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I can't take hearing about Climate Change anymore

Deleted member 48434

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 8, 2018
5,230
Sydney
I believe that by 2100, humanity will go extinct.
My friend, he disagrees. He believes that merely the vast majority of humanity will die.

There's a thread on gaming side about how Video Games will be no more soon. You might think I'm a dork for caring so much about this one thing in particular, but I live solely to escape. I mean, maybe I can take some solace in that shit like DnD and books should still exist, given how low tech they are.
I don't currently have a job (Edit: I have a casual job, I apologize). Do you know how hard it is to give much of a shit when the apocalypse looms over us all? I'm an Autistic privileged middle class white boy with no marketable skills to speak of. How the fuck does the rest of the left just go on as if they could possibly live a full life with the upcoming shitstorm. Money will be worthless, your uni degree even less so.
I just wanna seclude myself in my room, protected, where I can escape into the world of fiction all I want, and nothing can hurt me.
Even in the apocalypse, bandits could totally break into my house and kill me when they take all my shit.
I've nothing but fiction and comfort. I don't want the world to take those away from me.
I'm so arrogant to think I won't simply starve. I have nothing to contribute to the wasteland tribes. Maybe It'll be a quick death if I'm lucky.
How much time do we have? It feels like it will be less than a decade. Do I even have a chance to reach at least middle age?

Edit: I've calmed down a bit now, I do apologize, I was having a bit of a anxiety attack and I needed somewhere, anywhere to talk and it's past midnight where I live. This said, my fears I've outlined do feel very real to me. I worry how much longer I have left in my comfortable life before something breaks, and climate change just seems like an inevitability that is unfightable. I mean, I can get a job, being unemployed is something I can fight, I in fact have a casual job right now that I enjoy a lot, during the very very few shifts I get, but planning for the future, for a career feels pointless. I worry about how much time I have left.

Then again, witnessing the apoc would be a more preferable life over getting hit by a car tomorrow and dying instantly. Which is entirely possible.
 
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fontguy

fontguy

Avenger
Oct 8, 2018
16,154
Instead of agonizing over it, toss a group trying to save this shitshow $20 and live your life. It'll help way more and you'll feel better.
 
HellforLeather

HellforLeather

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,166
I believe that by 2100, humanity will go extinct.
My friend, he disagrees. He believes that merely the vast majority of humanity will die.

There's a thread on gaming side about how Video Games will be no more soon.
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Click to shrink...

Uh go outside sometimes dude. Only indulging in escapism is not healthy.
 
BigHatPaul

BigHatPaul

Member
May 28, 2019
1,670
shnurgleton said:
Unplug for a while. Go for a walk or something
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HellforLeather said:
Uh go outside sometimes dude. Only indulging in escapism is not healthy.
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Definitely this. Sounds like you need a reality check. Just because bad shit is happening doesn't mean you can't enjoy life and see some beauty in it. Take a walk, breath in the air, have a great cup of coffee, read a book in the park, just get off your screens for a few hours.
 
danm999

danm999

Member
Oct 29, 2017
17,132
Sydney
2100 seems a bit early for us to be extinct, unless there's a nuclear war, which yeah I can see climate change and the scarcity of resources precipitating TBH
 
cwmartin

cwmartin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,765
Honestly, this statement:

"I don't currently have a job. Do you know how hard it is to give much of a shit when the apocalypse looms over us all? I'm an Autistic privileged middle class white boy with no marketable skills to speak of. How the fuck does the rest of the left just go on as if they could possibly live a full life with the upcoming shitstorm. Money will be worthless, your uni degree even less so."

It seems to me your just using climate change as an excuse for why you are unhappy with your life. (Not a doctor)
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
edit: never mind
 
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bane833

bane833

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
4,530
No worries, humanity won't go extinct. All these billionaires in their underground bunkers and on their remote islands are going to survive.
 
Chivalry

Chivalry

Chicken Chaser
Banned
Nov 22, 2018
3,894
Live your life, dude. You'll be dead and buried in any case before any collapse, so why do you care?
 
BAW

BAW

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,940
Solar Puffin said:
I believe that by 2100, humanity will go extinct.
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And that's where you're wrong kiddo. Technology has saved humanity's ass every single time, there's no reason to believe it won't do it again now.
Sure, we may not have the means to drastically reverse climate conditions right now, but who's to say what will be possible in 20 years' time?
 
RetroMG

RetroMG

Community Resettler
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,732
I'm going to second (third? fourth?) the suggestion that you should probably talk to a mental health professional about all this. A bunch of randos on a message board are probably not the best sounding board for what you've got going on.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 48434

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 8, 2018
5,230
Sydney
There is a considerable difference in what people are saying in this thread over what you'd read in the Climate fight thread, or that thread on the gaming side.
Or news articles on r/science.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,038
Unfortunately there seems to be less and less space between being an alarmist driving yourself and others crazy over internet-heightened panic culture and being in outright denial. It's like if you're not giving into every worst fear at every moment, then you're a dirty denier.

I see a lot of this around hot-button issues and I don't think it's helpful, I think in most cases it does more harm, but if you ever try to come out and say "Well, I don't think it's as bad as you're suggesting," then you're usually lumped in by influencers as someone who is part of the problem. I don't agree with that. I think that being overly defeatist, overly alarmist, may do as much harm as being an outright denier, or at least, does considerable harm but maybe slightly less, because it results in a no-can-do, defeatist mentality... a sort of "Well then what's the point?" Another example is with health care / health insurance alarmism. Thoughts are regularly shared, unchallenged and unchallengable, that a single trip to the doctor in the United States will result in financial ruin and bankruptcy; If you challenge that being treated as a rule, then either you're bombarded with anecdotes or edge cases and then lambasted as part of the problem for why there hasn't been a lot of movement towards more progressive health care policy. In the meantime, real people avoid going to the doctor, don't get check-ups which are usually free and fully covered for most Americans, and then can develop serious life altering conditions that then might bankrupt them because they've been convinced by panic culture that a single trip to the doctor is going to bankrupt them... When the reality is for most people it's free, for most other people the cost is not excessive (~$10-$50), and regular healthy check-ups it'll probably save you money in the long-term.

With climate change, when people talk about "The point of no return," or "catastrophic climate change," those words are accurate in the context of global climate change, but innaccurate because "catastrophe" usually brings up images of Mad Max or people eating their children because there's no food, or what have you. There is a real tangible threat posed by climate change to the comfortable existence of humankind today and the continued equilibrium in the natural world, but it's not likely to result in humanity going extinct. Climate change is something to be taken seriously, and ideas like everybody will be tormented, or civilization will collapse, or humanity will go extinct, aren't examples of taking climate change seriously and they probably do more harm than good because they lead to a devil may care defeatist mentality.
 
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Aurongel

Aurongel

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
7,065
I think some of the recent climate change nihilism I've seen online is adjacent to the rise of depression memes. I think many people use them to cope with the growing chaos in the world and find that posting article after article of depressing news gives them some temporary solace without actually working towards a tangible solution to any of these problems. I'm also flooded on social media with depressing (and obviously true/important) climate change headlines but at the end of the day the people who desperately need to receive this information never will - hence why I think a lot of it is just unproductive nihilism used by some people to cope with life.
 
Natasha Kerensky

Natasha Kerensky

Alt Account
Banned
Jul 18, 2019
262
Praha, CZ
engage locally and join a group or an organization. Try to organize and radicalize those around you and prepare for revolution.

Because those in power and those who are comfortable from the status quo will not give up their power willingly, even if their comfort means the extinction of the human race.
 
Bonafide

Bonafide

Member
Oct 11, 2018
936
Solar Puffin said:
I believe that by 2100, humanity will go extinct.
My friend, he disagrees. He believes that merely the vast majority of humanity will die.

There's a thread on gaming side about how Video Games will be no more soon. You might think I'm a dork for caring so much about this one thing in particular, but I live solely to escape. I mean, maybe I can take some solace in that shit like DnD and books should still exist, given how low tech they are.
I don't currently have a job. Do you know how hard it is to give much of a shit when the apocalypse looms over us all? I'm an Autistic privileged middle class white boy with no marketable skills to speak of. How the fuck does the rest of the left just go on as if they could possibly live a full life with the upcoming shitstorm. Money will be worthless, your uni degree even less so.
I just wanna seclude myself in my room, protected, where I can escape into the world of fiction all I want, and nothing can hurt me.
Even in the apocalypse, bandits could totally break into my house and kill me when they take all my shit.
I've nothing but fiction and comfort. I don't want the world to take those away from me.
I'm so arrogant to think I won't simply starve. I have nothing to contribute to the wasteland tribes. Maybe It'll be a quick death if I'm lucky.
How much time do we have? It feels like it will be less than a decade. Do I even have a chance to reach at least middle age?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

how about instead of swallowing in despair, you take that emotion and put it into action by help out groups trying to fight about this?
 
StrangerDanger

StrangerDanger

Member
Jul 18, 2018
5,863
I once had no job for a while and had time for myself. But I also used lots of other bs as an excuse for not getting a job or doing something with myself. Idk if you face some sort of depression, or if you are just stuck in middle ground atm.

But keeping yourself engaged to all bad shit on the web with the time you have will rot you away. Especially when some places are full of negativity and disparity. With climate change, there are positive articles on how people are finding ways to adapt and solve the problem. You are just stuck on the negative, need to get ur head out of it and do something productive
 
Sensei

Sensei

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,525
your seclusion into escapism is part of why youre thinking the way you are tbh

ppl are making efforts to help, even if its hard. u just gotta look
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
This thread is case in point in what I've been saying about the media sensationalizing climate change. Instead of making people aware and wanting to fight climate change, it either scares people into thinking there is no point, or much of the hyperbole surrounding it just completely turns people off.
 
Natasha Kerensky

Natasha Kerensky

Alt Account
Banned
Jul 18, 2019
262
Praha, CZ
The Albatross said:
Unfortunately there seems to be less and less space between being an alarmist driving yourself crazy over internet-induced panic culture and being in outright denial. It's like if you're not giving into every worst fear at every moment, then you're a dirty denier.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

yes obviously we need to be in the middle when it comes to addressing climate change. let's just keep doing what we've been doing the last 30 years, i'm sure it will work out!
 
Thordinson

Thordinson

Member
Aug 1, 2018
18,081
Chivalry said:
Live your life, dude. You'll be dead and buried in any case before any collapse, so why do you care?
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I agree that OP needs to live their life and stop being worried about this to the point of needing to seek help.

I don't agree with not caring about something because it won't affect me personally. A lot of things won't personally affect me but it will affect others. I'd much rather attempt to leave behind a world that I tried to make a difference in and, hopefully, made a tiny bit better.
 
Hollywood Duo

Hollywood Duo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,968
I recommend you speak with a mental health professional. Some of your feelings are not healthy and you might benefit from some counseling.
 

Deleted member 8561

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,284
Solar Puffin said:
There is a considerable difference in what people are saying in this thread over what you'd read in the Climate fight thread, or that thread on the gaming side.
Or news articles on r/science.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You're extremely ill informed if you think extinction is a threat from climate change.

Climate change poses massive economic damage that will effect your average persons quality of life in western nations, will pose risks to habitability in specific regions that will face more extreme heat in already tropic area and require large scale investment on coastal cities to build sea level barriers (if it's geologically viable)

Knowing the risks of climate change is important because you should be informed, listening to people who scream "we're all going to die" is just having that "fight or flight" part of your brain take over your emotions on a topic that effectively digs into the existential part of your mind that doesn't see a way for you to do anything about the topic which will have an impact on your life down the road (or now depending on where you live)
 
Ploppee

Ploppee

Member
Nov 28, 2018
1,040
Bonafide said:
how about instead of swallowing in despair, you take that emotion and put it into action by help out groups trying to fight about this?
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Quoted for truth. It can be overwhelming but it sounds like you're starting to get bogged down into a depression. OP have a look for someone to talk to. The world is a lot bigger than you'd think.
 
Foffy

Foffy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,389
I have come to the realization that humanity will create hell for itself, and this magical "we're gonna fix it in time y'all" to now be an argument of stupidity and rejection of reality. I would mix technological precarity alongside climate, so we're going to see a new, and dare I say it, "ultimate" version of austerity that social policy has yet seen pushed so hard, even if in reality the answer is in the other direction.

And yet, I have hope. Not in reason, not in us waking up to this, but in futility. When mankind's systems of symbols and symbolisms break down, reality and its rawness cannot be spun, cannot be handwaved away, and it's in that knee-deep situation that we'll be forced to act. Unfortunately, that means needless, illogical suffering will have to continue before we get to that breaking point, but there is a breaking point.

If I can offer advice, instead of looking for escape - you're doing it through symbolisms!! - look at the raw, real, "what is this-ness" goings on here. In that sense, there's a strong neutrality aplay, and to be grounded is not to be wobbly. See these problems, understand the depths of these problems, and at the very least be a servant to the public good by noticing where we're failing and doing what you can to address that, even if it's to call it out or show how deep the problem goes. Nothing gets solved until we admit "it is", and in some sense, that's the current issue we face: we're still, somehow, in a period of ideological and psychological befuddling. Do what you can to be sunlight to that darkness of ignore-ance.
 

Deleted member 17402

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,125
Aurongel said:
I think some of the recent climate change nihilism I've seen online is adjacent to the rise of depression memes. I think many people use them to cope with the growing chaos in the world and find that posting article after article of depressing news gives them some temporary solace without actually working towards a tangible solution to any of these problems. I'm also flooded on social media with depressing (and obviously true/important) climate change headlines but at the end of the day the people who desperately need to receive this information never will - hence why I think a lot of it is just unproductive nihilism used by some people to cope with life.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'll be the first to admit that recent climate change news has been gut-wrenching and has left me in a very unhealthy mental place. I think all the bad things occurring around the world are being reported more and as a result, we are seeing more people talk about it. With that comes extremely reckless and nihilistic posts, a ton of which I see on this forum, that just preys on my worst instincts and makes me want to give up. All rationality goes out the window when 9 out of 10 comments, one after another, only ever say how we are doomed, life is done in our lifetime, and so forth. It's rarely a level-headed response, and hypocritically I fall victim to reading these comments and put myself in a viciously unhealthy mental state.

I should be feeling great today, and for the most part I am, considering it's my 30th birthday, but I keep browsing climate change news and reading the absolute worst posts imaginable that make me feel miserable.

DrewFu said:
This thread is case in point in what I've been saying about the media sensationalizing climate change. Instead of making people aware and wanting to fight climate change, it either scares people into thinking there is no point, or much of the hyperbole surrounding it just completely turns people off.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You're absolutely right and that's another part of it. Headlines are running that make humanity seemed utterly doomed with no hope of saving it. It doesn't help that while the reports concerning climate change are grim, news outlets misrepresent facts and absolutely neglect to include information that completely changes the meaning of the scientific community's findings. I don't remember the details but there was a report that said something about the effects of climate change coming to a head in 12 years. The media ran with that and gave the impression that in 12 years we will be suddenly collapsing in on ourselves and racing toward the finish line toward our imminent death.

News reporting like this isn't conducive to positive mental health and only serves to make people feel like everything is pointless. And then people see it, as I said above, and go IN with a nihilistic attitude and try to make you believe that we have absolutely no hope. It's a never-ending cycle.

The worst part about what I said about? I recognize all that, yet my irrationality and anxiety gets the best of me and I have days where I also feel completely hopeless. It's very debilitating.
 
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