it's almost chilling how misanthropic I am. Like one of the reasons I got a single dorm was because I thought my roommate would go crazy and try to kill me. Hell, there was a time when I thought I'd get murdered while I was still 15. While I try to be self-aware of it, it doesn't mask the fact that I always see the worst in anybody even if it's not actually there.

And relating to that, I remember taking a personality test, and the first lines of the results were for suicide hotlines in red letters. Of course, that was before the medication, so don't know what it'd be like now.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I feel like I just crawled out of some very deep miserable sludge and am ready to take on the world again.

My pessimism no longer controls me, and I feel fantastic.

[Kiddington]

Cautiously optimistic, yet eternally pessimistic.

I believe that would be the best way for me to describe myself.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So to dig up a thread, the Pope gave me an epiphany yesterday by leaving his title. He was the first Pope in almost five centuries to just quit, amidst a predicted onslaught of controversy and backlash that will assure him scorn long after we're all dead. To put it short, running away from the mitre is no small feat. It might seem easy, but what could be recognized as literal global pressure stops a normal man from even considering the option.

If someone can do that. If someone can sacrifice any form of good will in his life and beyond, making hordes of Catholics all across the world look in shame, then the trials of a simple human being like you or me come off as a cakewalk. What we do is so small in the long run, yet we treat all these choices as world-changing events which must have endless amounts of hesitation to properly hone. These past years, I keep thinking that my life could be so much better if I just did something instead of waiting until it was too late. And because of what ol' Benedict did, I realize that there's no reason to worry that much about the odd choices in life. Like if you ask a girl out and she says no, that only distorts one person's opinion of you. And only for a brief time until she eventually forgets about the whole affair. No irreparable harm has happened. Only an ego has been slightly bruised. And yet, events like these are almost impossible to accomplish without a Herculean amount of courage.